kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
Probably not, and I guess there wouldn't be much to live for if I had, yet I doubt every dead person has "seen it all" :happyyes:Well then, guess you haven't seen it all, have you?
Probably not, and I guess there wouldn't be much to live for if I had, yet I doubt every dead person has "seen it all" :happyyes:Well then, guess you haven't seen it all, have you?
I am on the design side.
On a recient project, we rejected the lighting submittals at least three times. Drawings clearly specified specific, qulality, dimming, T5 fixtures with ~90% efficiency and Lutron occcupancy dimmers with Pico remotes. The first submittal had cheap ,65% efficiient fixtures and no dimming. The contractor fought me every submittal until he finally realized I was absolutely going to stand my ground.
Have also rejected most panelboard submittals at least once because the contractors didn't read bold, underlined requirements clearly shown on the drawings. Most of the suppliers are now wise to our requirements, but it took way too long to get through to them.
RC
And the Real Biggie: (This is true, I swear!) Old, 3-story house, had been converted to 6 apartments over the years. City got hold of it and was converting back to SFD. Walked out to van parked on street, and found water running along curb. Then more water. And more water. Pretty soon, I had to step out of the torrent. Plumbers were digging in new supply and broke the water main with their bucket. An hour after the city repaired it, they hit two fiber optic lines. Oops. No 911 for 3 counties. And if their day hadn't gone bad enough, here's the real kick-in-the-pants: Coming back from lunch, I turned the corner and saw a blue haze in the air. Thinking someone was burning yard debris, I parked and got out. I immediately was hit by the strong smell of natural gas.
Yep... plumbers hit the gas line. And not just any gas line.... a high-pressure line. Oh, and that's not all. Nearby was a commercial construction site that was doing dirt work. Since they didn't have access off the main streets, they got permission from the city to use one side street for the dump trucks to enter, and another side street for them to exit. No exceptions. So, when the plumbers hit the gas line, they effectively shut that job down 'cuz the gas company closed off all the streets in the area.
So the plumbers were on the hook for the water main break, the 2 fiber optic lines, and the gas line fiasco. That included the repair, paying for the lost gas (yes, they can calculate the amount of gas lost and bill accordingly), as well as the two operators on the job site and 18 dump truck drivers who had to sit for several hours.
Do you specify model numbers and throw in "or equivalent"? Or just your specifications and let them choose from those specifications?
Had a plumber, in the next town over, soldering in a new apartment complex. He didn't have a fire extinguisher and caught the wall on fire. Ended up burning down the whole complex almost, along with a fire truck that got put in a bad position during the fire.
That'll mess your week up. :happyyes:
Yep and they always seem to want to do that on a Friday evening.Speaking of plumbers, I don't know how many times I have seen a plumber turn of main water valve at the end of the day in a new building not quite completed and saying something to the effect that they wouldn't want something to start leaking while no one is there.
Every time that happens I am usually thinking it is better for it to leak now then after everything is done and owner/occupant moves their things in, the expensive part is usually all those personal things that get damaged more so than a little drywall that may need repaired.