Electrical

It's not lost on us that every E&I company that contacts you probably tells you they can do all the things we can do, and they probably even tell you they're really good at it. But are they? Did they complete their scope of work with little to no rework? Did they perform it on schedule and within the budget of the contract? Did they show strong technical knowledge when it came down to troubleshooting?

Our Electrical Team has experience with High Voltage, Medium Voltage, and Low Voltage. We're ready to take on any substation work scope you have, whether it's overhead, underground, or even the replacement of a major transformer. We can handle everything it takes to get electrons flowing all the way from the switch yard down to the low voltage instruments in the field.

What we install and test

• Substations, transformers, poles, and conductors
• Feeder busway, switchgear, switchboards, and panelboards
• Motor Control Centers and Variable Frequency Drives
• Uninterruptible Power Supply systems
• Cable tray and conduit, cable pulling, prep, and termination
• And of course, generators and solar panel systems too!

Our work doesn't stop after the installation is complete. We handle all of the commissioning too, from testing a motor with a simple start/stop station all the way through motor control systems that are part of complex control schemes. Whether it's troubleshooting existing installations, redesigning and redlining new installations, or even writing the test procedures, we can do it, and do it well.

Electrical infrastructure

Our Team has been heavily involved in the design, construction, and operation of electrical systems for over two decades, in good times and bad. We've responded to hurricanes, ice storms, tornadoes, and floods that crippled or destroyed electrical systems. We've built and rebuilt infrastructure for the U.S. Government, electric utilities, engineering firms, and industrial customers, handling voltages from 120V to 69kV. We identify, specify, and install electrical equipment, poles, conductors, temporary generation, transformers, substations, and anything and everything it takes to get the power from conception to the end device.

It's not really the craftsman's fault

One theme that seems to be common across all industries, and a common complaint from most clients, is that the quality of craftsmanship has decreased considerably in recent years. The biggest reason, we think, is the massive number of projects in progress across the U.S. right now and the unbelievable number of people it takes to complete them. For now, there is more demand than supply when it comes to quality craftsmen, and though that may be an opportunity for those wanting to enter a new field, it comes at the expense of the client.

You can't fault an inexperienced job seeker for wanting to break into the E&I field, but much too often they lack the vocational and hands-on training it takes to be productive. When is the last time someone showed up on a job, was first given an evaluation to determine their knowledge base, and then handed the job site installation specs to go over before they started working on anything?

We're betting if you asked the contractor's employees in the field whether they had read the site specs within the first week of their arrival, 99% of them would say no. You know what that means? It means you're going to be doing a lot of rework, and no matter how honest you think your contractor is, they don't plan on losing money on a job just because they're the reason for their own rework. That starts a chain reaction of fictional FCOs and finger pointing, which leads to time delays, which leads to cost overruns, which leads to a blemish on your own reputation if you were part of the bidding process that chose that contractor.

What we found on one major project

We were brought in on a major project to handle the I&C commissioning after it had missed nearly every construction and commissioning milestone. Weeks before we arrived, we asked for the site specs so we'd have a good handle on them before starting our work. We asked nearly daily, and it took almost two months before someone gave them to us. Fortunately, most of our team were Specialists trained in just about every aspect of construction, commissioning, and maintenance, so they caught most of the installation issues without having seen the specs.

Nearly every loop we touched had an issue, whether it was a field installation issue, an engineering or design issue, or a control system configuration issue. As we worked with the E&I construction personnel to correct installations as they went in, we figured this much out: most of the poor craftsmanship was not intentional. Many of the craftsmen did care, and honestly had no idea what a good installation looked like. No one had ever shown them, and they surely had no idea specs existed. Once we spent time with them and explained why something had to be a certain way, we saw a major decrease in rework.

The same went for the other I&C commissioning company sharing the scope with us. We got everyone in a room and explained the importance of a full functional check, and a detailed review of all documentation, to make sure what was designed and installed was really what was supposed to be there. Once we showed the technicians what to look for, they started catching many more issues themselves, and that cut down the rework again.

We'll tell you if your expectations are realistic

So we're very familiar with the current pool of craftsmen, and as we said, it's not really the craftsman's fault. It's on the company to hire competent employees, and to be honest enough at the table to say they can't find enough competent people for your project, instead of making promises they can't keep.

We are the type of company that will tell you if your expectations are realistic or not. We take our reputation personally, so you can expect us to do everything we can to evaluate the situation and come up with a course of action to remedy the issues. We want to be the company that lets you sleep a little better at night knowing we're on your project. (This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA, and we make no claims that our company can be used as a cure for insomnia, but we think we can take a little bit of stress out of your life!)