Client Hires Lousy Electrical Contractor, Contractor Ignores Plans, Ends Up With More Work

Author image for mattstaff
mattstaff
Aug 15, 2021 11:00 AM EDT

Crooked contractors can be a real handful... and there are plenty of people out there in this world who are actively looking to cut corners just to make the daily grind a bit easier. Unfortunately, the "not my job moments" can amount to severely inconveniencing other people that literally don't have time in their days to deal with all the nonsense.

Redditor u/electriclear posted to the subreddit r/ProRevenge to share a long and winding tale of his brutal interactions with one such crooked contractor, who basically did everything wrong when it came to installing lighting fixtures and electricity throughout an apartment complex while working with OP, an electrical engineer, on a project. Eventually, OP found a higher authority to lay down the law of the land. The whole situation was really complicated just because Eddie the contractor wouldn't follow directions.

 For another tale of pro revenge check out the time that a city gave a man trouble over his property line, so he built a revenge bar.

Advertisement
  • 01
    Font - r/ProRevenge + Join u/electriclear 7h 1 9 6 2 3 3 3 Do the job you were hired for or have it ripped out from under you This is a long one, so get ready. I've marked the key paragraphs with ***. You can also skip to the end for the summary (TLDR) if you don't have the time. *** Most people, including myself, have lived in an apartment at least one time or another in over the course of their lives and can attest to the nuances and annoyances that come from a poorly designed building: thin w
    via u/electriclear
  • 02
    Font - neighbors). So, after getting the partying out of my system, putting my nose to the books, and graduating with a degree in electrical engineering, I found myself several years later working with a developer of multifamily housing. Hoping to right some wrongs from the past, I pledged to make the experience for the people who would be living in the community a bit better than my own. I couldn't control the building materials or aesthetics of the complex, but I did have control of the design
    via u/electriclear
  • 03
    Font - My first step was to tackle the exterior lighting for the complex. Instead of using Metal Halides (those large shoebox lights that buzz at night), I persuaded the developer to install LED pole and building mounted lights. These were designed to increase the light output of the parking area and walkways (for safety), while maintaining cutoff so it wouldn't intrude into someone's bedroom window. They looked good, saved energy, and had a higher color rendering index (80) than the standard Me
    via u/electriclear
  • 04
    Font - *** I spent several weeks refining the project template, and after some back and forth with our client (the developer) some items were cut, but the majority remained as per the design intention, which was spelled out to the "T". I was happy, they were happy, and after the drawings made their way through permitting, the developer hired the contractors, and the project was underway. *** Everything was going great until the general contractor hired the electrical sub-contractor... For the pu
    via u/electriclear
  • 05
    Font - As a contractor, you sign a contract stating that you'll build what is shown on the drawings for a certain price. If the client accepts your offer, you win the contract. In doing so, you're obligated to provide what was shown on the drawings unless an addendum, revision, or substitute modifies the original contract (all of which must be approved by the engineer). *** It all started when I started receiving his submittals. For those not in the industry, this is a standard practice between
    via u/electriclear
  • 06
    Font - The first submittal was for the exterior lighting, which was complete garbage. Eddie submitted Metal Halide lighting, which was not only the wrong type of light, but the wrong distribution (which would cause back- lighting into the residents' windows at night), the wrong color temperature, and the wrong output (too dim). I rejected the submittal outright and told him to provide the light fixtures shown on the plans, which specifically indicated that no substitutions were allowed due to th
    via u/electriclear
  • 07
    Font - Not happy at all. However, Eddie does submit another fixture which was slightly better, but still not on par with the design. Again, I reject the submittal and state that unless he can prove that the fixture he submitted is similar to, or superior, than the photometrics shown on the drawings it will not be accepted. It is not the engineer's responsibility to proof a substitute and if he wants to use this fixture, he'll need to submit his own photometric calculations as well to prove the p
    via u/electriclear
  • 08
    Font - *** This back and forth continues with several other submittals, which become shorter and show less information. I call Eddie to tell him he's missing items, and he responds with excuses and after some time ends up not returning calls or emails. *** Time passes and I move on to other projects. Then I get a call from our client that some of the buildings are ready for a walk-thru and he would like me to do a site visit to check the work before drywall is installed. We set a date and I'm of
    via u/electriclear
  • 09
    Font - The first thing I notice is the wiring is white. This is typical for smaller gauge Romex wire (#14), and our drawings show #12 wire (12/2 Romex – typically yellow) which was our office standard. I take a closer look and confirm this is the case. Now usually I don't take issue with this if it's brought to our attention ahead of time, and if it's used for lighting circuits only. 14/2 Romex is perfectly acceptable to use regardless, it's industry standard, and code compliant, it just doesn't
    via u/electriclear
  • 10
    Font - *** Then I look around at the circuiting, and I'm dumbfounded. Except for a few dedicated circuits, the drawings weren't followed at all. Lights and power circuits were combined as were the rooms. As it stood, it would have been just another sh y apartment with the same problems I had spent so much time working to rectify in the first place. Again, we could have discussed this ahead of time, bounced ideas off each other and worked it out. I worked as an electrician to pay for college for
    via u/electriclear
  • 11
    Font - I wrote my report along with my pictures and copies of the plans. It looked like a murder scene with redlines, strike-thrus, captions, and comments which illustrated clearly and definitively the stark differences between what was designed and the dumpster fire that was installed. It was sent to our client and my best buddy Eddie, which is standard. The client was pissed. We got on a call and Eddie got chewed out for his poor communication and decision to abandon the plans and do his own t
    via u/electriclear
  • 12
    Font - When I sent out the report, I didn't just send it to Eddie and the client. I also sent it to the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction), which in this case was the building official for the county, we'll call him "Mark" for the purpose of this story (again, not his real name). Mark and I had gotten to know each other well over the course of the project. We discussed theory, code, restrictions, etc to make sure that he knew what I was doing before the drawings were sent out for review. During
    via u/electriclear
  • 13
    Font - Looping back to the phone call between myself, the client, and Eddie I suggested we add another person to the call, who was the Project Superintendent (we'll call him "Steve"). Steve and I had previously discussed Eddie's failure to follow the drawings while I was on- site, and I had pointed out to him that Mark had said any deviations from the plans would mean that the project wouldn't pass inspection unless the drawings stated otherwise. I asked Steve about this on the call and he ackno
    via u/electriclear
  • 14
    Font - So we called Mark, and thank everything that is holy he answered. I filled him in on the discussion, my conversation with Steve, and he confirmed everything right there in front of the client, Eddie, and Steve. The drawings MUST be followed, and deviations would not be allowed, period or he would shut down the project. I was stoked! Finally, no one could hide and everything was out in the open. Some time later, I got another call from the client, who had asked if 14/2 Romex was allowed to
    via u/electriclear
  • 15
    Font - And that's howI made Eddie, (through the decision by our client, and the power wielded by the AHJ a.k.a Mark), tear out all the work he did over 2 months on three apartment buildings and start over from scratch. To his credit, he did finish the project to completion. Afterwards, he was blacklisted from working on another project again with our client and I never heard from him again. Moral of the story is, do the work you signed up for and if you have questions, it never hurts to ask. TLD
    via u/electriclear

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

FAIL job revenge engineering ridiculous Reddit company
Scroll Down For The Next Article