Interesting that I found almost the same thing in the restroom of one of my favourite Indian restaurants recently (I think there are new owners there). Except, that one was a troffer and the incandescent socket & CFL were cleverly wired around & outside the fixture and down through a ceiling tile. It doesn't look as bad as the one in your photo, but it's still very bad. I've seen MANY wiring violations in bathrooms of ethnic restaurants here - and it's interesting that U.S. electrical code is so comparatively strict when the line voltage is half of what it is in Asia.
The main reason why American (and Canadian) electrical code is much more restrictive than elsewhere is because of the nature of building structures. While in Europe most are made of masonry (concrete, bricks, etc.), North American buildings are often made of wood.
I guess there are more reasons, one of them being the actually much higher voltage used in commercial buildings, 277/480V in US, 347/600V in Canada, while the highest commonly used in Europe is 400V from what I've heard. Even in homes you don't only get 120V, your stove needs 240V!
I've seen a gift shop that's lit entirely with cheapo shoplites and instead of being hardwired, they are plugged into extension cords and are plugged into various outlets in the store.
It's either that or they go around plugging them all into the wall. Or I guess why not just flip the breaker off at the end of the day. I wouldn't be suprised if the place still used fuses. It's such a dump and it's in Providence. It's more like a second time around store than a gift shop, but my grandma likes to go there becuase they do sell some nice nik naks.
Nah that's too simple. Personally if i owned the place I'd remove the old fixture (or fixtures depending on how you look at it lol) and install a suspended ceiling with a 2X4 troffer with two or three T8 tubes.
I would re-drywall the ceiling and walls, then reballast the fixture (the ballast is probably bad which is why they did this) to T8 and stick in some 6500K lamps.
LOL! Try to get the Universal ballast on the off chance it's still good while they're remodeling! I often see lights, shelves, pegboard, etc. outside stores for free when they remodel! (Which for me is jackpot; I acquire all kinds of "Good Junk" all the time!
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I guess there are more reasons, one of them being the actually much higher voltage used in commercial buildings, 277/480V in US, 347/600V in Canada, while the highest commonly used in Europe is 400V from what I've heard. Even in homes you don't only get 120V, your stove needs 240V!