Why the Job takes so long....

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stickboy1375

stickboy1375

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Litchfield, CT
I went to a job today to replace an existing fan that stopped working, I take the existing fan down, and say GREAT no box.... whats better is that the wire is BX... (no box no ground)... the BEST part is they switched the neutral... a half hour job now turns into 2 hours... plus the owner has 2 more fans I have to get up to code... :) Turns out the entire house has switched neutrals.... what a day...
 
When you go on calls like that, your dispatcher is normally "Bee-beep"ing you, asking, "Why is this taking so long? Are you having problems?", like somehow it's your fault. As if you don't feel bad enough, since you thought it would be a quick paddle fan changeout, and you're now gonna be there all day. Now you've got other people breathing down your neck.

Sometimes you open up a can of worms. Sometime quick jobs can turn into big jobs. Sometimes what you feel will be a major chore goes rather quickly. Sometimes you just can't tell.
 
Just in case this isn't obvious, I would like to mention that this sort of thing does not only happen in the installation and repair side of the electrical industry. The engineering and design side also encounters these issues. It usually begins with a lack of record drawings or a set of drawings that has no relationship with the as-built configuration.
 
How true Charlie.

I was once doing a final on one of eight buildings and the EC unrolled the plans. I told him no, I need the plans for this building, he said these are the plans for this building. I rolled the plans back up, handed them back to him and told him to either make the plans look like the job or the job look like the plans, I didn't really care which. They weren't even close.

On what stickboy said. It's not necessarly that they don't have time to do it right it's that they don't know how to do it right. What is it they say? A little knowledge is dangerous.
 
We all get jobs like that.Someone who has no clue of what the job really is tries to set the time and money.Few years ago i work for a guy like that.Go fix a dead outlet in a house another EC wired.Tells me be fast because he is only getting $75 total.Well house is full of furniture.Area i need at has home entertainment/bookcase.After trying everything else within reason i call the boss and tell him it will require them to move this first and even then no telling what we will find.He decided to eat the 2 hours and forget it.Jobs like changing out fans should be T&M ONLY.Any other way is foolish.Some fans take 20 minutes some an hour and that is based on box and wiring being ok.Let your boss know who screwed up and it wasnt you.
 
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mdshunk said:
When you go on calls like that, your dispatcher is normally "Bee-beep"ing you, asking, "Why is this taking so long? Are you having problems?", like somehow it's your fault. As if you don't feel bad enough, since you thought it would be a quick paddle fan changeout, and you're now gonna be there all day. Now you've got other people breathing down your neck.

Sometimes you open up a can of worms. Sometime quick jobs can turn into big jobs. Sometimes what you feel will be a major chore goes rather quickly. Sometimes you just can't tell.
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At this point I call the customer in and show them all the violations and explain the hazards, then I inform them that as a licensed professional I cannot just put the new one up there the same way, and besides it would be highly irresponsible for me to do it that way. I tell them what I need to do and how much it will cost. I also tell them I'm sure that they could find someone to simply hang the new one there like before if that's what they want, but that person wouldn't be me.

So far I have not had anyone tell me to leave.
 
I've had the offer declined. I had a guy this year ask me to install a light fixture outside on ungrounded prehistoric wiring that was in bad shape, and the light fixture was actually an old brass lantern from a ship that had some jury-rigged wiring in it to make it light up. I told him I'd only install a legitimate light fixture, and he said he really wanted this homemade contraption installed. We agreed to disagree and parted company.

Sometimes, though, ardently insisting on safety might not be what it seems. I know a plumber who seems like all he does is complain about how much work a fix is going to be, how unsafe things are, how he's got 25 years of experience and 12 licenses, etc. My impression of the guy is that all his protesting about safety, code compliance, his extensive experience, etc. is his way of covering for the fact that he either doesn't know what he's doing or is trying to feather his nest. I suspect a little of both. I ran into him on a troubleshooting job recently and heard that the HO fired him shortly afterward after finding out that one of his protests was completely baseless. He also claimed to know a lot about electrical work, but I had my doubts when he referred to "7 gauge" wire. :D
 
Biggest screw up in the industry I've seen from years of working in Alaska is people not familiar with the environment, that are in charge of design! What works in Texas, flops miserably in Alaska, and vice versa.

Wait till someone in Dallas (or anywhere else in America for that matter) thinks thinks you can Run a couple of one inch GRC runs from mod to mod on the same pad, in the oil patch, on the North Slope, and pull it in two days. When you tell them try a week or more for permits for everything under the sun (EIS, hot work permit, agency notification), and then two guys unknown time factor for the weather. It's easy to see why gas is $60 a barrel!
 
jeff43222 said:
He also claimed to know a lot about electrical work, but I had my doubts when he referred to "7 gauge" wire. :D
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Jeff, I believe that is when you start out as a #6 gauge and pull it, kinda tightly with a pickup. Isin't it? Or as we say down here in Texas " ain't it?"
 
jeff43222 said:
He also claimed to know a lot about electrical work, but I had my doubts when he referred to "7 gauge" wire. :D
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Did you know there is a #9 wire?
(not defended this guy, just a question)
 
al hildenbrand said:
:D Thanks for a hearty laugh! :D
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Al, don't laugh too hard. I just got through pulling a parking lot lightung home run with 4-#6's and I honestly think we mave have stretched the wire to a #7 gauge. We used a Maxis 3000 puller and thank goodness we had one, I wore out 4 hands pulling today.
 
Jim W in Tampa said:
My sons pulled a van home with romex.Next morning i looked at it and asked them how did you pull it home on 12-2? Dad ,it was 10-2 when we started LOL
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And I thought the orange faded to yellow from exposure to sunlight! :D
 
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