Thank you all for the help. The permit is required in my area. Cary is expensive but $100/hour sounds too much for electrical work. It might be the norm here who knows. On a side note, I moved here from Chicago land 2 years ago. Everybody and every website that compares expenses in different areas indicated that Cary would be cheaper but they were all wrong. Chicago land is cheaper in almost every aspect except for property taxes and gas. Gas won't be an issue soon
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I will get more quotes and report back.