Friday, March 21, 2014

March Maddness/2011code is Coming



March madness is here and boy has it been a long winter.  I for one cant wait till summer. Speaking of summer, wanted to get the word out about some of the changes coming up in Virginia.  It looks like the state will adopt the 2011 NEC code. The Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code is slated to go in effect July 2014. There have been a lot of changes in the 2011 NEC from the 2008 NEC. We have not been on the 2008 NEC very long, but it seemed like we were on the 2005 NEC for a long time. The process takes many meetings for the boards to approve all the changes in Richmond, they listen to a lot of input from people like you and I. So if you like; you can get involved.  Your input does count.
One of the big changes is that the continuing education is still required for renewing your tradesman license. The requirements remain at 3 hours forElectrical, HVAC/Mechanical, and Plumbing.  Fuel/Gas requires only one hour. Many of you I have heard; get upset that the state requires you to be up to date on the new codes. Codes are updated to meet technology changes and new equipment types that continually come out on the market. Well, as we all know the codes are not an instruction manual on how to be a tradesman, but they are there to insure a safe installation for those that use HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing and Gas systems. Keeping up with the codes not only keeps you as a tradesman abreast of the changes it also allows you to provide the safest and most up to date installation to your customers. Face it, there are many people who claim to be a qualified tradesman, but then we hear of the damage that is done to people’s homes, and in many cases lives.  The so called qualified tradesman take dangerous short cuts to make it work and charge high dollar for shoddy work.
You should be advertizing your license showing your qualifications, giving your customers piece of mind. Face it most people have no idea of how their systems work in their home. They go to the local big box store and read a book for 15 minutes and think they are an expert. Now I am not saying that licensed tradesman never do shoddy work but most understand the true dangers to life safety and would not risk putting their customers lives at risk doing work that is directly against code.
Many States require 8-20 hours of education every two years. The real question is, do we get enough education to stay ahead of the curve. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes; do you think they would rather have a qualified person. Though the non-license tradesman is cheaper and asks the homeowner to pull a permit because he can’t or he sends in helpers he hired off the street, when they collect the money and the gas leak causes their home to explode, how much did they really save? Would you want a person that stayed at a motel overnight and read about heart surgery perform surgery on you? I think not; so let’s put quality and respect back in all the trades as we keep Surging Forward.
Well bye for now and remember Stay Safe and Keep Surging Forward.

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