Find a Responsible Electrical Contractor to Avoid Counterfeit Electrical Products

The sale of counterfeit electrical products is rampant in the United States these days. This could be very dangerous. To avoid being sold counterfeit electrical products, you should only get the services of a responsible and licensed electrical contractor.

A licensed electrical contractor company holds all the required town, city, county and state certifications and licenses. It also allows only qualified licensed electricians to handle the designing, installation, maintenance and repair of residential, commercial and industrial electrical systems. This includes the designing, installation, maintenance and repair of street lights, parking lot lighting, landscape lighting and commercial lights. Aside from this, a licensed electrical contractor company offers solutions for hurricane preparation as well as lightning protection and surge protection. It also does generator installation. Furthermore, a licensed electrical contractor company is authorized to do electric inspection such as the 40-Year Building Inspection required in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It can upgrade and do electric repairs on electrical panels. It has fully equipped bucket trucks that it can instantly send out to meet calls for help in emergencies.

If you happen to get the services of an unscrupulous electrical contractor company, you might get victimized and counterfeit electrical products may be used in your electrical systems.

According to the website of the Anti-Counterfeit Products Initiative, counterfeit electrical products can be found in every product category in the electric industry market. The counterfeiting of electrical products has widespread negative impact not only on consumers but also manufacturers, distributors and electrical contractor companies.

The consumers face the biggest danger. When counterfeit electrical products are used in their electrical systems, it could result in electrical malfunction that could injure people or even cost them their lives. It could also damage equipment resulting in great expense and maybe even liability. Manufacturers, distributors and electrical contractor companies may also find themselves liable if the counterfeit electrical products are traced to them. Such liability is a direct threat to their profitability.

Manufacturers of original electrical products can be negatively affected by the existence of counterfeit electrical products in the market. When their products are counterfeited, their reputations are damaged and the customer trust that they had painstakingly built over the years is put at risk. Sales of the counterfeit electrical products also represent loss of sales in their original electrical products. Counterfeiting is, therefore, comparable to theft of the products of original manufacturers.

According to the Anti-Counterfeit Products Initiative, the problem of counterfeit electrical products needs to be tackled. Then again, the Anti-Counterfeit Products Initiative admits that the entire electrical industry has to unite and work together in order to win over this challenge.

William J. Ferguson, vice president of administration and general counsel for Babcock Power Inc., warns unscrupulous electrical contractors who use counterfeit electrical products: “You will be sued for breach of contract, negligence, gross negligence, perhaps internal misrepresentation, strict liability or fraud. … You could face up to 10 years in prison, $5 million in fines and $10 million for the company for a first offense.”

Kevin Yates, vice president of Siemens Energy and Automation, Residential Products Division, agrees, saying “If you choose to install a product that is not genuine but counterfeit and causes harm, you can be held liable for personal damages and possibly face imprisonment.”

Stephen Litchfield, assistant general counsel ofSchneider Electric/Square D, warns consumers, “We did some tests on counterfeit circuit breakers. We discovered the counterfeits had a 3,200-amp short circuit rating instead of the expected 10,000-amp. They also exhibited erratic tripping and had no calibrations. … What if you had a dangerous electrical problem in your home that wasn't caught because the counterfeit circuit breaker doesn't trip?”

If you want to keep your electrical systems free of counterfeit electrical products, you should not trust fly by night electrical contractors. Keep your residential, commercial or industrial electrical systems safe by relying only on reputable professional licensed electrical contractors.