Electrical work in an Ontario home: who may do it, the ESA notification, and the record a seller can request

• "In Ontario, if you hire someone to do electrical work in your home, by law, it must be a Licensed Electrical Contractor (LEC)."
• "Only you can do electrical work in your home, but you must file a notification with ESA." "Friends, family members or neighbours cannot perform electrical work in your home."
• "Master Electricians and Certified Electricians cannot be hired directly to do electrical work in your home."

• "Almost all electrical work requires filing a notification of work (often called a permit) with the Electrical Safety Authority."
• "An electrical notification of work creates a permanent record of the electrical work that has been done in your home and it triggers a review process by ESA." ESA may decide an inspection is not needed.
• "Having a building permit isn't the same as filing an electrical notification. You may need both."
• When the work passes, ESA issues a Certificate of Acceptance; if the contractor can't supply a copy, ESA's Access to Information form requests one.

ESA's information requests page: "Use a Record Search to find out if there are any ESA notifications (open or outstanding) for an address. The fee for a Record Search is $76 per address. ESA typically processes these requests in 48 hours." A fuller Access to Information request covers specific details and copies of correspondence, and ESA's page for buyers and sellers says it gives "access to closed permits and confirmation that a Certificate of Acceptance was issued for completed work". ESA answers most simple requests within 15 business days, usually for $76; a complex request is $165 an hour.

O. Reg. 570/05, s. 19: "An electrical contractor shall prominently display the licence number in all correspondence, contracts and advertisements, on business vehicles and, generally, in all situations where they are communicating with the public." ESA's contractor locator looks up a licence.

• Knob-and-tube. ESA's page says "many insurers will not provide or renew coverage on homes with this type of wiring" and that some "may make you replace the knob and tube wiring before they provide coverage." ESA describes it as acceptable when properly maintained by a Licensed Electrical Contractor, and notes that "the OESC is not retroactive."
• Aluminum. "If your home was built between the mid-1960s and late 1970s, you may have aluminum wiring." "Some insurers will not provide or renew insurance coverage on homes without an ESA inspection." ESA says the Ontario Electrical Safety Code permits it, with proper connections and terminations.
• An assessment of the whole system. ESA ended its ElecCheck program on 4 April 2022 and now does general inspections for Fire Code compliance only; for other reasons, including real estate transactions, "a Licensed Electrical Contracting (LEC) business can perform an Electrical System Safety Assessment."

ESA's records are kept by ESA, not the City. The City's building permits for the address and the electricity and gas service are public records a buyer's report reads. The entries below name each record and where it is published.

• What building permits are on record for the home?Permits and renovations
• Who supplies electricity and natural gas to the address?Electricity and gas