John

Yesterday I got a call from a Journeyman that used to work for me as an apprentice. Four years ago when he got his Journeyman’s license he quit working for me and went out on his own, which was a mutual agreement between the two of us. I have not seen him or talked to him no more than 3-4 times since then.

He wanted to know if I would pull a permit for a commercial service change for him and he would make it worth my time.

The answer was NO…..with a long lecture about:

!. The facts of life
2. YGTBSM
3. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid…………………….
4. (add your own comments)

wireman3736

I don't blame you, there's too many reasons not to. I shy away from pulling a permit for others, I tell people the only way I'll pull a permit for them is if I'm on the job site at my rate for every hour that there's work being done plus a separate charge for my license on the permit. Nobody has taking me up on my offer.

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(Do the job right boy or don't do it at all.)

MDShunk

I get permits for certain people. I'm a little picky about it. I always inspect the work before the real inspection. It's technically illegal in my area. It's mostly for factory electricians who do the occasional side job. They normally put more time and effort into the workmanship and such then I ever would, so it's okay under certain circumstances. I'd be happy to happy to have any of those guys work for me.

John

Here it is technically illegal too and this guy is technically my competition. This is not "under certain circumstances" because he chose to work for himself with just a journeyman's license. He did not call me to help him out, he called me to bail him out. Especially with the phrase "I will make it worth your time" and ”I need the permit by Friday”. I have a funny feeling there is more to this and I am going to wait to see what happens.

brian john

I have had a Masters License since 1974 and have only let someone "USE" it 3 times. I was not happy about it, but I relented. The 2nd and 3rd time was my fault. I had to get a permit in a jurisdiction and had let my license laspe, so my old apprentice and friend (that does good work) let me use his to get a permit. Now at a later date I was obligated to do the same for him.

Actuallly the first time was my fault alos for NOT SAYING NO!

But people ask all the time, I guy I let go last year called the other day needing a permit, a second year apprentice!

How many ways do you say.....................................

Joe Momma

So is this guy your direct competition?
Did this commercial property also call you to do the same job?
Was this guy well trained by you to do the work properly so you wouldn't have to worry about your license being tarnished?
Was he not a good friend of yours at one time?

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brian john

In my case I do not worry about competion, I do a good job and usually get more work. We have only had a few slack days in 23 years, I just am lucky to live in an area with 110% employment almost all the time.

sundogusa

The only time I "loan" my license is for Habitat for Humanity. I inspect their work prior to closing inspection. Been working with them for over 15 yeras and 50 houses. Never have I had a problem.

JohnJ0906

"No." This is a complete sentence. No explaination is nessesary.

__________________
John from Baltimore
"One day at a Time"
All responses based on the '08 NEC
It's not my fault, it's not my problem, I'm not your solution.

brian john

JOHN: I know you have kids and you dare to say this???????

HCECalaska

before i was lilscenced i wouldjust have home owner pull thier pemits in most places a home owner can work on thier homes with out the need of a contractor. on a commercial project if an electrician wants to do a side job, i just hope his employer happens by while he is working.. this id direct competition and i would let him know not to even worry about comming to work the next day.

Joe Momma

The only point to my questions is with my shop the owner is more than willing to lend us his license.
Why, because he knows we are competent in how well we are trained, he knows we all have a skill that should gain us extra money when the oportunity comes, and that we are the reason why he makes money so he likes to return the favor and also be the reason wy we make money, by even going as far as loaning us any specialty tools, and of course using our fully stocked van for side work is a given.

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HCECalaska

so how much of the material you use off of the fully stocked van is replaced?

Joe Momma

One of the ways we are proficiently trained is in putting together a well thought out material list so we don't need to call out the parts runner repeatedly.

So I'll take much pride in pointing out that I don't use the owners parts, and why should I if someone else is paying for them. In fact i have a whole stock room of my own filled with parts for side jobs.

I will say I don't add gas to the truck on my own dime(kinda tough to add 2 bucks when it needs 50 bucks), but I've always wondered what the owner looks for when he hand selects his crew, I imagine that's it, no one that will cheat him.

In fact Chevron Pipeline called a meeting a few months ago because of some a-hole they hired to oversee our work. This a-hole said something about the workers credit card invoices.

The owner, Bob, said "are you kidding me, I throw those things away without even looking at them. If I for once didn't trust any one of my guys they would not be working for me".

He was willing to risk his contract with Chevron over his trust against what this a-hole claimed.

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brian john

Sun:

Do you or you guys get involved with the wiring?

I too have pulled permits for them and performed inspections to protect my license. The one advantage was the Company that asked for me help the head engineer was an apprentice for the company I use to work at I have known him 20 years and have the utmost respect for him.

Additionally my employees have assisted in wiring some of their projects.

sundogusa

Typically we install the service, then let the volunteers do the wiring. The electrical supervisor is a retired EE. I have gone over lots of code issues and he picks it up fast. Only had two problems in all the years.
The first is when he went on vacation and someone else started the wiring claiming they knew how...most of it was removed by my guys. Wish I'd taken pictures but that would have been evidence.
Second time was when one of the volunteers was an electrical inspector. I went to check on job and he gave me a ration of shtuff mainly\about how it was illegal to "loan" my license. I finally shut him up by saying the 2 main guys were my subcontractors, he wasn't and told him to not touch any wiring. His techniques were questionable.
Other than that no problems. My AHJ often asks for more staples because "he likes to see them." No problem the Habitat guys are aware and add more.
We have a great working relationship.

JohnJ0906

Well, uh....

__________________
John from Baltimore
"One day at a Time"
All responses based on the '08 NEC
It's not my fault, it's not my problem, I'm not your solution.