September 2007

Cover Story

Record Gains Bring Labor Pains

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Beck Ireand, Staff Writer

An unprecedented 47 of this year's Top 50 electrical contractors reported an increase in sales from 2005 to 2006. One of the firms leading this trend...

Features

Seeing the Light

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Gary Nangle, P.E., Cronis, Liston, Nangle & White, LLP

Although industrial lighting has historically been a step behind technologies used for other building types, many of the advancements made over the past...

Calculating Arc Flash Energy Levels

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Benjamin O. Medich, P.E., Ballinger

While not a major topic of consideration when designing and maintaining facilities in past years, code-enforcement bodies have become increasingly aware...

2008 Truck & Van Preview

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By the Editors of Fleet Owner magazine

Despite the big falloff in new truck sales this year due to the mandated introduction of EPA 2007-compliant diesel engines into 2008 model year trucks...

The Changing Face of CPM

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Tom Zind, Freelance Writer

The advent of ever-more powerful software has relieved contractors of tedious work ranging from bookkeeping to taxes to estimating. Time that used to...

Service Secrets

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Amy Florence Fischbach, Contributing Writer

Jim Kleiser, franchisee owner of Mr. Electric in Vancouver, Wash., started his own business with a service truck in his garage. In less than 18 months,...

National Electrical Code

Article 230: Services Part 2

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Mike Holt, NEC Consultant

Part 1 of this two-part series, which ran in last month's August issue, explored how to ensure your service entrance equipment meets Code. Starting with...

Illustrated Catastrophes

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Joe Tedesco, NEC Columnist

As usual, never consider the following commentary associated with these photos as a formal interpretation of the National Electrical Code (NEC). Without...

What's Wrong Here?

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Joe Tedesco, NEC Columnist

How well do you know the Code? Think you can spot violations the original installer either ignored or couldn't identify? Here's your chance to moonlight...

Code Quandaries

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Mike Holt, NEC Consultant

All questions and answers are based on the 2005 NEC. Q. Can Type MC cable be installed from fixture to fixture without support above a suspended ceiling?...

Industry Viewpoint

Numbers Game

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Michael Eby, Editor-in-Chief

Every time I pick up a newspaper, turn on the radio, or tune in to the local or national TV news, all I hear about is how bad the residential housing...

Forensic Casebook

The Case of the Knockoff Motor

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Curtis E. Falany, P.E., FORCON International Corp.

Have you ever heard the expression, green is ground the world around? I have, many times. But do you ever personally check the green conductor to see...

Market Watch

Safer Aerial Work Platforms Only a Click Away

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM

It's a well-known fact that, when worn, automobile seat belts save lives. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), based...

ACEEE Scorecard Rates States on Energy Efficiency

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM

To identify those states committed to safeguarding the environment, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Washington, D.C., has...

Product of the Month

Plug-and-Play Subsystem Platform

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Stefanie Kure, Senior Associate Editor

Every so often, a groundbreaking product comes along that has the potential to transform an entire industry. The Convia programmable building platform,...

Letters to the Editor

Reader Comments on Case of Suffocating Swine

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Reader Comments on Case of the Suffocating Swine After reading the Forensic Casebook article in the March 2007 issue several times and studying the photographs,...

Motor Facts

Magnetic Motor Starter Basics

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Steve Vidal, P.E., Joseph J. Vidal & Sons, Inc.

The NEC defines a controller in a few different ways. In Art. 100, a controller is described as a device or group of devices that serves to govern, in...

VDV Today

Battery Sizing Basics

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Shanmuga S. Pandian, SOFCON

Because stationary batteries and 48VDC power systems serve as lifelines for telecommunication networks, the reliability of these systems is of the utmost...

Inside PQ

Observations on Supplemental Grounding and Bonding: Part 3

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By William Bush, Panduit

In Part 2 of this article (August 2007), we described multipoint (or common-type) supplemental grounding and bonding between the T(M)GB [notation used...

Construction Watch

Construction Contractors Not Required to Sign Project Labor Agreement

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently found that labor unions and the owner of an upcoming project cannot lawfully agree to require the owner's...

Nonresidential Construction Spending and Employment Reports At Odds

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Despite reports of year-to-year gains of 14% to 15% in nonresidential spending and investment in nonresidential structures, the Bureau of Labor Statistics...

Solar Certification for Electrical Contractors

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM

In the four years since Malta, N.Y.-based North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) launched its Solar PV Installer Certification,...

Market Insider

Sunny Forecast for Power Plant Construction

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Stefanie Kure, Senior Associate Editor

Electrical contractors may want to grab a pair of sunglasses. Government legislation, growing demand for the use of environmentally friendly fuels, and...

Short Circuits

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Tarzan the Electrician I was fresh out of college, recently returning from Army active duty, and was hired on as an electrician at a small electrical...