The ESA is probably the worse Government Organization I've ever had to deal with. First of all they say they're a not for profit organization that protects Ontarians and "enhance public electrical safety in the province". I get that protecting dumb people from high voltage wires and giving insurance companies piece of mind is good and all. But really, for a Government Organization it seems like they're looking to protect their own pockets.
For a first time home owner, I had to deal with them because my insurance company wanted to know my electrical wiring was safe. I had to call and book an appointment to have someone come out. They don't give you an exact time, just be available from 8AM to 4PM (of course Monday to Friday only). What normal person has that kind of time to sit around all day waiting for someone! In fact I had to book an entire day off work just to wait around.
When the inspector arrived, he was nice and all and seemed to know his stuff. But of course paying $300 for a residential inspection that only took 30mins is a complete rip-off. But I guess they need to protect the pockets of their big wigs.
Anyway, there were defects that needed repairing. Had everything fixed and also had to pay another $90 to the ESA just so I could take out a "permit" to fix the issues myself. Again more money in the pockets of some big wigs.
Of course I had to reschedule another appointment to have my work inspected. So another day I had to take off work and sit around waiting for an inspector between 8AM and 4PM. Unfortunately I had to quickly run out to pick up a sick niece from summer camp and decided to leave a note at the door for the inspector to call me just in case I was only a couple minutes away from being back.
After being away for about an hour and a half, I return to a reply on door note saying "Sorry we're 3 inspectors short". Okay, I get that you're short staffed, but at least have the decency to make a quick phone call to see if I was near. Seeing how I took an entire day off work and may have been a few blocks away. I still waited the rest of the day to see if there may have been a revisit, but nope.
Meanwhile my insurance company keeps pestering me for an inspection report. I had to then reschedule another appointment with the ESA. Take off another day off work, which I'm lucky that the company I work for is flexible like that. Most Ontarians don't have that luxury.
Finally, after getting a final inspection that of course only took less than 30mins and not all of the work was looked at, also the inspector tried to make me replace something that wasn't rated properly, which I had to point out to him that it was and where the marking was on an electrical switch. So much for being the "expert". Last thing I wanted to do was deal with another ESA appointment.
So my conclusion after writing this novel is that the Electrical Safety Authority is a badly managed Government Organization that wants you to think they care about your safety, but really I think they care more about their bottom dollar and the salaries of the people who work there. If they're so short on staff and inspectors, why not open this up to private electrical companies to offer residential inspections. Much like how some car garages offer Emissions and Vehicle Inspections. This entire ordeal makes booking a cable tech 100 times better. read more