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When people think about THE electrical code, normally they refer to NFPA 70.  Written on a 3-year cycle by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), THE National Electrical code is imbued with the force of law when it is adopted by states and municipalities. NFPA 70 (Installation), 70B (Maintenance), 70E (Safety) Cycle However, NFPA 70 mainly concerns itself with the safe installation of electrical systems.  Often overlooked is the maintenance and the protection of people who work with or near the electrical systems.  Enter into the fray NFPA 70B and 70E.  Both standards are considered consensus standards, and voluntary in nature.  While that may be a cue for some to hit the ignore button and stop reading, ignorance of these standards can still have financial repercussions for a business through OSHA actions. Never mind the lost productivity and machine downtime. To some clients, maintenance and safety need no sales pitch, the benefits are self-evident.  However, more often than I would care to admit, OSHA violations are cheaper than safety, and maintenance is taking things to the point of failure.  For many, electricity is a vague concept more than a reality, and even fewer appreciate how fast and catastrophic things can turn.  In very real terms things can go from normal to temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun literally at the speed of light.  There is no ducking, running away, or thinking, “Shit where did I go wrong?” Accidents are rarely, if ever, a single causal event.  On average, it takes (3) things to go wrong to create an accident.  Poorly maintained equipment, breakers that no longer open as fast, and missing safety PPE can lead to a fatality. A fatality is usually the end result of a chain of risky behaviors, near misses, recordable injuries, and lost time injuries.  Simply stated, fatalities do not happen in a vacuum and if you look hard enough, their inevitability is foreshadowed. Who cares if the inevitability is foreshadowed?  The electrician has insurance, and it is their employee, not mine the cynical client might wonder.  How does an electrician’s lack of safety affect me, if it’s not my employee?  The answer is OSHA’s Multi-Employer Worksite Policy (#not legal advice).  Under this policy, employers are classified as Creating, Exposing, Correcting, & Controlling.  If you invite an unsafe contractor into your facility, you may be a controlling employer with responsibilities.  If your employees wander into somebody else’s hazard, you might be an exposing employer regardless if you created the hazard in the first place.  The ultimate answer is that one sloppy employer can have knock on effects for other employers and employees both in the present and in the future. So, where does this leave us?  All too often cost is the only concern, not just the first concern.  If you are looking at bringing in an electrician, understand that not all electricians are the same.  Beyond looking at the final number, you want to know about safety records, financial health, and overall knowledge.  I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly and sometimes their messes can become your mess too. For everyone’s health and safety respect the pipes filled with angry pixies.  If you don’t, they will come to visit with fiery and catastrophic results.

As the warmth of summer fades and the leaves begin to change, the march of apprentices back into the schoolhouse begins.  I teach part-time at one of the many trade schools throughout America. It keeps me young, informed, I get to explore my craft deeper, and best of all I get to interact and shape the newest generation of electricians.  Every year I ask the same sort of questions to my incoming class: name, what brought you to electrical, what do you hope to get out of the class, career high and low.  It’s the sort of standard fare you normally ask.  There is no right or wrong answer, there are no points. Ohm's Law in the classroom Out of all the time teaching, I don’t think I have ever had a student say that the number one reason for entering the trades was, “For the money”.  It’s true, we all want to feed ourselves and put a roof over our heads, but “for the money” does not sustain you at an underground installation in the middle of a Northeast Ohio winter or get you to read books on the side to better your craft.  Sure, we want to make money, but that is not why I or many other people became an electrician. I was in graduate school, working on a PhD in Chemistry that wasn’t quite right for me.  For others, they figured it out in high school, halfway through a bachelor's degree, or they always knew.  I love the challenge of perfecting that which cannot be perfected.  There is always something to learn.  If you think you know it all, turn the page and become an estimator, project manager, inspector, or, hell, start a company if you are really a glutton for punishment. I am frequently asked to attend job fairs where people young and old are exploring the trades.  I meet people debating options like plumbing versus electrical, carpentry versus HVAC, or any other combination you can dream of.  I always jokingly tell them that you don’t pick your trade, your trade picks you, and it is up to you to discover your true calling.  Right or wrong, the advice is the same: if you are looking to enter the trades, talk to someone in the trade you are considering.  Reach out to a trade group if you don’t know anyone in that particular job. For electrical, call your local IEC, ABC, or Union to explore and learn.  I have learned two things in life: one – never go anywhere without a book and two – people love talking about themselves and especially what they do for a living.  If you are earnestly interested in learning about what others do, they will more often than not, respond with a level of openness seldom expected.  In the end who knows, maybe it will be you or someone you know marching into the school house next September.  After all America’s Infrastructure doesn’t build itself.

It happens rather frequently: I will go to a house, an office, or a factory and the person I am speaking with will look at me, a little flustered, and say something to the effect of, “I just want enough power, so I don’t have to worry about it.” To which I usually respond with a wholly unsatisfying “Well, it depends on how you plan to use [insert bank].” I realize my answer sounds like I am trying to dodge the question but take the same electrical setup in two different scenarios and the outcomes can be very different. I can appreciate that getting an electrician may have been a herculean feat.  You may have had to fight corporate for a work order, or scrimp and save for a few weeks or months, and you want to get it right the first time.  However, I would like to give you a few things to consider so that when the electrician arrives you can make the most of your time with them and know that you are getting enough power. 1)      Have a Plan – For larger projects you may want to engage the services of an engineer, but for the more limited project make sure you have a good idea of what you want accomplished.   I reviewed a job in a parking garage that involved getting power to 6 lights and fixing a host of conduit that had been broken or ripped down.  The majority of the walk through and the subsequent quote was spent defining where, what, and how far to go with the project.  Having a plan helps prevent the inevitable mission creep that comes with construction.   2)      Know the Equipment – Equipment can vary based on frequency, amperage, voltage, number of phases, and more.  While no one is expecting you to become an electrician, knowing what equipment you plan to use in the area and at least having access to data tags is a huge leg up. I did a walk through for a job in a factory where they kept tripping breakers and running multiple extension cords (the inspiration for this article).  All the work occurred on an assembly line at specific workstations.  To gauge how many circuits each station needed, we had to round-up all of the equipment (hand tools) and interview workers about their work flow to assess their needs.  Knowing what and how the equipment is being used helps expedite the process.   3)      How Will the Space Be Used – It is not just sufficient to know each piece of equipment in the space being used, it is also important to know how it is used.  Three welders used at the same time have a different need than three welders in a space where only one person works, and only one welder will ever be used at a time.   I was in a plant once where a drill press, grinder, a band saw, and a sanding disk were all on one circuit.  They never had issues with overloading the circuit because only one person worked in the area and due to the nature of the work would never run more than one machine at a time.  If the workspace usage were to change, like a second person gets added to the space, it is very likely that they would have to add circuits to accommodate the change in usage.   With smaller scale projects I frequently walk clients through some or all elements of this process.  Like most electricians, I want you to be happy with a clean and safe installation that meets your needs.  Accomplishing this goal is a team effort that involves input from the client.  In the end, a good electrician will be less inclined to immediately start throwing up conduit and more inclined to stop and listen to the client to determine their needs and goals. That way when the project is over you are not left wondering, Do I have enough power?

One of the things I can no longer unsee since starting my electrical company are the words “Residential – Commercial – Industrial” plastered on the side of a service van.  Such a statement is disingenuous at best.  To think that an electrical company can occupy such a large swath and provide each sector with the attention it demands is hubris run amok.  A statement so broad conceals the fact that there are limitations to which jobs any electrical company would and would not be willing to take on.  I highly doubt a top 50 company is wanting to do an afterhours call because a GFCI tripped in someone’s house, and a 3-electrician operation is unlikely to build the next datacenter, at least this week.  In a feast or famine world we all too often try to cast a net as large as possible.  However, I would argue that careful examination and learning the power of saying “no" helps reduce chaos within a company, grows proficiency within the area of focus, and builds a lasting competitive advantage that wards off others. In the early part of my career, I saw a tale of two companies.  One company had carved out two specific niches for itself in the telecommunication and industrial fields.  The other company bounced along taking whatever jobs came its way, swinging widely in size and scope.  The first company had built a select network of businesses and contractors it worked with.  It took advantage of state grants to improve training and heavily invested in specific tools to make specific tasks easier.  The second company, however, moved between multiple business lines dealing with contractors on a very transactional basis.  We were not able to build up expertise in any one field, and project management, estimating, and field work suffered accordingly.  To really highlight the difference between the two companies, the first company was able to build 5G small cells sites at a cost that made others wonder how it could be profitable.  The second company had to spend 2 weeks reworking sites done the year prior for issues related to job specifications. Like in dating, the siren call of casting the widest net possible draws us all in to some degree, even I am no exception.  However, knowing the type of electrical work you want to do, and more importantly, the type you do not want to do helps you focus on work that is rewarding, enjoyable, and most importantly profitable.  Construction is an inherently human endeavor. Being so reliant on humans is a complication for sure, but an awesome advantage as well.  Each electrical contractor has the opportunity to assemble a team that is unique to all others.  In that uniqueness certain advantages and disadvantages inevitably become apparent.  Focusing on what you do well results in a better outcome for both the client and the company.    Focus helps ward of competition and can create advantages when times are lean.  However, focus is not a one time activity.  Personnel, the market, and experience change and alter our view of the future.  It is to your own peril not to revisit priorities on an occasion.  Ultimately, you do not want to be standing in the middle of a project wondering what decisions lead you to this point in your life, or in the company’s life.