Here's my challenge: (1) I moved into an apartment that had no GFCIs in the Kitchen about 20 inches from the water faucet; (2) on Daylight Savingstime Day, I went to check the batteries in my smoke detector and was surprised to see that the detector was hard wired - it was also melted and showed black soot around various connections (I immediately went to the fire department - they were furious, thought that the fire inside the device had happened a LONG time ago and obviously hadn't been tested in years - I went me home with 2 smoke detectors which I immediately installed); (3) For a month or so my kitchen ceiling light didn't work, and I suspected old bulbsI took off the fixture last week to find NO BULBS, BUT ALL BURNED wires inside; and (4) 3 days ago I pulled the chain to turn on my closet light, it came out of the wall, sparks shot out, and its breaker won't resetI NEED PROOF for management that I need a licensed electrician for these issuesplease site the code section
Since you're a lawyer: 1The Year of the NEC that applies to new construction is decided by the municipality(Not all Cities use the latest Code) 2When a building is granted a Certificate of Occupancy, that's the Code that appliesUpdates to existing buildings can be required by special ordinance, but otherwise, once it's approved, it's 'grandfathered'If you are concerned with Code compliance, you need to know when the building was approvedThe several instances of failed wiring you report are a matter of concernThey indicate that the entire wiring system is suspectIs this by any chance aluminum wiring? - There have been instances where this is not properly terminated leading to the sort of problems you describeIf you're aquainted with the Inspector, he's the one to whom suspicions of an existing, or emerging, hazard should be reported.
Yes, use heavy aluminum foil and make the boat with a flat bottom.
