Vortice
1/3/2017 12:47 EST
Please pardon the pun, but you will be shocked by accepted electrical standards here. It is common to have exposed wiring with twisted together conductors with virtually no insulation (in public and private spaces); I have seen decent plastic set screw connections, electrical tape, scotch tape and missing tape. It is common for lightbulb bases to hang from ceiling and wall boxes by the two conductors themselves. Given that this is a 240 volt system rather than 120 volt, the potential for serious electrical shock is at least four fold! (double the voltage = double the current and so four times the power in watts) These conditions are generally accepted here, so I would not expect a huge demand for paying to have the job done to North American standards. Absurd as this will sound to you, plumbing fittings, (90º) elbows are used in lieu of sweep fitting in electrical conduit here. Of course this means no pulling or re-pulling of wires, as the elbows must be threaded over the wire at the time of installation. Just plain stupid! The state run utility company UTE uses these elbows at your electrical service as well, it is not just the private electrical contractors! That conduit is white plumbing pvc pipe (often thinner than sch 40) or thin corrugated "smurf" tube rather than grey sch 40 pvc below ground and sch 80 pvc above ground. I will be doing my own wiring here and thermal bending my own pvc sweeps as needed as I did in the US. As with all construction here, there are many examples of top notch work, but sub-standard construction is very common here regardless of which trade one looks at.
As stated by others, you will find yourself competing on a much lower pay scale in a country that is not proportionally cheaper to live in. Not only will you need to speak Spanish well, there is an equipment learning curve that I am learning about now.
The electrical equipment/hardware is very different here, and mostly sourced from china. Breaker panel boxes are not of grounded metal, but are of plastic whether indoors, or out in the sun. I do like the "mini-Decora" style light switches used here and the fact that a single gang box can have one, two, or three rocker switches in it. That being said, I have not tried to wire one of these boxes yet and suspect that the limited volume there in will make for tricky connections and less room for slack wire. Being 240v, the wire gauges are half as big which does make it easier.
I do not intend to dissuade your consideration of living here, as we like Uruguay and the people very much. I only want you to be aware that there are many differences, particularly in the trades. I encourage you to make multiple exploratory trips before diving in.
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