ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area What Should A Commercial Electrician Know?

Been doing this for many years and have never touched a PLC, and out of a workforce of 60 I maybe have one or two guys who has.

Some people know everything ..but in reality can do nothing.Are u really in a postion to hire....I find that hard to beleive.

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You might also find it hard to believe but I don’t do:
Fire Alarm
Security
Controls (including PLCs)
BAS (other than pulling the wire for NOVAR)
Data (other than pulling the wire)
Telephone (other than pulling the wire)
Lightning Protection
Painting
Patching
Telephone backboards
Sound Systems
Or any work more than 25 miles from my shop

Only if I have to and there is no way to scope it out of my work, I will do fire caulking.

wow...didn't see that one coming

Here is a simple one Shock...know how to wire ballasts...fluorescents and HIDs. And know how to wire them efficiently. It shouldn't take 4 hrs to wire 3 ballasts 8' off the ground.

We are also in NJ, and do a bunch of commercial/retail maintenance.

#1 attribute - know how to read and know how to think. Be able to figure out what's there, understand it, and then understand how it works. Be able to read schematics, you can fix anything, if you can understand the schematics.

I've been in this business going on 15 yrs now. We've done warehouses, factories, offices, retail stores, pharmacy's, etc...know how to read and how to think your way out of a paper bag, and you got it knocked.

PLC's - they almost all come with manuals. Might take a little longer, but the directions are there. And on the commercial side, you won't see to many of them.

There is a difference between PLC/control work and hooking up a simple ice cube relay.

The big problem I run into is that there are some great non-union shops here in town that do control, data/phone, security, and fire alarm for about half (sometimes a 1/3) my labor rate.

Some of the dispute here is caused by confusion as to the trade being discussed.

If you are a journeyman electrician, working for an electrical contractor who focuses on commercial / industrial work, you may never see a PLC.

If you are a maintenance electrician, working for a manufacturer, you'll deal with PLC's on a daily basis.

Once again ... to get the right answer, you have to ask the right question.

I agree Reno. My response was about the construction guys I saw when I was inspecting.

I worked with an older ladder logic PLC (Graysoft software)that controlled machines about 10 years ago. But will probably never see one again. Probably not necessary to know it as a commercial/industrial elec.