Electrical problem in my apartment?

could be several things,sounds like the bldg. hasn't got a real good ground,if the apt. above has leaking water pipes you should have some type of damage in your apt. on the ceiling or walls maybe both.and if it is leaking yes it needs to be addressed and repaired,but if you got shocked then that's not the only problem,you have an open ground in the system somewhere.maybe he isn't pulling your chain,maybe putting a shade on the lamp maybe

It sounds like a static charge shock. What did it feel like? Was it a little nip or was it a real hard punch in the face that almost stopped your heart? It's possible that the supply lines have shorted to a live wire, but normally this would trip a breaker. If your breaker is bad and the supply lines have shorted to the supply lines, you'd get damn near electrocuted every time you touched any plumbing fixture in the apartment. Is your electrical panel glowing with all the heat from this fault condition? This is a tough one. I'm still thinking static charge discharge because you are still alive. It has nothing to do with anything except that you have some real dry air in your apartment.

You could insist on all the normal breakers being changed over to GFCI breakers (some people call them GFIs or RCDs or RCBOs (which are slightly different)).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_devi...

Sometimes people put wiring too close to pipes or wrap them around pipes as they run the wire thru the building and the covering can wear off. I've heard that also sometimes the ground wire attached to metal pipe will cause this.

Critters getting into the walls can cause wire covering to be worn/chewed thru so it touches pipes.

You need to get him to give you a time that you must wait until you can use your bath or he'll drag his feet perhaps. Then you can call and ask how it's going. If it's not fixed in 3 business days, call the health dept.

It sounds feasible. Also It would be have to be a very poor landlord if the person he sent round did not know what he was doing. What you described is potentially lethal. What he says is probably true but make sure that this guy is a registered electrician and not some cowboy.

Hi Andrea:

Sorry to hear of your dilemma.

May be a building ground, at the main water pipe and/or a water meter ground jumper, that has lost continuity at the clamps, and is allowing the neutral return current to travel randomly to where-ever it can find a ground,( this time it was you)?.

Please let us know what they find.

i was thinking of static electricity too. if it were anything else you would have received a life threatening shock. better safe than sorry. i wouldnt mess around with this issue. i would make it clear to my landlord that my shower is shocking me and i don't like it one bit as in i'm headed to a motel at your expense. let me know when it's fixed.