Am I being ripped off? Electrical contractor

[Wilson Lee]

I have a four unit apartment building. The person who sold the building may have installed new plugs/ outlets. I hired a contractor to change out two electrical panels. The exact wording is “CHANGE OUT 2 100A SUB PANELS.”

The city electrical inspector says the breakers he put in to the new panel are not up to code. And they must be brought up to code because there are new plugs in the building. (Arc fault breaker’s)

I feel that the panels include breakers in the breaker’s must be breakers that are up to current code.

Our contract states He is not responsible for “Additional electrical work beyond that specifically mentioned in this estimate and proposal including, but not limited to, that which may be required because of pre-existing electrical code violations or additional work revealed to be necessary as a result of performing the specified work.”

He is trying to say the breakers are not a part of the panel and wants to charge for the correct breakers.

What are your thoughts?

[David Robertson]

So is the electrician planning on reinstalling the old breakers in the new panel?

I would be shocked ⚡(pun intended) if an electrician did not include new breakers if they were installing a new panel, especially with the understanding that the current breakers did not meet current building codes.