Since that electrician is more likely to know the routing of the cable to the light fixture, talk with him/her first. Tell him you are not pleased and wait for his reaction. He might offer to correct the problem.

Most motion sensor lights are installed without switching as they are activated by motion, wanted or not. It would seem to me that what you may want is a seperate switched light for your patio. I can trip my motion lights but unless I stand there, they will go out.

I always include switch control. Some of the lights have limited programming accomplished by switching on and off in particular sequences.

Texasredhead, thanks for the tip! That never even dawned on me. I'll ask for a regular light in addition to getting a swittch on the motion sensor.

Busdriver, I appreciate your reply. When I do get the motion switch, I'll have to find the instructions for the light, since the electrician didn't leave them for me.

Go easy on him. The electrician most likely wasn't trying to cheat you out of a switch. He probably had to bid the job only to meet minimum code in order to get it. Anything extra would have to be paid for as an extra to his base price. Everything is cut-throat right now. If he had included extras such as switches and additional receptacles his price would have been too high and the next guy would have gotten the job. Everybody just sees the final price, instead of looking at what they are getting for that seemingly higher price.

Btharmy, there was no cheating involved. It's simply a miscommunication and an oversight on both our parts. BTW, the contractor handled the subs, and the elecric was part of the total price of the addition. I was never part of any bidding.