General contractor and licensed electrical contractor fined $66,250 for illegal electrical work

A general contractor and a licensed electrical contractor have both been convicted and fined for illegal electrical work done in several schools in the Ottawa, Kingston and Pembroke areas. On Apr. 3, 2014 Mario Giroux, owner of Construction “G” operating in the Ottawa area, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of performing electrical work without an electrical contractor’s license, eight counts of failing to apply for inspection and one count of leaving an unsafe condition. On April 24, Nick Medewar of NM Electric was convicted in an Ottawa court of six counts of illegally taking out electrical permits on behalf of an unlicensed contractor working for Construction “G”.

Construction “G” hired a worker who performed electrical work on its behalf but did not ensure this worker held the required electrical contractor license. The worker subsequently arranged to have electrical permits taken out illegally by Medewar, a Licensed Electrical Contractor (LEC), for work at several schools of the Conseil Des Ecoles Catholiques du Centre-Est and at least one residential site. The worker also has been charged with doing electrical work without a license and this case is before the courts.

“This is an issue where multiple illegal actions put public safety—specifically children—at risk,” said Normand Breton, ESA’s general manager, Harm Mitigation, who oversees ESA’s electrical contractor licensing system. “Through the course of our investigation, we discovered significant electrical hazards at one school that could have seriously injured or killed someone, or caused a fire.”

The court imposed a fine of $58,750 for Giroux’s violations and Medewar was fined $7,500. Both fines include a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Only licensed electrical contractors are permitted to contract to perform electrical work in Ontario under Ontario Regulation 570/05, Licensing of Electrical Contractors and Master Electricians.

ESA worked with the school board to ensure all electrical defects were corrected by a Licensed Electrical Contractor in compliance with the Ontario Electrical Safety Code.