$25/hr Electrical Work

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Gotta be honest I wouldn't waste time worrying about who did the work. There is going to be sidework and there is going to be hack work by the unskilled. I wouldn't even go down the road of worrying bout the contractor. That's the homeowners problem. I'd pull a permit if neccesary. I don't see it as neccesary unless some rewiring is required myself. Put the breaker in. Plug test and roll to the next job.
 
Trovmar said:
I have an idea. Why don't we take up a collection and place an ad on National or Local TV as a public announcement on why people should use Licensed Proffesionals. If it is done with class and style it will make people think twice when hiring the shmoe next door.It would explain the benifits of hiring us and we could show exmples of what could happen when things go bad...ex. fires, customers being ripped off, etc. Just a thought. I had a buddy who sold air time for TV. It would be expensive. Maybe during half time at the Super Bowl.

Trovmar NJ Licenced Electrician
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You know... milk costs a lot of money right now. Yet I still see advertisements for "Milk" on TV. Doesn't everyone already know about milk? If they didn't spend that money on advertisements would the price of milk go down?

The reason I ask is because you make a good point. Right now big corporations such as the Blue and Orange can spend money "informing" homeowners that they can do the job themselves, which also leads to "handymen" being informed that they too can do the job, for much less without the licenses and permit fees.

The public needs to be informed that licensed is the way to go, and the licensed need to be informed that they should always do the work correctly to back up that claim.
 
wireman71 said:
Gotta be honest I wouldn't waste time worrying about who did the work....I wouldn't even go down the road of worrying bout the contractor. That's the homeowners problem.
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When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.



The side jobbers and unlicensed hacks are certainly entitled to earn a living, but they need to play by the same rules the rest of us must follow.
 
mdshunk said:
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The side jobbers and unlicensed hacks are certainly entitled to earn a living, but they need to play by the same rules the rest of us must follow.
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I agree with you in principle 100%. But practically speaking, how do "we" make "them" follow "our" rules? I just don't see how we can stamp out unlicensed contracting.
 
peter d said:
I agree with you in principle 100%. But practically speaking, how do "we" make "them" follow "our" rules? I just don't see how we can stamp out unlicensed contracting.
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Realisticly, we can't stop it. It will always happen. We cannot, however, overlook it and pretend like it's okay with us. Some of this handyman electrical work I come across is downright deadly, scary, and outright criminal. It's on these special occasions that I will drop a dime. Another such occasion is when I lose a bid for interesting work, and find that an unlicensed out of the area contractor is doing the work. I take great pleasure in turning those guys in.
 
mdshunk said:
Realisticly, we can't stop it. It will always happen. We cannot, however, overlook it and pretend like it's okay with us. Some of this handyman electrical work I come across is downright deadly, scary, and outright criminal. It's on these special occasions that I will drop a dime. Another such occasion is when I lose a bid for interesting work, and find that an unlicensed out of the area contractor is doing the work. I take great pleasure in turning those guys in.
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Davis9 ran into some shady stuff today. Double feeds relying on breakers to be on the proper phases, 18 gauge lamp cords using both conductors in parallel to "equal" a 14 gauge wire... some messed up stuff.
 
Trovmar said:
I have an idea. Why don't we take up a collection and place an ad on National or Local TV as a public announcement on why people should use Licensed Proffesionals. Trovmar NJ Licenced Electrician
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Around where I live there has been some effort to do that. Unfortunately, it has come across more as a demand people use union labor than anything else. People are not so stupid that they buy into the idea that the most expensive option is always the best. Most often "good enough" really is good enough.
 
petersonra said:
People are not so stupid that they buy into the idea that the most expensive option is always the best.
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It's true you can't fool all the people all of the time,
but you can fool some of the people all of the time,
and you can fool all of the people some of the time,
and that's all we want. Have a nice day. :smile:
 
That's a little harsh. I thought we have these laws in place (requiring licensed professionals) so the average HO isn't required to become an expert to have work done.

If a homeowner get's a quote from two places both claiming to be legit (both flashing license numbers etc) should they be condemed for choosing the lowest bid?

Well I feel sorry for them whether they took the lowest bid or not. They get ripped by an unethical person breaking the laws that are there to protect the uninformed customer.
 
That depends on how low the lowest bidder is. If an estimate for a "Heavy up" comes in around $2000.00 from 3 different contractors, give or take a couple hundred, I wouldn't blame them for going with the lowest. But when Jake the snake shows up with a bid for $999.00 then the HO is asking for trouble.

4 years ago, my brother put a 2nd floor over his 3 bedroom ranch. BTW, when he started this project, he actually called contractors and showed them what he wanted done with a freehand DRAWING! (And got BIDS with no specifications. I convinced him the 1st step is an architect and it was money well spent.)

A bedroom suite, a media room, an open loft area, and a very large (unfinished but with heat, a/c and electric) room for future conversion to 1 large or 2 smaller bedrooms. He got 3 bids - $140,000.00, $160,000.00, and $80,000.00. After the shell went up and the entire house was re-sided, the work came to a grinding halt. At that point the contractor realized everything costs 2x what he expected (And copper & lumber prices were also skyrocketing.)

Long story short, it took over a year from start to completion, and getting each step in the process done was like pulling teeth.
 
I'm boiling right now! I'm going to keep my comments to myself!
:mad:

You have no idea what I want to say.............................!!!!!!!!!!
 
mdshunk said:
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.



The side jobbers and unlicensed hacks are certainly entitled to earn a living, but they need to play by the same rules the rest of us must follow.
Click to expand...
Exactly! It's ridiculous to say we should turn our heads!!
 
mdshunk said:
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
Click to expand...

I'm really sorry about that Marc but with that suit on I thought you were a Jehovah's witness. It was an honest mistake.

Edit: ( This is a joke, probably in poor taste,but so funny I had to say it ).
 
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