This article is the fourth in a series of six tactics in which the electrical contractor can maximize purchasing power and profitability though procurement. Click here for part Take a moment to think about your organization. Your field people and estimators attend classes to stay current with code changes; your project managers may take classes to further their knowledge and abilities to manage work. What would you think distributor salespeople study? Sales techniques, of course!
While virtually any electrical contractor can branch out into low-voltage work, gaining a foothold and growing the business requires a competitive advantage. For National Security Works (NSW), a low-voltage company based in San Diego, that advantage is value. When the Great Recession hit in late 2007, and with competition increasing, NSW found itself struggling. “Money was tight for customers,” said Clint Morgan, CEO. “During that time period, a lot of small shops and owner/operators began offering some very low prices that we couldn’t match. As a result, we started to lose some business.”
I have often described the reliability of a fire alarm system installation as dependent on four elements: design, equipment, installation and maintenance. I have also explained that the last two elements contribute the most to a fire alarm system’s operational reliability. I suspect that system maintenance, which includes testing, presents the singular element that most affects long-term operational reliability. The life safety of building occupants depends on regular inspection, testing and maintenance (ITM) of the fire alarm system.
In its basic form, commissioning means testing every device, process and procedure in an integrated systems solution to ensure the final specification operates as planned and according to the owner’s design.
Every month, we pick the top Ideas That Work submitted by you, ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR readers. These ideas can't be found in any code or guidebook and are only learned or devised through years of experience and thinking, "There's got to be a better way to do this!" Please remember, the ideas presented in this article are for consideration only. Before using such ideas, make sure codes and safety standards have been fully adhered to. Now, without further ado, here are this issue's Ideas That Work!
For installing alarm, surveillance and building control system copper wiring, technicians use many of the same tools as they do for placing data and communications networks. These tools include, but are not limited to, cable cutters, crimpers, strippers, punchdown tools and blades, and test equipment. There also are applications that may require specialized tools. Some voice/data/video (VDV) specialists build their own custom tool kits that meet specific needs and brand preferences, while others start with basic kits offered by several manufacturers containing the most-used tools.
Building-system-automation implementation has paved the way for sensor technology to make buildings more efficient, healthier and more comfortable for occupants. Wired and wireless sensors are bringing data to building management systems and facility managers, and they are ultimately becoming the input for the building’s intelligence. This proliferation of sensors (and data from the sensors stored in the cloud, on servers or in apps) is often known as the Internet of Things (IoT), and it means new opportunities for contractors and integrators.
I’m sure all of you have run into an issue such as this when installing a fire alarm system: One authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) wants one thing, and another AHJ wants exactly the opposite. What do you do? You can’t make both happy. When proposing changes to the codes and standards, my code partners and I always try to fix conflicts that cause this problem, but it is not always possible.
Not a day passes without reference to cloud-based or hosted services. Consumers use cloud services every day with online banking, and now mobile payment is infiltrating retail and hospitality services. Thanks to the cloud, customers can pay for their latte with a smartphone or register as a guest from their connected device.
Around the turn of the century, horse and car race courses began expanding into the casino market. The result is the “racino,” a gambling and entertainment combo that needs the latest electrical infrastructure, backup power, low-voltage security and digital access. Chapel Electric Co. and its 15-year-old low-voltage division, Chapel-Romanoff Technologies (CRT), recently installed the latest electrical and voice/data/video system technologies at Hollywood Gaming Dayton Raceway in Dayton, Ohio.
