These people do us no favors

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weressl said:
I suggest that we re-think this a little bit. I agree that somebody needs to clean up the mess. If I am the Owner, then I would NOT want to pay a skilled electrician's rate for performing a different skill that he is not trained for and that skill commands lower wages than his. It is not wise utilization of resources. Of course this can not apply to small, residential jobs, but even there the Owner may chose to have a cleaning crew if it is a multicraft remodeling job.

Use the right tool for the job and use the right person too.
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I do NOT charge for clean up. If the customer has had any work done in the past, and he/she see's me wiping down counters, etc., you can bet someone else will hear of it. Look up "Above and beyond", in my dictionary, you'll find people hunting for my cards. I don't care if it's industrial, pick up your cr*p. We're not hogs, just technicians:rolleyes: Let's do it right the first time:smile:
 
76nemo said:
I do NOT charge for clean up. If the customer has had any work done in the past, and he/she see's me wiping down counters, etc., you can bet someone else will hear of it. Look up "Above and beyond", in my dictionary, you'll find people hunting for my cards. I don't care if it's industrial, pick up your cr*p. We're not hogs, just technicians:rolleyes: Let's do it right the first time:smile:
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If you made a profit you charged for clean up.

To make a profit you have to cover all of your expenses and still have money left over after that.

Clean up is an expense, so if you made a profit that expense had to have been paid for. Who pays for your expenses? The customer does or you don't make a profit. So YES you do charge for clean up. :)

Unless you're a non-profit organization like many electrical contractors are. :)
 
electricalperson said:
every time a customer sees me clean up they are very impressed. even if the house is a pigsty i clean the mess i made and the customer loves it :cool:
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I worked in one house where the homeowner smoked, I went to wipe off the wall were I had been working, and I ended up not knowing where to stop wiping from all the smoke :roll:
 
It's not like it takes much to clean up. Pick your stuff up when you leave. Throw the trash in a box or in thier garbage if available. Have a little Dewalt vac or ask the homeowner for one. 5-10 min tops for cleaning on a service call. If it's a rough, take 10 minutes to pick your junk up. Easy.. Just some people are lazy and are slobs.
 
Most builders and GC's, unless they have laborers/clean up crews, will have some kind of requirement for every trade to be responsible for cleaning up their own mess.
 
wireman71 said:
It's not like it takes much to clean up. Pick your stuff up when you leave. Throw the trash in a box or in thier garbage if available. Have a little Dewalt vac or ask the homeowner for one. 5-10 min tops for cleaning on a service call. If it's a rough, take 10 minutes to pick your junk up. Easy.. Just some people are lazy and are slobs.
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"Have a little Dewalt vac or ask the homeowner for one"

Never, Never, ask a homeowner for any tools or equipment, not very professional, leave that to the hacks.

The cities around here have laws that require contractors to remove all construction debries and removed equipment from the property, heavy fines if you fail to comply.
Leaving a old removed loadcenter, can cost you all the job profits in fines.
 
satcom said:
The cities around here have laws that require contractors to remove all construction debries and removed equipment from the property, heavy fines if you fail to comply.
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To me that is absolutely nuts.

That should not be a 'government issue' that should be a contractor / customer issue.
 
In response to laws about construction companies removing all debris Bob writes:

iwire said:
To me that is absolutely nuts.

That should not be a 'government issue' that should be a contractor / customer issue.
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I was just looking at a building permit card in Brockton, MA and attached was a sheet saying that all construction debris to be removed by contractor. It didn't specify the contractor, I imagine it referred to the G.C., but nonetheless it was there.

Personally I clean up after myself unless there is an oral agreement on the trash and debris. I've never signed a contract with a homeowner or G.C. for any work that I've done, so I don't really know about signing pieces of paper to assure the proper pieces of paper do what they're supposed to do. (i.e. binding agreements, dollar bills, etc.)

Many times I will sweep, vacuum, brush all my debris into a single container (usually one of the boxes from a fixture or fan) and ask the customer where to leave it. If the customer asks for me to remove it completely I put it in my truck and put it in the dumpster where I live.

T & M means that you pay me until I leave, so if you want me to clean up I'm more than happy to do so. If we agreed upon a price without talking about trash, then we'll deal with that when we come to it. It really hasn't been a problem for me so far.

Aside from that, I am more than willing to create work for my fellow construction workers. I clear this additional work with the homeowner. If I have to make a few holes that a drywaller/plasterer/painter have to fix, so be it. If somebody gets to make some money cleaning up a job site, I'm more than willing to spread the wealth. I'm not doing it to be a jerk, I'm just giving everybody an opportunity to make a living. Sometimes the homeowner agrees to do the tidying up themselves. One thing for sure though: Sometimes the person at home while I'm doing the work will assure me that he/she (usually she) will take care of it for me. Then when she (I mean he/she) gets lazy and the other half gets home, I get blamed for it. So in those cases I usually say, "No, No...just let me clean it up for you."
 
Worth repeating!

Worth repeating!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ItsHot
Hey Aline! You thinkin' like a plumber!



IT'S about time we all did!!!!!!!! There only about $20 apart each job!

C'mon. we're pros too. The more you make the more I make.

Lets get together!!!

As Far as the "Craigs list" crap.

Lets start baiting them and turning them in!!
It aint that hard.:mad:

This is OUR profession, that WE have worked hard at acheiving!!

Lets keep it.Check for Lic. #s and insurance!!!! (note i left out permits:wink: ) but you can if you like.

It's realy quite simple. Just takes a little effort. Obviousley we all have computers!
 
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