Electrical Repair & Troubleshooting in California

Permits come from the city or county where the home is. For example: Los Angeles: In the City of Los Angeles, electrical permits are issued by LADBS. San Diego: Inside city limits, electrical permits come from the City of San Diego Development Services Department; other cities in the county and unincorporated areas have their own building departments. Sacramento: Inside city limits, electrical permits come from the City of Sacramento Community Development Department; unincorporated areas are permitted by Sacramento County, and suburbs such as Elk Grove run their own. Fresno: Electrical permits in Fresno come from the city's Planning and Development Department; Clovis and unincorporated Fresno County issue their own.

Los Angeles: LADWP (city of Los Angeles). San Diego: SDG&E. Sacramento: SMUD (publicly owned). Fresno: PG&E.

Often a GFCI elsewhere has tripped, or a connection in an upstream box has failed. Reset every GFCI first; if power does not return, the circuit needs testing.

A brief dip is common when a large motor starts. Hard dimming, or flicker across the whole house, can point to a loose service or neutral connection and should be checked.

The breaker is doing its job. Repeated trips mean an overload, a short or a ground fault that needs to be found, not a breaker to replace with a bigger one.