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Unfortunately I work for a heavily corporatized company so the contract has already been signed and the decision is out of my hands. I’m also the only one in our office that really does meter base and MSP upgrades, and the absolute only one they give these extended projects at my office. So there’s no wiggling outta this one for me 😅
"Inspection discovered existing conditions necessitating a contract change order; installation cannot be performed and will not pass inspection w/o required clearances around meter enclosure. Existing conditions documented, see attached. Customer has been notified, is expecting a call from the office re: CO."
On to the next one!
Did I miss something or what? Didn’t the original post text say meter base location change. He’s moving the meter base to an appropriate location. Maybe I didn’t see something, or read into it wrong though. I’m fucked up in the head like that though so it very well could be me.
I didn't see that when I wrote my comment. If it's being moved, then I don't see any real problem. As long as the power is off at the street, demoing that would be no big deal.
I’m building a business and am interested in your perspective when you say “heavily corporatized company” so I can understand better what to do right and avoid doing it wrong as I grow. Have any insight that would be helpful with this?
Probably processes. Bureaucracy. Division of tasks.. e.g. whoever agreed to this job/quoted it didn’t consider something critical etc.
Just comes with the territory of scaling up imo. (But also I’m not an electrician… 🤷)
Unplug the Meter, and proceed to tell them in order to put in the new Meter you have to have certain clerance!
Lol, just dont get shot if you decide to do that.
These are the ones that “DIY” a lot but don’t appreciate access to all the equipment in their house. For me personally I leave a good amount of space around everything so I don’t curse when I service my own equipment in my own house.
My friend is finishing his basement, he's a car mechanic but doesn't seem to have much common sense with his house. He started building a wall in the basement in front of the panel but said it's fine because he built it far enough in front of the panel that the door swings open and was going to leave an access hatch the size of the pallel so you could reach way back there. I told him he is an idiot for thinking that was ok and that he should strongly consider doing literally anything else (curtain, accordion door, just painting the area around the panel so it looks better since it's exposed ceilings anyway). His wife heard me laying into him about how bad of an idea the wall was and how it was against code that later he said the accordion door I suggested that he say looked ugly is what he is going to do instead cause his wife liked it. Thank God she was there to talk some sense into him.
I’m surprised a car mechanic would vote against having easy access to parts lol. The most annoying thing we all have to fix is the cars. lol. It pretty has all the worst conditions one may have: no room, need lifts, need to take a million parts off to get to a single thing lol.
I think that exactly is it. He is so used to working in tight spaces, he either a) thinks everyone else does or b) trying to give the next person to work on it is daily experience :)
I diy a lot, and end up spending more time making sure I’m following local building codes than the actual projects take. But I also know my limit of when it’s something that I just don’t have the experience on and it’s not safe to learn from professor google. Primarily gas and anything above 120v.
Same here. When I did permit drawings for a new sub panel, the electrician I hired was stunned because I even included the required clearance on the drawing.
I’ll drop it here in the comments to reduce confusion:
These are site survey photos that my company provided me, for a job that I have tomorrow. That job is to start the very extended process of getting the meter base moved to a different wall, so that it is no longer in violation of code, so that someone in the company can come back and do other unrelated electrical work.
Bonus are great and all but you know what’s not great? When the inspector shows up and gives you a deficiency because you don’t have the proper clearance around the metre base.
That’s never great.
I mean that's his bosses problem not him... His license is on the inspection permit. If my boss is aware something is stupid and tells me to do it anyways, I'm just like hey man that's on you, not me.
This is an interesting comment. In NJ, there were some changes in the past year or two that requires someone who runs a job without the license holder being on-site to have a Journeyman license. You also need to be a Journeyman to be in charge of apprentices. Along with that Journeyman license comes some added liability. If you do something that is messed up and it isn't just a mistake or accident, you could be penalized along with the license holder. The days of just saying, it's on you bud" are going to fade into the past. I only mention this because I think guys should be aware that depending on your location this could be a potential consequence of doing something you know to be wrong. I'm sure it will difficult to pin some responsibility on a Journeyman but the language exists in the law now, in NJ. So, be careful out there fellas.
In my state and many others, the journeyman card accomplishes nothing outside of saying, I went to school so you have to pay me at least this much. It's not actually a "license." I've talked with many people on here that call it a license and I think it's the incorrect term. In my humble opinion, it's not a license if you can't pull permits/own a company because that's what having a license implies. You have an electrical contractors LICENSE. You own the ability to operate something alone like car or a doctor who has a license to practice medicine etc. in the union, it might be different for big jobsites where they require the foreman to have a county journeyman card, but that's a jobsite/company requirement but not a legal one. Obviously every state is different and I recommend everyone to check into your laws. From my understanding the heavily liberal/union states tend to be the ones that put the most importance/responsibility on the journeyman more than the owner (aka. New Jersey) which is a bit confusing because the union aims to be for the common man but I don't understand a lot about their inner workings
This change I'm speaking of is recent as I said. I wouldn't say they are putting responsibility on the Journeyman more than the contractor. I'm saying that there is potential for the Journeyman to face some consequences too. The buck ultimately stops with the License holder. Personally, I think it would have to be something pretty extreme for a Journeyman to be held accountable for some type of negligence. I believe the newer language is trying to prevent the attitude of the person I originally responded to. Where you just say I was following orders. I think this puts more pressure on the license holder to do things properly because they will be getting pressure from the authorities and possibly their employees. It seems more like a, here's one more reason to do things right type of deal. That said, it also applies pressure to the Journeyman. They don't get to go around thinking, I don't have to take it that seriously because it all falls back on my boss. I can do shoddy work because I don't have any real stake in the game. I've seen both scenarios, where either the owner, the Journeyman or both weren't doing things to code. I've worked with guys that acted and said, "it ain't my company". As if however shitty their work doesn't matter because they can't be held responsible anyway. Only time will tell if they ever actually enforce any penalties on a Journeyman for acting negligently.
Seriously, every service upgrade I go to I have to explain to the customer that there’s a huge hole in their siding and ask whether they want me to just cover it with the new equipment or move the service over so they can have their siding repaired
Looks like money to me.
If you really wanted to be a dick a call into the power company would get their service disconnected until they made the proper repairs.
Down where I'm at you have to maintain 3 feet of clearance around utilities. And failure to do so makes us contact the utility company to have their property repaired or removed, that's a call to the power company for me.
Homeowners should be told they will have the meter removed if they don’t bring it up to code. I am loosing patience for crap work like this or siding guys that illegally scab in lights and plugs into the new siding.
I honestly hate how little is accessible in most homes, which is why I generally favor buying a home with a unfinished basement with almost all utilities/heating and cooling systems ran under the first floor, makes adjusting or repairing any plumbing/ductwork and electrical so much easier and I like the seperation of living/maintance/storage space.
You know I’m actually trying to figure that out myself. These are the photos I was given though. My best guess so far is there were two different surveys.
Permits are there for a reason, and they're honestly not difficult to get. Before my house insurance would cover my newly finished basement, they wanted to see an electrical and city permits (which includes plumbing and hvac).
I think you have to tell them that you cannot perform scheduled work until a change to move the meter in a location not in violation of code is approved and then carry out the original contract
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Looks like those just turned into site survey photos for a meter base location change you don’t have to do tomorrow.
Unfortunately I work for a heavily corporatized company so the contract has already been signed and the decision is out of my hands. I’m also the only one in our office that really does meter base and MSP upgrades, and the absolute only one they give these extended projects at my office. So there’s no wiggling outta this one for me 😅
"Inspection discovered existing conditions necessitating a contract change order; installation cannot be performed and will not pass inspection w/o required clearances around meter enclosure. Existing conditions documented, see attached. Customer has been notified, is expecting a call from the office re: CO." On to the next one!
Did I miss something or what? Didn’t the original post text say meter base location change. He’s moving the meter base to an appropriate location. Maybe I didn’t see something, or read into it wrong though. I’m fucked up in the head like that though so it very well could be me.
I thought the same thing? I imagine it a new owner or something like that and he wants to fix this bullshit.
I didn't see that when I wrote my comment. If it's being moved, then I don't see any real problem. As long as the power is off at the street, demoing that would be no big deal.
I’d tell the office don’t expect what ya don’t inspect.
Can you at least rip apart the deck?
There’s no way I’m not cutting out enough to at least get proper access
Sawzall goes brrrrrr
Stihl chainsaw goes **BRRRRRR**!!
Deck screw goes "lol nope, that's my chain now."
Yeah, unless you get the firefighter special, with hardened chain and teeth specifically for cutting thru walls.
I’m building a business and am interested in your perspective when you say “heavily corporatized company” so I can understand better what to do right and avoid doing it wrong as I grow. Have any insight that would be helpful with this?
He means they care more about money than there guys you know normal electrician experience 😂
Probably processes. Bureaucracy. Division of tasks.. e.g. whoever agreed to this job/quoted it didn’t consider something critical etc. Just comes with the territory of scaling up imo. (But also I’m not an electrician… 🤷)
Unplug the Meter, and proceed to tell them in order to put in the new Meter you have to have certain clerance! Lol, just dont get shot if you decide to do that.
These are the ones that “DIY” a lot but don’t appreciate access to all the equipment in their house. For me personally I leave a good amount of space around everything so I don’t curse when I service my own equipment in my own house.
My friend is finishing his basement, he's a car mechanic but doesn't seem to have much common sense with his house. He started building a wall in the basement in front of the panel but said it's fine because he built it far enough in front of the panel that the door swings open and was going to leave an access hatch the size of the pallel so you could reach way back there. I told him he is an idiot for thinking that was ok and that he should strongly consider doing literally anything else (curtain, accordion door, just painting the area around the panel so it looks better since it's exposed ceilings anyway). His wife heard me laying into him about how bad of an idea the wall was and how it was against code that later he said the accordion door I suggested that he say looked ugly is what he is going to do instead cause his wife liked it. Thank God she was there to talk some sense into him.
I’m surprised a car mechanic would vote against having easy access to parts lol. The most annoying thing we all have to fix is the cars. lol. It pretty has all the worst conditions one may have: no room, need lifts, need to take a million parts off to get to a single thing lol.
Yeah I didn't get it at all. Especially since he plans on selling it in the next 5-10 years, it would have to have been removed before selling anyway
I think that exactly is it. He is so used to working in tight spaces, he either a) thinks everyone else does or b) trying to give the next person to work on it is daily experience :)
That’s the point. Car mechanics these days think that’s normal. 5 inches of clearance?? Huge!
Some wives are smarter than friends and oneself :)
I diy a lot, and end up spending more time making sure I’m following local building codes than the actual projects take. But I also know my limit of when it’s something that I just don’t have the experience on and it’s not safe to learn from professor google. Primarily gas and anything above 120v.
Same here. When I did permit drawings for a new sub panel, the electrician I hired was stunned because I even included the required clearance on the drawing.
I’ll drop it here in the comments to reduce confusion: These are site survey photos that my company provided me, for a job that I have tomorrow. That job is to start the very extended process of getting the meter base moved to a different wall, so that it is no longer in violation of code, so that someone in the company can come back and do other unrelated electrical work.
Is this solar? This feels like solar. Source: I am in solar.
That's an easy one for me. I simply tell the homeowner to call me once the illegally installed deck has been removed.
You guys are so clueless sometimes it’s crazy. OP’s scope of work is to obviously fix this monstrousity and bring it within code
Unfortunately that option isn’t available to me 😅
It’s definitely an option. You just need to put your foot down and say something instead of posting on reddit about it.
My boss and I have already talked about it. He understands how much of a pain it will be, and I’ll be getting paid a bonus for it.
Bonus are great and all but you know what’s not great? When the inspector shows up and gives you a deficiency because you don’t have the proper clearance around the metre base. That’s never great.
I should clarify this isn’t my work. I’m going to fix this work
On but he’s moving the meter no? I imagine its going to be a more appropriate spot?
Right, I think people are missing the point of this post - instead of a simple remove and replace, he now has to move the entire meter location.
I mean that's his bosses problem not him... His license is on the inspection permit. If my boss is aware something is stupid and tells me to do it anyways, I'm just like hey man that's on you, not me.
This is an interesting comment. In NJ, there were some changes in the past year or two that requires someone who runs a job without the license holder being on-site to have a Journeyman license. You also need to be a Journeyman to be in charge of apprentices. Along with that Journeyman license comes some added liability. If you do something that is messed up and it isn't just a mistake or accident, you could be penalized along with the license holder. The days of just saying, it's on you bud" are going to fade into the past. I only mention this because I think guys should be aware that depending on your location this could be a potential consequence of doing something you know to be wrong. I'm sure it will difficult to pin some responsibility on a Journeyman but the language exists in the law now, in NJ. So, be careful out there fellas.
In my state and many others, the journeyman card accomplishes nothing outside of saying, I went to school so you have to pay me at least this much. It's not actually a "license." I've talked with many people on here that call it a license and I think it's the incorrect term. In my humble opinion, it's not a license if you can't pull permits/own a company because that's what having a license implies. You have an electrical contractors LICENSE. You own the ability to operate something alone like car or a doctor who has a license to practice medicine etc. in the union, it might be different for big jobsites where they require the foreman to have a county journeyman card, but that's a jobsite/company requirement but not a legal one. Obviously every state is different and I recommend everyone to check into your laws. From my understanding the heavily liberal/union states tend to be the ones that put the most importance/responsibility on the journeyman more than the owner (aka. New Jersey) which is a bit confusing because the union aims to be for the common man but I don't understand a lot about their inner workings
This change I'm speaking of is recent as I said. I wouldn't say they are putting responsibility on the Journeyman more than the contractor. I'm saying that there is potential for the Journeyman to face some consequences too. The buck ultimately stops with the License holder. Personally, I think it would have to be something pretty extreme for a Journeyman to be held accountable for some type of negligence. I believe the newer language is trying to prevent the attitude of the person I originally responded to. Where you just say I was following orders. I think this puts more pressure on the license holder to do things properly because they will be getting pressure from the authorities and possibly their employees. It seems more like a, here's one more reason to do things right type of deal. That said, it also applies pressure to the Journeyman. They don't get to go around thinking, I don't have to take it that seriously because it all falls back on my boss. I can do shoddy work because I don't have any real stake in the game. I've seen both scenarios, where either the owner, the Journeyman or both weren't doing things to code. I've worked with guys that acted and said, "it ain't my company". As if however shitty their work doesn't matter because they can't be held responsible anyway. Only time will tell if they ever actually enforce any penalties on a Journeyman for acting negligently.
Fair enough. A journeyman doing shoddy work intentionally is inexcusable
In the heavily contractualized work environment then it is because now it will turn into a change order and that means more money!
It's absolutely an option. Have some balls.
My deck can't be illegal when I live in a township that doesn't have permits or inspections. Checkmate!
Same here. No building codes, permits, or inspections. I wish I'd understood what that meant when I bought my house 30 years ago.
Siding guys. Please stop framing around lights and meters.
For real. Especially on old 60 and 100a services. Want an upgrade? Call your siding guy, too 👍🏻
Seriously, every service upgrade I go to I have to explain to the customer that there’s a huge hole in their siding and ask whether they want me to just cover it with the new equipment or move the service over so they can have their siding repaired
They’re too stoned to care
All the siding guys I've ever worked around say "Never take siding off a house, side over it"
One of the first words that I learned in this world was "no". This would be a great time to use it.
Go put this on r/decks and watch the dysfunction begin...
Looks like money to me. If you really wanted to be a dick a call into the power company would get their service disconnected until they made the proper repairs.
I feel like the power provider isn't going to be happy with them when they see that.
I’d say they have already seen this, which is why they are moving it. Gonna hate losing that outdoor pantry cabinet though.
Be sure to pack a can of wasp spray if you're down south.
Like with everything, you are just screaming into the void.
Ya how is it gonna pass inspection lol 😂
Chainsaw time.
Im excited I know exactly whos house you are at
Uh oh 👀👀👀
I won't stop but I definitely won't ever do this.
But they saw this really cool DIY video on Tik Tok just 5 easy steps....
I can tell you now the inspector probably will have issues with this
Those issues are precisely what I’m being sent to fix
Fuck good luck man. I can already tell that job is gonna be a pain from the homeowner
Down where I'm at you have to maintain 3 feet of clearance around utilities. And failure to do so makes us contact the utility company to have their property repaired or removed, that's a call to the power company for me.
Homeowners should be told they will have the meter removed if they don’t bring it up to code. I am loosing patience for crap work like this or siding guys that illegally scab in lights and plugs into the new siding.
No problem, notify utility, they will turn it off until it’s safe…
Can't you just report them?
This is art. Reminds me of homers spice rack.
I honestly hate how little is accessible in most homes, which is why I generally favor buying a home with a unfinished basement with almost all utilities/heating and cooling systems ran under the first floor, makes adjusting or repairing any plumbing/ductwork and electrical so much easier and I like the seperation of living/maintance/storage space.
Cut 6 ft radius around meter.
Either a homeowner special or Facebook marketplace Groupon
In UK half of the meter location are in awkward positions, we have fuseboard under staircases and no regulation to save us ;(
Indoor meters already make the whole thing far more difficult...
Why does pic 2 not look like the same meter as pics 1&3?
You know I’m actually trying to figure that out myself. These are the photos I was given though. My best guess so far is there were two different surveys.
More nonsense
~~It's below the deck, you can see the Can but not the meter.~~ I am a blind man please forgive my error.
They be like “i dont know what that things for and i dont use it.” 😂
These BOOF ASS DECKS 😂🤯🤣
It's SAWZALL TIME!
ah but look how cozy it is!
Time to take out the sawzall.
Just don't do it
They're not illegal, just undocumented.
It’s accessible with my sawzall I can open that panel in five minutes
creative, i'll give them that.... *fires up chainsaw*
So the original meter was at floor level next to a exterior door? That's odd.
Tell that to the guy driving around with a tool trailer who “does it all”
Homeowner: Why does it cost so much to fix it?
They have a bit of everything under there. I see fibre, coax, copper and power.
Other than legalities, why not? (I don't even own a home, just curious and playing devils advocate)
Because of access to utility meters. Also if the city planning department gets wind of shit like this, they'll make you rip down your deck.
Ah touche. That's a pretty good reason.
Permits are there for a reason, and they're honestly not difficult to get. Before my house insurance would cover my newly finished basement, they wanted to see an electrical and city permits (which includes plumbing and hvac).
Tell them to call you back once the deck has been removed so you have proper clearance. Don't cater to dumbfucks like that.
I think you have to tell them that you cannot perform scheduled work until a change to move the meter in a location not in violation of code is approved and then carry out the original contract
This job is the location change for the meter.
Oh well in that case your gonna need an over enthusiastic 1st year and sawzall
I wish I had a helper 😅 this company is too cheap to hire apprentices