Wow. That's hmmm... I don't even know what to say.

Waiting for other people to respond.

No.

That looks weird; what is the point of that strip of wood?

Edited to add... that is not a chair rail, there on the stairs, unless.... part of a motorized chair lift?

Not acceptable. The light switch needs to move.

Either move the light switch or the strip of wood, but that's just wrong on sooo many levels. It's scary to think someone would that...

No just no...

No that is not acceptable. It would help if you had another photo zoomed out to get a better overall look at the space.

Did you hire someone or are you doing this yourself?

Yes this piece of trim would fall into the chair rail category. Though the word "chair" is uses it has no reference to the piece of furniture you sit in. Chair rail like all moulding are used to provide definition through proportion. You should not just buy trim material and stick them on a wall. After you decide on the profile style you want you need to know what size you should buy and in the case of chair rail, at what elevation you should place it.

http://www.house-design-coffee.com/classical-orders.html

If you had done a little planning by a professional this would not have happened and the molding it not correct for the staircase wall.

Yea have to agree that this is not acceptable. That looks to be a chair rail, are you doing a simulated wainscoting? Hard to tell all that's going on with the close up shot.

Ridiculous !

Light switches have to be placed at a certain height so unless someone doesn't care about code I am going with chair rail moving.

If you can get a pic a bit further back it might help. I will assume home reno project? Easy fix either way don't get frustrated. LOL That cut to fit it was no easy.

No! I would move the light switch......or the molding, but that doesn't look good at all.

Unless this is an ADA house or your country or state or province has imposed additional regulations, a switch can be as high as 66". If it is not a required switch, than you can put it anywhere.

Where does the bottom step end in relation to the end of the chair rail? Does it sit back from the door casing? Before you remove the chair rail or relocate the switch, step back and take a look at cutting back the chair rail and connect it to a horizontal piece of chair rail running about 1" above the switch. This would be a typical approach if the bottom step did not go all the way to the door casing since the height would be measured from the horizontal floor plane. But you may be able to get away with this approach since it's at the bottom of the stairs and against a door opening rather than transitioning to a continuation of the wainscoting.

move switch to the left. fix railing

Looks awful.

One thing that helps determine the height of a chair rail is making sure you will not run into light switches, plugs or towel bars (in bath). It's the first thing you check for.

Switches are usually 47" from the floor to the bottom of the switch. Run the molding right bellow the switch.

You can also get a decorative block, put extension on the switch and run the molding right into it. Something like this, this way you don't have to move anything and avoid patch work.

Good luck