You never know........(PAH)

Dave Yates (PAH)

It's 4:00 PM on a Friday. The calls have been fast & furious all day due to the bitter cold. Busted pipes, no heat - you name it.

Phone rings - it's a new customer & everyone is already dispatched. OT kicks in at 4:30 & the weekend on-call mechanic went home with the flu at 3:00 - you make the call:

"I have no heat. The heating company came out here and started the work, but never finished. They made me pay up front and didn't finish the work. They're sending me a refund, but I won't have any money until the 1st of Feb. Can you send someone right over?"

Her section of town is less than desirable. Drugs and shootings are a way of life in that area. Her story was hard to swallow and after 30+ years, I've become jaded to this type of caller. Something tugged at my heart sleeve though and we decided to call the other mechanical contractor while keeping her on hold.

Damned if she wasn't telling the truth! As luck would have it, one of our mechanics called in by radio to ask if we had something to fill out his eight.

Turns out she's handicapped and it was a simple flooded boiler call. We'll return next week to determine why, but tonight she's got heat.

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Tony_8

just shows to go ya'

You just never know when or where. I don't blame you for checking out her story, I would've too. She, unfortunately, is not the norm in regards to her "story". Usually there's a reason the other guy walked off.

Feels good to help someone in need, doesn't it ? And we get paid for it !

Warming up here (WNY), from 0 to 7 since lunch !

keith_7

i know how those calls are dave. you just never know what to expect!! did you pay up the soldering fee yet to the city? I still have not decided what to due yet!!

jim lockard

kinda chees'y

Of the other guy to walk on a no heat call(handicapped woman) in this weather and he got paid in advance, no refund for 15 days??? Thanks Dave for upholding the integrity of our craft. J. Lockard

Dave Yates (PAH)

ahhhhhhhhhhhh, the onerous fees

Keith,

Look for me on channel 16 Tuesday night - I will be addressing York City Council and speaking my mind. It's time they hear our side of the story.

Max Copenhaver will be there to represent the PHCC. Come along and lend your support if you dare! Should be fun(G).

I'm penning my speech this weekend. The Mayor and I have been doing battle by e-mail this past week. He said our having to pay $100.00 for the priveledge of soldering ensures the welfare and safety of the citizens! I pointed out that our paying a $100 permit fee to light a torch does nothing of the sort. No test will be given to verify I can solder safely & no one in the city givernment is qualified to test my skills. Furthermore, no standards have been established to guide me in safe soldering practices AND, perhaps more to the point, no inspection will be done during the course of my soldering. In short - that's a bunch of horse poop.

Then there's the new plumbing license fees, the huge jump in per-fixture costs and, last but not least, the $60.00 per visit inspection fee for the inspector's labor.

The game is afoot!



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keith_7

dave i will be there on tuesday nite to lend my support. as for the permit fees i guess its a sign of the times everthing has gone up and i would think that the rest of the townships and citys will follow next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kevin coppinger_4

Sounds like a good ....

reason to go pex or use a propress...kpc

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leo g_69

fees

sounds like what i heard some guy on the news say a couple of years ago is starting to come true for you good people south of the border. it was something about if the tax breaks went deep enough, eventually, the cities would have to make up the revenue some way. he predicted that essentially, every service would come with a hefty fee.

hey dave, tell them that you don't solder, and show them your pro press, that'll get em scratching their heads! :]

leo g

BOB_23

$100.00 soldering fee??

I second the message above. Start using Ridgid's PROPRESS copper joining tool and fittings.
I am a sslesman for Eastern Pennsylvania Supply Co. in Allentown Pa. and I think the propress system is great. You can use the tool in most places but you will never be able to get rid of your torch 100%.
I also sell pex tubing for plumbing, radiant systems and radiant tubing to be run to radiant headers, copper / cast iron baseboard, kick space heaters, unit heaters, duct coils ect....
If you have never seen or used the propress system it can cut down on your labor costs and get you in and out of jobs fast.
that was very professional of you to help that person with her heating problem. it sure is cold out this week.

Dave Yates (PAH)

other Townships

Spoke with Greg at Springettsbury Twp yesterday & he tells me plumbers are beginning to establish two rates - one when working within the city boundaries & the other for everywhere else.

It's not the money, it's the inequatable levying of burdensome fees on one group - plumbers. No other trade requires licensing in our area. Want to be an electrician, builder, remodeler, HVAC contractor or mason? No problem - all you need do is say you are one. No need to register or be licensed. No requirement for proof of insurance while naming the City of York as an "additional insured" in order to obtain an annual license.

In our area, we must be licensed in 28 separate municipalities. When our State-wide adoption of the UCC takes place, that wuill jump up to more than 80. Each one charges us for licenses. In all of them, only plumbing contractors are licensed!

But it's not the money - it's the lack of enforcement that galls me (and virtually 100% of the other licensed plumbers). When unlicensed individuals are caught, and I have documented proof that this has happened, nothing happens to them. If the work is not completed, they're instructed (sometimes) to obtain the services of a licensed plumbing contractor. If the work is completed, nothing is done - no fines; no prosecution; and no need to remove the work.

We, as a trade, have ignored this for too long and it's time this was aired in public.

One last thing - the new license fees were not applied across the board. Some were allowed to pay the old rate, while others were made to pay the new doubled rate.

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jackchips_2

The call to

the other "pro?" certainly helped you decide, Dave, but most of us on the Wall know you would have sent someone anyway. Divine intervention that one of your techs became available?

No, just Pah doing what he does.

Dave Yates (PAH)

a Ridgid ProPress

No doubt one is in my future, but even if I had one and took it along, that wouldn't alleviate the problem. I'm being required to pay for a newly thought up fund raising permit fee and then posting a copy of it on the dashboard of every truck I have in the fleet - or risk a fine. Again - only licensed legitimate businessmen who are licensed plumbers must play.



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