Copper Termites

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chris kennedy said:
Should he get death by electric chair before someone steals that wire too?
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He will most likely get a small fine, and no jail time. I think the judge should order him to replace all the damaged work, to the condition it was before he tore it out, he would remember that lesson the rest of his life. The article said about $2000 in damages to the wall, I wonder how much it will cost to replace all the damage.
 
I was wondering how long it'd take for someone to chirp in with new software logic stating the Valve of Goods/Verse Lost ~ Ratio's ... :rolleyes:
 
I believe that in order to recycle wire you should have to show an electrical card, journeymen, appret, contractor. I am so sick of these low lifes that steal my wire for crack or meth or whatever they are buying. We started making GCs have a tight measure of security on their homes , or else sign a vandilism theft waiver on the bottom of the bid. Its getting so rediculous. Man I despise a thief, stealing my living for some meth. Up here in the Seattle area its so bad that we wont even pull wire if its going to be left over the weekend. I agree with Chris , Electric chair it is:mad: :mad:
 
This late breaking news just in.

Man gets eletrocuted stealing wire from a commercial building. Apparently the wire had been stolen twice previoulsy. The EC had had enough so He hooked the unfinished wiring into the temp panel at night. The EC is being sued by alledged thief's family for negligence. They are seeking compensation in the amount of 300,000 for lost wages of the alleged thief.

Don't laugh that probably could happen although I made it up.

I had a service entrance that was left hanging over night because the inspector and poco couldn't make it till the next morning. Imagine how I felt when the inspector called me and informed me that he wouldn't green tag it for hookup due to lack of wire!

Good news I now buy my wire straight from the recycle yard (jk) but a thought.

I think that the recycle yards should be held responsible for accepting apparently new wiring or at least be required to take a drivers license# from the sellees
 
What ever happened to locking up the site at night?

I used to work for a security guard company when i was in school and we did a lot of work for construction contractors that did not have fences on their sites. Almost every insurance company required either fences or guards.
 
Copper theft is now a felony in Hawaii. And the recycle outfits are now required to photograph all who they buy scrap items from. And they must show reasonable proof that the customer had the right to posess the copper items. That is a bit hard on the salvage company's but to tell the truth they are all guilty as hell, and deserve the extra heat.
 
macmikeman said:
Copper theft is now a felony in Hawaii. And the recycle outfits are now required to photograph all who they buy scrap items from. And they must show reasonable proof that the customer had the right to posess the copper items. That is a bit hard on the salvage company's but to tell the truth they are all guilty as hell, and deserve the extra heat.
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It seems sort of silly to make copper theft a felony, when in most states theft of a few hundred feet of copper wire bumps it to a felony anyway, solely on the basis of the value of the stolen material.
 
I can't imagine ever providing and installing the same material twice. Any installed material belongs to the customer, and they are the victim of the theft, not me.

I once had a contracting company hand me a 22-page contract, and I read it. I reversed the part that said I was responsible for job-site security, and they agreed.
 
LarryFine said:
I can't imagine ever providing and installing the same material twice. Any installed material belongs to the customer, and they are the victim of the theft, not me.

I once had a contracting company hand me a 22-page contract, and I read it. I reversed the part that said I was responsible for job-site security, and they agreed.
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Unless you are able to control access to the site, there is no way you can be held accountable for security on the site.

I suspect that your suggestion that "...any installed material belongs to the customer, and they are the victim of the theft, not me" is probably not correct, unless you came to an agreement with them on that particular issue. AFAIK, its yours until they pay for it, unless you specifically agree otherwise.
 
petersonra said:
Unless you are able to control access to the site, there is no way you can be held accountable for security on the site.

I suspect that your suggestion that "...any installed material belongs to the customer, and they are the victim of the theft, not me" is probably not correct, unless you came to an agreement with them on that particular issue. AFAIK, its yours until they pay for it, unless you specifically agree otherwise.
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In the state i am working, once any material or equipment is fastened in place, it belongs to the property owner.

If your not sure it belongs to the owner, just try to remove it, and the judge will explain how it works.

Any clause that attempts to shift the ownership, once the material is installed, would fail the courts test, good documation, and if possible pictures of the job progress might come in handy.
 
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petersonra said:
AFAIK, its yours until they pay for it, unless you specifically agree otherwise.
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If I get a deposit on the job, which primarily covers the first batch of materials, I'd say they'd have a tough time showing they haven't paid for them.
 
LarryFine said:
If I get a deposit on the job, which primarily covers the first batch of materials, I'd say they'd have a tough time showing they haven't paid for them.
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Even if they haven't paid a deposit, presumably you've extended them credit by contract and delivered the goods.

It's not much different than taking a loan on a car and having it stolen the day after you drive it home -- you're not getting out of the car loan simply because it was stolen.
 
The way it works for us, perhaps through contracts is this.

If it's stock we simply have laying around the job not installed it's our responsibility to replace if stolen.

On the other hand if it's been installed it will be the GCs or owners problem to replace.

Not really sure what happens if we have it locked in a storage container that gets broken into.:-?
 
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