Thinking of a new career, talk me off the ledge.

[ron]

Here in NJ we have a statewide license which at least in theory levels the playing field. I live one mile from the NYS border and I never thought for a second to cross that divide and be a contractor there so I can understand your pain.

I designed a sizable project just a few miles over the NY/NJ border in NY, in which the Building Dept doesn't do a Plan review. Their little portion that might typically reside with the Building Dept, is now divided by me and the EC. New York doesn't have a Engineering/construction statute of limitations, so that little extra liability will go on to everyone's estate in perpetuity.

 

[electrofelon]

To my knowledge Utica does not reciprocate with others. But Oneonta even though it reciprocates with others it still only allows to the extent you don't have to sit for the license test if you have a license from one of the reciprocal areas but still have to pay the annual fee. Green county seems to have the widest range of others it reciprocates to.

I have heard others say green is a good one to get. I was formally licensed in Albany but let it expire years ago, so I currently don't have any New York license. I do have MA and Washington but they don't do me any good in New York. I actually just got approved to sit for the Orange county test. That's pretty far south of me I'm the only reason I pursued it is I've been doing some work for a solar contractor who has a few projects there.

 

[Fred B]

I have heard others say green is a good one to get. I was formally licensed in Albany but let it expire years ago, so I currently don't have any New York license. I do have MA and Washington but they don't do me any good in New York. I actually just got approved to sit for the Orange county test. That's pretty far south of me I'm the only reason I pursued it is I've been doing some work for a solar contractor who has a few projects there.

Yeah was told Green has reciprocity to Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Amsterdam, and Oneonta, if that helps.

 

[electrofelon]

Yeah was told Green has reciprocity to Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Amsterdam, and Oneonta, if that helps.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think in these upstate New York jurisdictions, "reciprocity" means you can get a permit just like you would if you were licensed there. Even if they don't reciprocate, most of them have the "class B" provision where you can just pay a high fee for a single permit.

 

[rambojoe]

Are you kidding sound like a movie??

I think its " My cousin Vinnie"...

 

[petersonra]

I think its " My cousin Vinnie"...

It is actually somewhat worse than it sounds, if that is possible. The county Chicago is in exempted itself from most building regulations, a decade or two ago a county building built as you might expect when graft is rampant caught on fire and was mostly destroyed because of shoddy construction.

 

[rambojoe]

It is actually somewhat worse than it sounds, if that is possible. The county Chicago is in exempted itself from most building regulations, a decade or two ago a county building built as you might expect when graft is rampant caught on fire and was mostly destroyed because of shoddy construction.

I don't doubt it...

 

[Seven-Delta-FortyOne]

Almost hung it up a couple months back. Going though a tough time and everything happening at once.

My two options in the back of my mind are commercial super, or, if I really want to chuck it all, go back to driving a truck. There’s a reason I keep my CDL active besides needing it for my own trucks.

I pulled out of it, and decided to stay as the frustrated small construction company with a ton of freedom, and honestly, way more money than I could make elsewhere for equal stress levels.

I have never been a commercial super for a large company, so I don’t know if that would be all the headaches for less money and less freedom or not.

I think there is always a grass might be greener thought process, which is completely normal, that’s why we explore other options. But, working for someone else will have its own set of headaches.

The less stress, generally, the less money. One of the main reasons I haven’t gone back to truck driving. I’m not going to make near the money running super dump down the highway as I can dealing with all crap I deal with every day.

 

[AC\DC]

Almost hung it up a couple months back. Going though a tough time and everything happening at once.

My two options in the back of my mind are commercial super, or, if I really want to chuck it all, go back to driving a truck. There’s a reason I keep my CDL active besides needing it for my own trucks.

I pulled out of it, and decided to stay as the frustrated small construction company with a ton of freedom, and honestly, way more money than I could make elsewhere for equal stress levels.

I have never been a commercial super for a large company, so I don’t know if that would be all the headaches for less money and less freedom or not.

I think there is always a grass might be greener thought process, which is completely normal, that’s why we explore other options. But, working for someone else will have its own set of headaches.

The less stress, generally, the less money. One of the main reasons I haven’t gone back to truck driving. I’m not going to make near the money running super dump down the highway as I can dealing with all crap I deal with every day.

You must be loaded!!!!truck drivers make +100k, and your making more !!! Good for you man kudos

I am money poor ,asset okay (lol)

 

[AC\DC]

I started my "first" electrical company in California. Work was great, and it was very easy working with the local AHJs. California has a statewide contractor license that is renewed every two years. It was just "easy". Most everything could be done online and relatively quickly.

A couple of years ago, I moved to New York with my wife. The plan was to keep the business running in CA remotely, and I did for about a year, but then my J-man quit on me. I moved the company to NY and restructured it. Got my van shipped out here, the whole kit and kaboodle. Working in NY is the polar opposite of CA, and it is a PAIN in the keester. Every county you want to work in requires its own license. And each test for the license is different. Then each license needs to be renewed each year. And it isn't cheap. Each little town or village has its own building department that transports you back 40 years with how old and outdated their processes are. It has only been about a year and a half since I moved the business here, but I am ready to shut it down and move on.

Help me reason on this. I may just apply to be a manager somewhere, like Starbucks.

To your point—- if you can make a switch, do something you want to do- you only live once and money not everything, especially if you have kids, my son rather hang with me than have me make money to buy him things. I have almost jumped off the ledge several times

 

[jmellc]

My local area it's about $450 for the business license PER City, per year. Pure taxation.
And if you don't cancel, the "subscription" automatically "renews" with fines year after year,
if you don't pull any local permits or do any local work.

It's getting time to drag some politicians and code officials through town behind a truck. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.