Originally Posted by
Jeff Eastman
The electrician said it was okay and not a safety hazard.
That answer (to some extent), as some have already pointed out, is that of timing.
The answer (to the rest of the extent) is that the electrician is wrong, and, depending on what you said and your wording, you may also be wrong.
First, let's take what the electrician said: "The electrician said it was okay and not a safety hazard."
"The electrician said it was okay ... "
It was, for eons.
" ... and not a safety hazard." I was always a safety hazard. Always was, and, until those old ones are changed, always will be.
No "upgrade", as Bob called it, is *ever* required. If the circuit 'should have been' run with 4 wires, then it 'shall' be replaced, meaning it is wrong, dead wrong.
If the circuit 'was not required to have been' run with 4 wires, then it 'should' be replaced, meaning it is safer to replace it, however, *IF* it is a 3 prong plug for the range or dryer, *IT IS* most likely only wired with 3 wires, meaning that correcting it may not be real easy - all depends on where the dryer is located in relation to the panel.
So, depending on 'how' you write them up, you could be right, or just partially right.