FWIW, you have a right of repair for property you personally own. This means you don't necessarily need a license to do the work yourself but you do still have to follow codes. There are a few things like connecting a main breaker to a meter than a power company won't do without a licensed electrician.

LMCane said:

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I think we just found yet another job for our Humanoid Robot overlords to do!



Juan and Jose hardest hit.

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Quote:

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There are a few things like connecting a main breaker to a meter than a power company won't do without a licensed electrician.

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Or you can hire unlicensed electrician "Humberto" from Mexico City who will do it for you at 20% of the cost.

Who?mikejones! said:

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LMCane said:

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I think we just found yet another job for our Humanoid Robot overlords to do!



Juan and Jose hardest hit.

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I suggest they add armor.

ABATTBQ11 said:

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BusterAg said:

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Roofing is one of the few major construction services where there are no licensing authorities.

You are much less likely to have an all-illegal crew for electricians, plumbers, HVAC, because there is at least once licensed person in there that has to be a US citizen in order to get a license.

Not so with roofers. It's the wild-west.

I hate, hate, hate the licensing industry, and think that it just creates a ton of rent-seeking behavior, but the one silver lining is that SOMEONE has to be a US citizen somewhere down the line in order to get insurance and be able to sign off on work.

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Well, that and you have an avenue to pursue bad actors in states like Texas with strong homestead and debtor protections. If a guy takes money for a job and stops showing up 1/4 through, you can sue him and get judgements all day long, but collecting and actually getting your money is something else.

With licensing, you can at least attempt to have their license revoked. In a perfect world those guys would go out of business because of bad reviews or reputation, but in the real world they simply change their company name and start anew or give themselves enough fake reviews to offset the real ones.

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I mean, that is all well in good. If you want those types of protections, as a consumer, higher a licensed tradesman. You shouldn't be forced to hire a licensed tradesman if you don't want to. I would probably hire a licensed electrician for a new build, for example. Not to install a new outlet, though.

MouthBQ98 said:

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FWIW, you have a right of repair for property you personally own. This means you don't necessarily need a license to do the work yourself but you do still have to follow codes. There are a few things like connecting a main breaker to a meter than a power company won't do without a licensed electrician.

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Try buying a capacitor to an AC condenser unit that you own without a license. You are basically relegated to TEMU, which doesn't really feel safe.

Had 6 or 7 yards when I was 12 years old, with only a push mower and a can of gas and occasionally the dreaded "weedeater " which was a large pair of heavy metal sheers to do the fences (horrible).

I always had money in my pocket and had to join my buddies on Saturday afternoon afterI did my yards. Learned as much about people(aka the public) as anything.

Our teaching the work ethic to young people is vastly undervalued IMO, and as the cheap labor kinda takes a step back, could be really beneficial. There's plenty of money to be made in the trades if an American guy doesn't mind sweat and getting dirty.

BusterAg said:

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MouthBQ98 said:

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FWIW, you have a right of repair for property you personally own. This means you don't necessarily need a license to do the work yourself but you do still have to follow codes. There are a few things like connecting a main breaker to a meter than a power company won't do without a licensed electrician.

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Try buying a capacitor to an AC condenser unit that you own without a license. You are basically relegated to TEMU, which doesn't really feel safe.

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I did that with no problem about 5 years ago. Has something changed?

Jack Squat 83 said:

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Had 6 or 7 yards when I was 12 years old, with only a push mower and a can of gas and occasionally the dreaded "weedeater " which was a large pair of heavy metal sheers to do the fences (horrible).

I always had money in my pocket and had to join my buddies on Saturday afternoon afterI did my yards. Learned as much about people(aka the public) as anything.

Our teaching the work ethic to young people is vastly undervalued IMO, and as the cheap labor kinda takes a step back, could be really beneficial. There's plenty of money to be made in the trades if an American guy doesn't mind sweat and getting dirty.

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1) For school jobs, I just found it so hard to ask my kids to work during high-school with the academic burden they have on them these days. Why would you ask your kid to mow yards when they can get AP credit for physics in high school for an extra hour of homework every night? Both my girls enrolled at A&M with ~50 credit hours, about 3 semesters worth of college. The cost/benefit analysis of 50 college credit hours vs $10/hr is a no-brainer if your kid is destined for college.

2) For the trades, many more smart young men seem to be headed that direction. I have recommended trade education plus some junior college accounting courses to a number of bright young men that just don't want to go to college. It's a great alternative to, for example, a military career, and you can easily be a business owner by 27 or 28 making good money if you just have some common sense around you.

Squadron7 said:

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BusterAg said:

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MouthBQ98 said:

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FWIW, you have a right of repair for property you personally own. This means you don't necessarily need a license to do the work yourself but you do still have to follow codes. There are a few things like connecting a main breaker to a meter than a power company won't do without a licensed electrician.

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Try buying a capacitor to an AC condenser unit that you own without a license. You are basically relegated to TEMU, which doesn't really feel safe.

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I did that with no problem about 5 years ago. Has something changed?

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I dunno. I had a hard time getting the capacitor I needed without going through a dealer. Amazon didn't carry it. Maybe it was just such an old unit no one carried the part. This was also around 3 - 4 years ago, too, so, not sure.

BusterAg said:

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Squadron7 said:

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BusterAg said:

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MouthBQ98 said:

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FWIW, you have a right of repair for property you personally own. This means you don't necessarily need a license to do the work yourself but you do still have to follow codes. There are a few things like connecting a main breaker to a meter than a power company won't do without a licensed electrician.

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Try buying a capacitor to an AC condenser unit that you own without a license. You are basically relegated to TEMU, which doesn't really feel safe.

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I did that with no problem about 5 years ago. Has something changed?

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I dunno. I had a hard time getting the capacitor I needed without going through a dealer. Amazon didn't carry it. Maybe it was just such an old unit no one carried the part. This was also around 3 - 4 years ago, too, so, not sure.

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I was so proud of myself when I discovered the shorted out capacitor on our unit. I think the repair cost me less than $20.

Owlagdad said:

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Lots of Hispanics bemoaning ICE deportations are saying "y'all won't be enjoying Mexican food because all the cooks are gone."
At the so called "real Mexican places", I would like to know how much they pay those immigrants.

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Have you checked many of the chain Chinese food places? Same story.

Those places get busted by the human trafficking division all the time. I'd rather have less Asian food options and nobody living in slavery to make King Pao chicken

BusterAg said:

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12thAngryMan said:

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BusterAg said:

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Roofing is one of the few major construction services where there are no licensing authorities.

You are much less likely to have an all-illegal crew for electricians, plumbers, HVAC, because there is at least once licensed person in there that has to be a US citizen in order to get a license.

Not so with roofers. It's the wild-west.

I hate, hate, hate the licensing industry, and think that it just creates a ton of rent-seeking behavior, but the one silver lining is that SOMEONE has to be a US citizen somewhere down the line in order to get insurance and be able to sign off on work.

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I can understand not liking unnecessary licensing, but can you explain how it promotes rent seeking behavior for the blue collar trades?

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The concept is great. The execution is crap. My main gripe is the apprenticeship model.

The way they stand now, they create unnecessary barriers to new entrants. Here is the requirements to be a licensed electrician:

Quote:

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• Meet Basic Requirements: Be at least 16-18 years old and hold a high school diploma or GED.
• Register as an Apprentice: Apply for an apprentice license with the state board (e.g., TDLR in Texas) to begin legally working under a master electrician.
• Complete Training & Education: Accumulate 8,000 hours (approx. 4 years) of on-the-job training and roughly 576 hours of classroom instruction.
• Pass the Journeyman Exam: After gaining required experience, pass a state-approved exam covering the National Electrical Code (NEC), safety, and electrical theory.

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You can't fix an electrical socket on an ice-cream truck without sign-off by a licensed electrician. The combination of needing a permit to take a leak and exorbitant work experience required to get a license just drive up costs for everyone.

For example, in the age of youtube, I shouldn't have to have an HVAC license to buy a capacitor that I know is out on my AC unit and that I have a great video on how to do fix. Something that should cost me $2 to fix requires a $300 trip from my HVAC guy.

At this point, most of the regulations around licensing in the trades are outdated.

Not that, if you relaxed the requirements for licensing, trade licensing would go away. Most commercial builders would still want master tradesman to sign off on projects. But this requirement of a 4 year apprenticeship that is prevalent in the trades is just a way for the insiders to make more money off of people wanting to enter the industry.

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Wow! I was a licensed journeyman electrician at the age of 22. I was licensed in the city of Corsicana and had a reciprocal license in Palestine. I worked on the Guardian Glass plant there in the early 80s when it was being built. All it took to get the Corsicana license was 2 years experience, a recommendation letter from your employer (I worked for Collier Electric) and ability to pass a fairly easy exam.

MouthBQ98 said:

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FWIW, you have a right of repair for property you personally own. This means you don't necessarily need a license to do the work yourself but you do still have to follow codes. There are a few things like connecting a main breaker to a meter than a power company won't do without a licensed electrician.

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Over the last several years I have replaced outdated (Federal Pacific) or too small breaker panels for 5 or 6 friends and relatives. This requires the power company to cut the power and reconnect when I was done. They never asked about my license which expired in 1988. Of course all this work was done out of the city limits where there is no permit/inspection requirements and my work is always up to code.