Sidework

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... And with those last few posts, gentlemen, I have decided to gracefully bow out of this discussion. My opinions and my position have been made clear enough I think, and now this is starting to sound like a broken record.

Kudos to everyone for keeping this touchy subject civil.
 
EBFD6 said:
This maybe true, I am an employee, and therefore need an employer. I do not, however, need my current employer. It blows my mind how employers think they are doing you some kind of favor by allowing you to go to work. It's a two way street.

Maybe you don't need me but someone does!
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I never said or meant to imply that employers don't need employees. One cannot exist without the other. I agree it's a two way street.

I would never hire anyone that I thought I was just doing them a favor by allowing them to work for me. There would have to be some other reason for me to hire them other than just doing them a favor by hiring them.

They know you're bringing something of value to the company or why else would they hire you?
 
Doing electrical contracting, as side work, with the proper licenses, required insurances, and permits, in states where requires to be licensed, is legal and is not a problem.

Doing electrical contracting, as side work, without the proper licenses required insurances, and permits, in states where requires to be licensed, is illegal.

We would all be in big trouble, if everyone desided to pick the laws they wanted to obey.
 
iwire said:
Know what?

That my friends working out of their garages with no office, no employees, no health insurance to cover have a lower overhead then emahler that runs a full time business with employees in business friendly NJ?

Just a wild guess. :grin:
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I know I'm just yanking your chain.

But I'm talking about overhead per billable hour here.

A guy can have revenue of $500 a year doing side work but could have overhead expenses of $1,000 a year with licensing, insurance, tools, vehicle expenses, etc.

So it's more of looking at overhead expenses in relation to revenue.

I'm a one man shop working out of my home but my overhead versis revenue can still exceed a 10 man shop. Ten electricians can bill for and bring in more revenue than I can. My percentage of overhead to revenue could be higher.
 
electricalperson said:
sidework will always be a big part of my career. i love what i do and i want to do it as much as i can.
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I love to snowboard, play the guitar, skateboard, mountain bike and spend time with my family. In fact I love doing this stuff so much that I'm willing to do it without pay. I'm willing to pay other people money just so I can do these things. It would be great if I could get paid to do these things but I'm not good enough at any of them so I do electrical work.

I do electrical work so I will have the money to do the things I love. I don't love electrical work and would never pay someone just so I could do it.

I think you guys that love electrical work are crazy. :)

Would you do electrical work for free or pay someone for the opportunity to do electrical work? If not you may not love it as much as you think. :)

If I won the lottery I'd never do electrical work again. I'd do a lot more of the things I love and maybe even find some new things to love. :)
 
aline said:
I love to snowboard, play the guitar, skateboard, mountain bike and spend time with my family. In fact I love doing this stuff so much that I'm willing to do it without pay. I'm willing to pay other people money just so I can do these things. It would be great if I could get paid to do these things but I'm not good enough at any of them so I do electrical work.

I do electrical work so I will have the money to do the things I love. I don't love electrical work and would never pay someone just so I could do it.

I think you guys that love electrical work are crazy. :)

Would you do electrical work for free or pay someone for the opportunity to do electrical work? If not you may not love it as much as you think. :)

If I won the lottery I'd never do electrical work again. I'd do a lot more of the things I love and maybe even find some new things to love. :)
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I couldn''t agree more. I like what I do for a living, and since I have to work I would rather do this than most anything else. That being said, I work to make money and if I didn't need the money I most certaintly wouldn't be doing electrical work. If I won the lottery and needed some electrical work done at my house, I would pay someone else to do it!:grin:
 
aline said:
I think you guys that love electrical work are crazy. :)
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Call me crazy then.

Actually, I don't love electrical work.

I love building an entire service from scratch... obtaining the parts and putting it all together. Kind of like a sculptor with clay, or an artist with a board full of paint. I love making my panels look like art as well.

I love bending pipe. I love the mathematics involved. I love subtacting 21-7/8 from 32-9/16 with a tape measure. I love watching a pipe job go together.

I love pulling all the pretty colors of wire. Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Brown, Black, Orange, Grey!!! I love the challenge of planning what colors to use.

I love taking pix of all my work the last day of rough-in.... knowing the next person who will see it is going to be tearing it down years from now.

I love trimming out... receps, switches, lights..... I love finishing up that artistic panel.

And then the moment of truth..... All the breakers are turned on, and no Big Blue Zot! I love going around checking all the switches and receptacles.... yep, the 3-ways work as planned, and no problems with polarity on the outlets. Gotta love that!

And then the real biggy..... I just LOVE getting paid!

Would I still do electrical work if I won the lottery? Heck yes... someone's gotta wire my McMansion, and I know just the guy!
 
LawnGuyLandSparky said:
... And with those last few posts, gentlemen, I have decided to gracefully bow out of this discussion. My opinions and my position have been made clear enough I think, and now this is starting to sound like a broken record.

Kudos to everyone for keeping this touchy subject civil.
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What does "civil" mean. :wink:

Bowing out is probably the right thing to do because you have no credibility in my view. I get the impression that you are a union electrician. Correct?

The fact that you are defending sidework is laughable. I'll delete the rest of my comments and just leave it at that. :rolleyes:

Now excuse my while I go cross the picket line. :rolleyes:

Lock it up!!
 
i do sidework all the time and i see nothing wrong with it. im a journeyman electrician and i should be free to work when i want too. in my opinion only thing hurting the industry is the unlicesend/handymen doing electrical work.
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I have not read all the post so this may have been covered BUT electric person.

I hope you know a good lawyer, cause if there ever an issue electrical or not the fact that you are not a licensed contractor nor insured will make you look like the devil his self when you are in court. I have been involved in several cases with non insured non licensed electricians and when asked one question ARE YOU LICENSED AS A CONTRACTOR answer no. PAY UP SUCKER, they loss everything....
 
brian john said:
I hope you know a good lawyer, cause if there ever an issue electrical or not the fact that you are not a licensed contractor nor insured
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Not all areas require a 'contracting license' to legally do work.

Here in MA all that is required is that I hold a J-man license, I can either carry insurance or I can have the customer sign an insurance waiver....of course that waiver is no protection if you burn the home down.

When I did side job I carried liability insurance.
 
Ahhh but that makes no matter if they have licensing for contractors and your not licensed, the lawyer will be able to bring into question your suitability to do the work.

As you mention the best way to minimize exposure is with insurance. I was sued personally non work related, I had 5 mil of insurance, the A**hole wanted 16 mil...So having insurance is not always protection, but it is my suggestion. When you have insurance the insurance carrier will defend you in court, beats 20,000.00 plus for defense. Though I still recommend a lawyer of your own just to review what the insurance companies lawyer is doing, as he is employed by the insurance carrier and may not always have your best interest in mind, though in my case the insurance companies legal team WAS THE BEST.
 
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brian john said:
Ahhh but that makes no matter if they have licensing for contractors and your not licensed, the lawyer will be able to bring into question your suitability to do the work.
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Sure they will, just as they would of anyone that did the work.

There is no 'electrical contractors license' here, there are J-man or Masters, a J-man can run a two man shop, a master can go big.
 
iwire said:
There is no 'electrical contractors license' here, there are J-man or Masters, a J-man can run a two man shop, a master can go big.
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Do you need a business license or anything of that sort?
A tax ID number, anything?
 
growler said:
Do you need a business license or anything of that sort?
A tax ID number, anything?
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I can not anwser that, it seems the tax man would have to know you. :-?

I will see what I can find out.
 
growler said:
Do you need a business license or anything of that sort?
A tax ID number, anything?
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First time I needed a federal tax ID # is to register my company vehicles with the state..... go figure! :confused:
 
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