low277 wrote:The shoddy contractors should not only be ashamed but embarrassed to perform substandard work!!!
In Minnesota, all electrical work is supposed to be inspected. Most of the state by state inspectors and a few areas by city inspectors if their area is enforcing to a higher standard.
All electrical contractors are required to licensed, bonded and insured. If the inspector finds a installation that fails to meet NEC code standards, he can issue a correction order. It usually requires the contractor to complete any repairs or corrections, sign and date the order and return it to the inspector for re-inspection within 10 business days.
I have been a electrician my entire adult life, spent years in the construction side, working for others until I got my Journeyman and Masters licenses. I was also a state inspector for a number of years, now I head the electrical dept. of a large manufacturing companies facility group.
The work that a contractor performs and leaves behind is a direct reflection of his character!!!
I apologize on behalf of real legitimate contractors who take pride of the work that they do!!!
- Stand by, for a long tirade, full of personal experiences, opinions, and political views (as seen by me, a non-partisan voter): I'm in full agreement with you on contractor's (or anyone's) work being a reflection of their character. The diminishing standards I've observed are probably a reflection of the decline of the American value system, which started after WW2, as the returning vets tried to make a better life for their families, and the "keeping up with the Joneses" syndrome started. In the rush to a better life, gluttonous consumption became a lifestyle, greed became a byproduct, and laziness a spin-off. The way of life for many (most ?) became a race to buy as many new consumer goods as needed? to make their lives easier and more fun, and corporate types responded by giving them everything they wanted, enjoying huge growth and profitability along the way, and the whole thing spiraled out of control. The consumer was never satisfied, nor the corporate entity satisfied with the profits. But, it worked for almost 25 years following the war. But, when international competition became a factor, as the war-ravaged nations recovered (with the help of the Marshall Plan, the poorer countries grew to be competitors again, a factor mostly unimaginable during the golden age of the 50's in the USA;...it can be compared to raising a pet shark to go swim with), the consumerism continued to grow, and the corporate hunger for profits made the elite change the rules of the game.
- 'The old rules were that if you worked hard for your family, and for your employer, then the rewards would be commensurate, and both sides were reasonably sure of a long-term equitable relationship. When cheaper items from the recovering nations appeared on our shores, the consumer added them to the growing list of things everyone must have, and the corporate elite had no answer, but to lower some standards, downsize quality and quantity (remember the American cars of the later 70's, I try not to) so their profits wouldn't fall, and that opened the door for a rash of other changes in our society.
- It wasn't the youth rebellion of the 60's, or the equal rights movement, either, that so fundamentally changed the rules or our value system, so much, as it was the willingness of the average joe to buy buy buy anything that was offered him by the owners/corporate structure. Profitability of American companies, previously gained from fulfilling all the consumer needs, on all levels, was falling, as slowly the off-shore items took over, from lesser-cost goods (transistor radios in the 60's, to major-purchase items , like economy cars from abroad, in the 70's, especially). So, jobs went overseas so corporate greed was satisfied, and any governmental oversight was nil, with Congressmen turning a blind eye to this, since they were part and parcel to it, while the rampant consumerism of the citizen continued to fund this shift in the economy. Then, in the 80's, the populace seemingly got the "greed fever" of the elite, too, and everything that we knew before, all started an accelerated slide into the loss of integrity, work ethic, and personal values we see today. That's where the contractor ties into this sad story.
- Traditionally, the American builder/contractor was hard-working, skilled (many started un-skilled, but grew into their specialty skills, and proud of it), and usually assured that if they did a good day's work, they would be assured of a steady income for their families. But, as manufacturing (and also agricultural) jobs continued to be sent overseas, and the resulting influx of American displaced-worker job-seekers entered into the construction market (there still had to be a domestic one), or still sought homes for a lesser cost (many citizens, having had no assurance that their job would remain in-country, anymore, sought cheaper housing than before, in comparison), both factors shook-up the trades, IMO. Construction companies, whose owners were increasingly greedy, sought to maximize profits by hiring cheaper labor (unskilled American, and alas, including a horde of similar foreign workers-I won't deny the fact that most are hard-workers, but they still diluted the job market), and utilizing cheaper, often foreign-made building components, to build homes for America. Of course, I'm only talking of the lower classes, the 99% (or has it grown?), that have to live in poorly constructed homes, that are not nearly as solid as they were in the cheaper post-war housing boom, as constructed in the late 40's-50's.
- My Dad bought a 2-br, 1 bath, stick-built home in 1950, after I was born, in a tract housing area, after college graduation. Though the tract's main water and sewer lines were later found to be of rolled-up tarpaper (torn out and properly replaced en-masse, in '57-'58), the houses themselves had great oak planking, concrete pier and beam bases, copper plumbing, ceramic sinks and countertops, and an in-floor Williams (living room), and an in-wall Dearborn (bathroom) gas furnace. Everything "made-in America". That house, and the complete tract, are still occupied today, by the 3rd-4th generation of owners. Two houses later, my Dad bought another tract home, built in '79. More cheaply made, with mixed USA and foreign hardware, but the cost-cutting was evident everywhere, compared to the solidly-built, much smaller and cheaper 1950 house. But, good enough for his twilight years. After my parents deaths, in '97, the house was taken over by my brothers, whom I helped by doing repairs, and unknowingly financing others (thru funds siphoned off my share of the estate, before they spent it all)...repairs never needed on the 1950 house. The quality had changed, and perhaps the input of skilled work in building it? I don't know.
- One of my brothers was actually involved in the glass business, from '75-'01, where he ended up running crews for his friend, the company owner. I observed remotely their change in work ethic, choice of materials and work crews, but mostly in attitude and work ethic, over those years. Little glimpses, not day to day.They started out working for a big-name firm, then moved to another, and finally the friend started his own, small company, financed by family. At first, work meant everything to both, working hard and talking about it all night. Later, they worked as little as they could, and never said anything good about what they did, but "it is just a job", after laid off from the big company and working for the smaller one. A renewed interest and pride-in-their-work showed for a few years, when the company was their own, but as time went by, the friend started living high on the hog, and cost-cut everything he furnished, from trucks & equipment to labor payments for the workers. They ended up hiring unskilled, undocumented workers off the street, with only my brother and another worker with trained skills. They often met and drank all day, leaving only the alien workers onsite, until it caught up with them, and the company folded. They blamed each other, but the friend bought a ranch with his profits, and my brother lived off me and my parents for the next 16 years, until his early death, unemployed. Maybe deservedly unemployed, for using shady practices? My only other knowledge of contractor practices, over the years, until recently, was from three former members of my drag-racing team (also "former"), that were plumbers, and cut corners on hired jobs, and eventually all went to doing only "new construction" work, because their work ethic was lacking. They talked of slacking on the jobs, and substituting lesser materials when doing contract work, so maybe it was better that they all ended working under others.
- I sorta buried all these thoughts deep into my subconscious, when I started to try to find good & honest people to help with my rushed new home project. At times, I have felt like Diogenes, looking for an honest man (contractor). I resorted to using an online contractor service, with two successes, and one failure, to find a conscientious contractor, though I may have chosen wrong on the demolition contractor, because of cost, though he did the work as he said, but also did incidental/collateral damage, that ended up costing me more to correct, than the highest competing bidder would've cost, if done right. My attempts to get contractors thru friends, or thru the phone book struck out...none would even come out to look at the site, even after agreeing to do so (6 electricians, and 6 plumbers), so for those two jobs, I ended up using the recommended friend of our nice saleslady. He was the wonder contractor, who did it all (electric/septic/waterlines/concrete), though with inexperience and mistakes, but without whom (he was a last second call before demo, and also for the retaining wall build before delivery); we never could've gotten this far, except for the added efforts of myself, my handyman, and my heroic neighbor, the electrical engineer. The saleslady also recommended the pad prep guy, who was about 1/2 good, and caused friction with the house mover guy, but was the only one we could find on short notice that was actually licensed. The house mover/installer/set-up guy, the trim-out crew, the A/C installers, and the skirting man were all contracted for by the house mfg., and paid by us thru our contract, though we had no choice. They were all competent, though begrudgingly so, on the first guy, better with the second crew, and really good with the A/C guys. The remaining contractor, the skirting installer, seems OK, but we'll see after Tuesday, how he works out. Funny, though, the first guy I got to bid on anything, was the stump grinder guy, who had the best manner and price, but whom will be the last I actually use. We'll see how that turns out, probably in a couple of months from now.