October 31, 2017 — On Oct. 10, 2017 Jose Julio DeNobrega was convicted in a Burlington, Ont. court and ordered to pay a $45,000 fine plus a $5,625 victim fine surcharge for conducting unsafe electrical work without an electrical contractor’s license at 14 locations in Hamilton, Burlington and Oakville.

DeNobrega pleaded guilty to 45 charges total, including multiple counts of working without an electrical contractor’s license, not taking out an electrical permit, unauthorized connection of power and leaving an electrical hazard.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of issuing a false document. DeNobrega provided the general contractor he was working with a false document containing an Electrical Contractor Registration Agency (ECRA)/ESA license number that did not belong to him.

Much of the electrical work DeNobrega did was found to be non-compliant with the Ontario Electrical Safety Code. The most serious instance was when DeNobrega removed an electrical meter from an apartment building wall, leaving live wires and electrical parts exposed to the public and putting himself at major risk of an electrical injury.

“We will not stand idly by while illegal electrical work done in Ontario puts the public at risk,” said Scott Saint, Chief Public Safety Officer, Electrical Safety Authority (ESA). “Electrical safety is a shared responsibility among contractors, homeowners and the public. We all need to do our part — and comply with the law — to ensure a safer Ontario for everyone.”

“The laws for conducting electrical work in Ontario are very clear: only a Licensed Electrical Contractor can do electrical work for hire,” added Normand Breton, Director of Contractor Licensing, ESA. “In this case, Mr. DeNobrega broke the law, provided misleading information and put the public at risk. This simply won’t be tolerated by ESA and this conviction has indicated it won’t be tolerated by the courts either.”