see additional comments on prevailing wage below
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Comment:
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Hi Ken;
I recently took a CEU class on Carbon Monoxide Detection, and the new NFPA codes concerning them. In essence, if an alarm company installs a CO detector in a residence, and the system is monitored at a central monitoring station, and the detector is activated, the central station MUST dispatch the FD. This only applies to residential burg and fire systems, not commercial. Even if the homeowner states that he was messing with the detector, the FD must be dispatched. Whereas if there is an activation from a commercial establishment, anyone with a valid password can have the central station dispatcher ignore the signal. I realize that this is all part of fire safety, etc. but I think that they have gone too far.
Let me digress a little to throw some facts on the table. With a residential fire system the FD can be aborted if a smoke detector is tripped by anyone on premise with a valid password. In a commercial establishment, if a smoke detector is activated, the central station must dispatch the FD. This is 180 degrees opposite of what must be done with CO detectors. Now I do understand, that the real danger of CO poisoning occurs when people are asleep. In essence, they wake up the next morning, DEAD. Most commercial establishments don't have people sleeping in the place, so I'm assuming that is why they can abort the dispatch of the FD. I know that most FD's these days carry meters to accurately measure the amount of CO in a premise, but they are not equipped to fix or resolve the problem. Unlike a fire, if your CO detector activates, the action of merely opening a couple of windows can save your life. With the exception of someone who leaves a motor vehicle running in a closed garage, CO almost never builds up that fast in any type of structure, commercial or residential. I have read of many cases of people complaining of headaches and feeling ill in their home for weeks before the CO problem was discovered, or they finally went to bed one night and didn't wake up the next day. Fast forward to the point where these codes are in place and being followed: Your CO detector is activated in your home, and no one is there. The FD will be dispatched and likely take a door off it's hinge to gain entry into your home, to discover no one is there. Now what should they do? Water your plants? Clean up the mess from smashing in your door? Unless there is a companion piece to this regulation that will give them specific guidelines, like maybe waiting for a key holder to respond or in the case of the homeowner who couldn't have the central station operator NOT dispatch, some other regulations have to apply. I agree with the regulation of one CO detector per floor. If nothing else, it gives you some redundancy in case one detector becomes defective. I just think these rules have gone too far.
We are a country of 300 million people, that's right, a 3 followed by 8 zeros. From the latest statistics I could find, over 40,000 people die every year in fires. I imagine that number includes firefighters who lose their lives fighting the fires as well. Approximately 500 people die in this country every year from CO poisoning. I suspect that a fairly large percentage of the 500 deaths are intentional (suicide.) That means, that in a country of 300,000,000 people, 0.015% will die from fire related injuries this year, but only 0.0002% will die from CO poisoning. Did it ever occur to the board that passed this rule that maybe some people might just be too stupid to live? Most likely these are people from the same shallow end of the gene pool who try to use gasoline in a kerosene heater. What are your thoughts?
John from NJ
Think positive. The more laws and regulations the equipment you should be able to sell. Thanks for the info.
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nal comments re prevailing wage issueAdditio
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to all:
Seems to me that if you guys don’t know the laws and how these jobs work, you should not be bidding them in the first place. I understand that they potentially can make money, but in my experience with the government projects, more often than not, you make less overall than a regular job. Most of this is because of paperwork and times spent in meetings, especially with the Army Corps of Engineers, and when you finally do get done, you never want to do another one again. I find it very easy to find if the projects are prevailing wages with a few quick phone calls. Fringe Benefits guide that I found on DOL site could help all of you figure out what IS and IS NOT a fringe benefit.
The bottom line is don’t be afraid to bid these jobs and if you do something wrong, fix it and prove you did, just don’t repeatedly make the same mistake in not paying the right wages.
Good luck and happy bidding!
TG
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to all:
HOW ABOUT THE TRUNK SLAMMING ALARM INSTALLERS LEAVE THE REAL WORK (PREVAILING WAGE) TO THE REAL (UNION) CONTRACTORS.
The ones with the 10 mil umbrella coverage, the ones that pay 52.00 per hour to each journeyman worker, one ones that don’t have to tie a ladder onto the top of their own car to do a service call and that's plus benefits, plus payroll taxes and does not look for a way to cheat and get over. That pays a man a fair wage for a fair days work so he can support his or her family. It cost us a little over 96.00 per man per hour…..
PS: prevailing wage violations are criminal offence in NJ
Scott Diamond
Electrical Solutions
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Not to worry all..... the butt head unions, I mean the state, is about to add a category of Fire Alarm Distributor to the labor codes...That's us.
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