Who's responsible for replacing material stolen from jobsite?

[Buck Parrish]

I had a contractor that had a Deer camera on a tree. He caught the plumber stealing 2 packs of shingles.
About $50 worth, the plumber lost the job he had started. Plus his reputation,
And around here we don't forget thieves.

Chances are those plates are still at the recycle yard. Some of them get so much stuff like that. They try to sell it before they melt it.
Wouldn't hurt to check.
One of our local recycle yards has an area filled with brand new rolls of romex, #4 and #6 solid, too.
But they know the prices and are usually right about what the box stores are getting for it.

 

[kwired]

I had a contractor that had a Deer camera on a tree. He caught the plumber stealing 2 packs of shingles.
About $50 worth, the plumber lost the job he had started. Plus his reputation,
And around here we don't forget thieves.

Chances are those plates are still at the recycle yard. Some of them get so much stuff like that. They try to sell it before they melt it.
Wouldn't hurt to check.
One of our local recycle yards has an area filled with brand new rolls of romex, #4 and #6 solid, too.
But they know the prices and are usually right about what the box stores are getting for it.

Brand new reels of wire, brand new brass plates, wouldn't that raise suspicion a little when it is brought in?

The scrap yards I have brought things to take your fingerprint before they give you your check.

 

[petersonra]

Brand new reels of wire, brand new brass plates, wouldn't that raise suspicion a little when it is brought in?

The scrap yards I have brought things to take your fingerprint before they give you your check.

a lot of places local governments have started requiring some kind of ID to sell to scrap yards.

having said that, scrap yards get a lot of stuff in like this and always have. most of it is completely legit.

I was at a scrap yard about twenty years ago looking for a part for a car. They had a whole section dedicated to wire. There was every kind of wire known to man there. Much of it looked like leftovers but there were pallets of NM there as well - all unopened.

They had copper and steel pipe that looked like it was unused as well. Probably leftovers from construction projects where someone just tossed it rather than trying to reuse it.

 

[kwired]

a lot of places local governments have started requiring some kind of ID to sell to scrap yards.

having said that, scrap yards get a lot of stuff in like this and always have. most of it is completely legit.

I was at a scrap yard about twenty years ago looking for a part for a car. They had a whole section dedicated to wire. There was every kind of wire known to man there. Much of it looked like leftovers but there were pallets of NM there as well - all unopened.

They had copper and steel pipe that looked like it was unused as well. Probably leftovers from construction projects where someone just tossed it rather than trying to reuse it.

Understood, I just wish I had the kind of jobs that had those kind of leftovers.

I discarded a 500 foot reel of 12AWG, but only because it fell out of the truck and I wasn't taking the time to try to untangle it and see if it was still usable, but that is just one drop in a big bucket compared to what you mentioned.

 

[petersonra]

Understood, I just wish I had the kind of jobs that had those kind of leftovers.

I discarded a 500 foot reel of 12AWG, but only because it fell out of the truck and I wasn't taking the time to try to untangle it and see if it was still usable, but that is just one drop in a big bucket compared to what you mentioned.

20 years ago a lot of this stuff was cheap enough it might not have been worth the effort to try and salvage it.

When I first started as a control engineer in 1982, #16 MTW wire was less than 1 cent a foot. The place I worked did not even consider the cost of wire when they estimated a controls project because it was so minimal.

 

[DaveBowden]

Contractor's word was good - got paid today.
I'll keep stuff like this in my living room from now on if I have to.