Standing up for Electrical Contractors

Below is an editorial I wrote about a year ago. It appeared in the Sept. 2004 issue of CE Pro. We recently received a letter from a home systems integrator who does a mean job in both the low-voltage and high-voltage trades.

He writes, "There is a lot of animosity out there regarding electrical contractors moving into the low voltage arena. ... In the recent Top 30 Structured Cabling issue there was a rant by a reader indicating that EH Publishing should stop featuring electrical contractors. I don’t know why people are so bothered by electrical contractors."

So I think now is a pretty good time to repeat my message from last year. --JJ

Standing up for the ECs

"If you could see the hack jobs electricians have been doing in my area you would have never put them on the cover!" wrote one integrator about the June issue of CE Pro, featuring S&S Electric Co. of Oldsmar, Fla.

We put S&S on the cover of our magazine because that company won the annual Dealer of the Year contest sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association. I remember the rumblings during the awards ceremony in March: How dare CEA recognize a lousy electrician!

The letter-writer similarly rants, "What ever happened to the CE Pro's CUSTOM ELECTRONIC PROFESSIONALS! ... All that electricians are doing is selling themselves as one-stop shopping to the builders and homeowners, and the homeowners don’t know any better."

Indeed, there are many electricians that do a rotten job in the low-voltage realm, and they do our industry a terrible disservice. There are also a lot of low-voltage integrators who do a rotten job and do our industry a terrible disservice.

We in the custom-installation business -- myself included -- like to belittle ECs for the sake of low-voltage professionals. But as a group, they're no less worthy than those who came to the home systems industry by way of security (OK, we also slam those guys sometimes), car audio and retail. How many times have we told homebuilders that the reason they're getting a good deal from their electrician is because the electrician's "Cat 5" run is daisy-chained and terminated for a one-line phone?

Sure, it happens. It probably happens often. But there’s another reason why many EC companies offer structured wiring systems at a fraction of the cost of low-voltage specialists: Electricians do a higher volume of work and they're more experienced in the field, with the average EC business being about twice as old as its low-voltage counterpart.

The fact is, most homebuilders use ECs for low-voltage work. By and large, they’re satisfied with the service they receive. According to a survey conducted by CEA and the National Association of Home Builders, 76% of builders use electricians for low-voltage work, versus 73% who use security installers, and 35% who use "custom installers."

Of those builders, 66% are satisfied with the EC's work, compared to 58% who are satisfied with the custom installer's. (Security installers ranked 55% and retailers 26% on the satisfaction scale).

About one-fourth of CEDIA members employ electricians. Are those companies screwing up business for the "real" custom installation companies? If you have too many electricians on staff, are you a "huge problem for our industry," as our irate letter-writer suggests?

Who else is unworthy of this profession? Can A/V professionals do justice to a lighting control system? Can automation specialists handle security? Can a complete outsider, say, a lawyer, run a good custom installation business?

Our stance at CE Pro, and EH Publishing for that matter, is that professionals who do a good job in the custom installation business should be praised. Those who do a poor job should be educated.

Alas, we've featured many certified "CEDIA types" who have failed. Ditto for "security types," and "retail types."

Electrical contractors, like any of these other classes, should be given an equal opportunity to succeed.