ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion New to Residential work, need advice

Licensing requirements are all over the place here in Indiana. I passed the Block Master's Exam in 1998 locally. I didn't have to because I was "grandfathered in" but wanted to in hopes of other jurisdictions reciprocating if I had passed the Masters. Some do and others don't. I wish it was uniform state-wide. The towns I have dealt with that won't accept the Block Exam do so for politically motivated reasons. They suggest I approach a locally licensed electrical contractor and do the job under their license for a fee of 2% of the total job. Once I have done this a time or 2 I can apply for my own license in their town. No thanks. I have enlisted the help of a State Deputy Building Commissioner who has known me and inspected my commercial projects for several years to cut through some of the bull the last few months with some success and now have licenses in a couple of these towns. But it shouldn't be this way. I also have done commercial new construction in fairly large towns where nothing was required in the way of licensing. Not even proof of insurance! This is equally idiotic, in my opinion. I would be all for state-wide licensing with a requirement for x number of CEUs every 4 years. Your race, creed, color, political affiliation, home town, union/non union status should not affect your right to work in a jurisdiction. It should be based on verifiable ability and compliance with code standards.

SE PA, 1hr north of Pitts.
Licenses are done through local townships, and generally you have to have a license in every township. Gets kinda expensive. @$100 each.

Just proof of insurance and FED ID number is usually all it takes.

Having said that:

Even with a state wide licensing, you'll never keep Tom, Dick and Harry, "hackers" out.

In fact, Most of the guys here in the yellow books, don't do electric work. They are "fronts".

They take out multiple adds, hire sub contractors to sell and do the work and pay them cash, uasually 40% of the job total.
They pay all advertising costs, but do no work.

That's how you see 200A services going for $5,000.

I am hoping someday, the state puts and end to this pratice, Or the IRS gets involved. This type of pratice is killing the industry when it comes to "respectability".

Dnk......

[This message has been edited by Dnkldorf (edited 04-07-2005).]

The fact that the fronts continue to grow and stay in business shows the power of advertising. The people who go with those companies have an inelastic demand curve: they want the job done now and do not care what it costs.

Hi,
Here is what I think..no, what I know..to be successful as an electrical contractor you need to find what you do best and stick to that.

Residential work takes "TIME ON THE POND" to gain experience. You cant go read a book and learn the practical stuff or the tricks of the trade...you will not be able to compete with the romex rangers out there who have done their time..you will redo more than you do. if you have qualified electrical inspectors out there i doubt that you could pass an inspection!

second- residential work is more complicated than almost any other work...beleive it or not.

third- residential installations have far more rules than ANY other install..

we all start somewhere! hang in there!

good luck...

regards

greg

[This message has been edited by mustangelectric (edited 03-15-2005).]

Hey mustang...how ya been? You haven't posted much recently.How did you make out on that dwelling you did? Pull lots of romex in there?

I've never thought of wiring houses as "more complicated" than other electrical work.I'm a Romex Ranger by definition, for I have been pulling it (romex that is) for over 25 years.

I enjoy residential wiring for the most part. There are plenty of homes around,I don't travel much so I'm always close to my family. It is very competative though, with many a new comer ready to cut your throat for the job. You must be able to deal with the public too.

JFLS41...Just price the job by figuring the time it will take plus material. Add fair markup on top of the material cost and figure a man hour wage that is in line with what other residential contractors in the area charge and submit one price as your estimate. If your customer is scared by the price, you are better off not working for them anyway.

And as always, make sure you are QUALIFIED to do any of the installations that you undertake. You will be responsible for the rest of you life for an installation that causes property damage or personal injury from an installation that was done improperly.

shortcircuit

Shortcircuit-hello-i am up in alaska working in prudhoe bay right now so i have been busy travelling and all..got slow at work so i started visitng the site again..

how is everything? good i hope!

what i meant was...there are MORE rules in the NEC covering residential than any other part...second...the work varies from place to place..

its not rocket science but it can be for the cheechako! just having a sharp pencil and a checklist aint gonna get it done..

you know that you and i could work circles around some new guy who has been running pipe all his life...myself i have worked commercial, resi, and industrial...why? to pay the bills...i started jerking romex, then went to build a powerhouse then nuclear then maintenance then indiustrial and malls, schools and churches etc...then started all over again and always end back up where the money is...i never new what a kellum grip was or a mares tail until i hit the power house scene...the point is there are a lot of things that are not in the book!

i stil have several jobs going at home...i work two weeks on and two weeks off up here so i can come up here and make $2500 a week and then go home and make a grand a week..

i will be turkey hunting soon though so ALL work will have to take a back seat to that old gobbler i have been chasing..he skunked me last fall and i am going in after him this spring!

anyway...just my thoughts on the subject!

i still say it take more than book learning to be worth anything!

-regards

greg

[This message has been edited by mustangelectric (edited 03-16-2005).]

Hi guys,
I am a residential/commercial service company. I have to tell you, the money is in the residential service. We use a flat rate type of pricing system along with other business systems that coincide with the pricing system. In the residential service business the work is not overly technical, but it does take alot of finesse and grace as well as good communication skills. You also do not need to keep as much stock into inventory. We have had great success with it since we changed to a flat rate pricing system.

I would like to know more about this flat rate pricing system. What part of the country do you live in?

I'm your neighbor, except from the other side of the state. Flat Rate system is a business system that believe it or not, starts with how you answer the phone. You need to be able to communicate to the client that you are going to provide premium service to them. My Technicians wear uniforms, our trucks are clearly labeled and professional looking. We stock enough parts to complete any job they need when we get there so we don't waste time going out and sending an estimate, then going back to do the work. When they price the job, they get the pricing from a book that has everything broken down in individual tasks, much like a restaurant menu. The client gets to see the book so they can see the pricing and where it comes from. It usually blows them away. Since I started pricing this way, I have almost tripled my average invoice price. Also, it WILL work in your market. I belong to a group called Electrician Success International and we are all running the same business systems all over the country. In all types of economic markets. So it does work.
We also offer very strict satisfaction and workmanship guarantees to back up all we tell the client.

I hope it helps