Issue with coworker

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Jnewell

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I put this in here to get an idea from owners/managers on how to handle this issue. I am a licensed Master in NV, but moved to CA because of a very complicated family situation. I have yet to get my card transferred here due to needing paperwork from SSA and the COVID crap shutting them down.

i just started a new job this week and I worked with a guy yesterday whose work was pretty but he has no concept of code and theory. The company is a big outfit and I have no relationship with my direct supervisor but a little more with his boss cause he hired me. But my direct supervisor is friends w the guy I worked with yesterday.

We did an installation yesterday that is an inspectors nightmare if they know what they are looking for, if no the work is very clean and they would think it’s professional cause it looks good. Violations include conduit fill, undersized feeders due to ampacity corrections, undersized branch circuits due to ampacity, oversized breakers(when originally installed), and much more but these concern me the most. They guy didn’t even look at the prints and relocated everything to a sub when they weren’t supposed to go there, complete disaster. I told the guy many different times that it was wrong and a fire hazard but he wouldn’t listen because I’m new and younger. Instead of looking at the NEC he said he called someone and they told him what I said was wrong. I refused to tie it into the breakers and land lugs because I new it was wrong.

My question isn’t whether I say something or not, cause I am. But do I bring it to my direct supervisor or the main supervisor? And how do I approach it, cause I don’t want to create problems but it needs to be fixed before it burns down that house
 
May be bad advice, but for the time being I would note the details and hopefully the inspector will do his job.
You need to be a bit more established and have more one-on-one relationship with the supervisor before bringing it up.
 
Since you've already decided to go ahead and bring this to someone's attention (work your way up the chain don't start at the top) I don't see much use in posting it here but since you've have like Augie I will add my opinion.

My 2 cents, I wouldn't say a thing. If you didn't do the shoddy work then just forget it. I've been dealing with similar installations practices for the past 25 years with all sorts of violations but it's not my job to get involved and it doesn't appear like it's your job either. I have at times made mention of certain things but in the end you just get branded as a know it all and nothing changes so it's not worth the effort. Guys who cause too much trouble end up unemployed.
 
Jnewell said:
But do I bring it to my direct supervisor or the main supervisor? And how do I approach it, cause I don’t want to create problems but it needs to be fixed before it burns down that house
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I'd start one step above whomever doesn't agree that it should be done correctly.

Approach it with the "right person" as you have done here: "What should I do if . . . "
 
Look up his license listing with the State to see if he has one. May as well look up the supervisor's license listing and his boss as well while you are at it. You don't want to go in missing information kind of basic to the problem.

If I was the one with the license and the other guys nearby did not, I would feel obligated to report the violations properly. If I had no license for the work violations, plumbing violations for example, I would feel no obligation to report. I would only discuss with the coworker, or maybe not. You may be able to get a feel for how much pushing the guy can take, or his openmindedness, towards the problem. If he is a smoker, forget about speaking to him about it. He will only hold a grudge and nothing else.

Reporting the coworker's violations to anyone has a high probability of causing your own job loss. Better than 90% probability I would say. If you decide to go forward reporting and the company is not so huge, consider speaking directly to the owner of the company without hesitation. If it is either going to cause your own job loss or not, may as well get it from the highest level possible.

You could ask for a transfer to another coworker and cite somehing benign, like cultural differences or BO. Bad BO may be something safe to cite.

Also, if it is on a breaker and the trip setting works and is relatively close, it is not going to burn down. Long term heating can bake the vinyl insulation and make it brittle. I would not mention it burning down unless it had already burnt, just the code reference.
 
Im torn both ways cause it’s wrong for the company due to liability and to the customer cause it’s shoddy work that they paid for. But the reason it’s a big deal is he put all the feeders and branch circuits in the same 2” conduit with the feeders rated at 130 without adjustments with a 175a breaker. Normally I will say something, explain why and if the guy changes it they do or don’t. This just feels way wrong
 
I was that guy who always pointed stuff out - mostly to people who helped me. The problem was, I typically didn't find out until the other guy was gone. I would thank him for the help, then fund all kinds of issues, then tell the boss.

I got branded as two-faced.

So I started going through and looking at someone's work before they would leave, and got branded as a nit-picker.

If you have that much conviction, make an anonymous call to the inspector's office and ask them to note some violations to look at. You can tell them you worked on the job and saw the violations first-hand.

Maybe they'll look
 
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