my guys stealing romex?

[jaylectricity]

I don't think the one black on is an old-work box.... probably a nail-on.

I didn't count the black one, because I wasn't sure about that one.

The blue one is though, right? And that other beige one in the cardboard box on the right? I'm just busting your chops, but there are 14.

 

[480sparky]

I didn't count the black one, because I wasn't sure about that one.

The blue one is though, right? And that other beige one in the cardboard box on the right? I'm just busting your chops, but there are 14.

There were probably more, just not showing in the photo. I took the shots early into our 'discovery'. This was probably about 6 years ago, so my memory's not what it used to be.


Oh, and my memory isn't what it used to be.

 

[Finite10]

I visit work areas after my crew is gone if I'm thinking too much material is being used. I would NEVER even apraoch letting them know I suspected them. If there is evidence, I lay a trap and try to catch them. Visit sites after the end of shift if need be, check work, progress, and mats.

I also casually state my personal position:
Why would someone ruin a job that pays well and end a good career over some wire? I usually say that after someone tells a fish story about a wire theft.

Pick your moment and don't 'mess' on a good thing. Trust but verify for a while.
That's my .02 and worth every cent ya paid!

 

[480sparky]

.............Why would someone ruin a job that pays well .........

To the thief, the job will never pay well enough.

........and end a good career........

Thieves never have a honest job they will consider a career.

.......over some wire? ...........

Because they consider it 'free money'. That's what thieves like!

 

[growler]

To the thief, the job will never pay well enough.

This is true and years ago I knew of a job foreman where he and his whole family were thieves. He ( or one of his sons ) would get a job running a job for a company and then start to bring in the rest of the family to work on the job. Soon he would have the whole family working there and they would rob the company blind. They managed to make this system pay well for themselves because they didn't sell the wire and tools for scrap they would use the materials and tools they stole to do their own jobs.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Heard a story one time and I'm not sure it's true, but it was still a good story.

Seemed to the owners that they were going through a lot of material to build 6 houses. The super was always calling in saying they were short. One day they showed up to the project and were standing in the street....1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,.....7, 8 houses.

Seems the super bought two more lots on the street and was building two houses for himself.

 

[JFletcher]

Does anyone have any tips on marking romex so that you can keeps tabs on whether or not the guys are putting it in the walls and not taking it??

I suppose you could mark the romex with a plastic-safe UV dye, and, at the end of the rough-in, take a blacklight thru the building to see how much, if any of it, got installed...

Why is it you suspect theft? Go to the job, see if the wire is going up across and down - instead of just across. They might even be leaving 3-4' of slack everywhere. (I guy I recently did work for pretty much demanded that, to allow moving stuff, but boy did it feel wierd/stupid. And it did eat an awefull lot of wire)

Excellent points. Also, it could be they left out materials that were taken by someone else (another trade or vandals), and don't want to admit it out of embarrassment or fear of reprisal.