NABCEP Update [RE-wrenches]

[Electrical Energy]

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Bob-O and Don,

Great work getting in there at this crucial time.

Drake

At 04:58 PM 11/19/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>Amigos,
>Last week I attended the NABCEP BoD meeting in Austin, TX. For those of 
>you who don't know, I sit on that board along with Don Loweburg. I let 
>myself get drawn in to the deal for several reasons.
>1) the organized labor presence was too high and the RE Wrench presence 
>was too low.
>NABCEP recognizes this and we are taking steps to even it out. NABCEP is 
>pretty committed to making sure that the Wrenches and non-traditional 
>newbies have access to certification. The union reps were not happy 
>campers with that position, but it is going forward anyway. Any of y'all 
>who have read Chuck Marken's article in the most recent Home Power can 
>probably relate to some if not all of his concerns. (Attaboy Chuck, your 
>concerns needed to be expressed)
>At this point, NABCEP has already dealt with some of them. NABCEP realized 
>very quickly that the overwhelming union response to the original 
>stakeholder questionnaire did NOT represent what was really going on in 
>our industry and have greatly modified the requirements to sit for the 
>certification test to include as many of us independent working Wrenches 
>as possible.
>2) Whether we like it or not, I believe that national certification is 
>going to happen. Most of us OGs (old guys) can remember the happy days 
>before NEC 690. While I still have some issues with that, I gotta admit 
>that it is a good thing overall. Here's why it's going to happen and why 
>we need to do it:
>Money.
>For RE to continue to go mainstream, we will need incentive programs. 
>(Yes, I fully agree that if the oil, coal, and gas incentives went away 
>we'd be cost effective tomorrow, but let's get real. That ain't gonna 
>happen. Certainly not under Dubya or the Demos for that matter. Even if 
>Ralph had won, I doubt whether he would have had the juice to stop them.)
>Since incentive programs are funded through "public benefit" funds, ie the 
>people's dough, it is reasonable and correct to require good value for 
>money spent. A huge part of that is good design and installation. No 
>arguments there, eh? While all states currently having RE incentive 
>programs allow (and will continue to allow) owner/builder installations, 
>some are now seriously looking at promoting certified Wrench installations 
>in one way or another. As soon as the data is in from a few of these 
>programs, we all know that it will show that real Wrench installations 
>will overall outperform the others. Apparently in Florida there is already 
>data to suggest that certified contractor installs cost a bit more but 
>last far longer. It seems like a no-brainer to me that data like that will 
>prompt other state programs to adopt similar provisions.
>At the same time, some manufacturers are looking at programs where 
>installations by certified Wrenches have increased warrantees. In some 
>cases, if you aren't licensed and/or certified and trained in their 
>products, there is NO warrantee. How 'bout them apples?
>3) Pride. I'm proud of what I do and I'm proud of my craftsmanship. Aren't 
>y'all? While I don't NEED another certification to do my job, if there is 
>one worth having which will tell my clients to hire the best and forget 
>the rest, I want it. I'm all over it. Bring it on.
>
>So, one way or another, I figure we should do this. In the best case, it 
>will put more money in our pockets and allow us to compete with (and 
>hopefully say bye-bye to) the incompetents. I don't see this as putting 
>the competent, but uncertified, shade tree Wrench out of biz at all. 
>He/she just may not get the higher end jobs. Oh well.
>In the worst case, our industry goes the way of most electrical and 
>plumbing trades. Very controlled and hard to break into. I believe that by 
>steering NABCEP we can avoid this. Looking down the road, if NABCEP is a 
>hit, we can steer State programs to some degree as well. After all, are we 
>or are we not the damn experts around here?
>OK, I figure this is bound to spark debate. Let's have it. If Don and I 
>are to represent the Wrenches effectively, we need to hear all of it. Just 
>keep in mind, especially if you disagree with the whole concept, that we 
>ain't the enemy...
>Best, Bob-O
>
>--
>Bob-O Schultze, Electron Connection
>PO Box 203, Hornbrook, CA 96044
>800.945.7587 or 530.475.3402
>fax 530-475-3401
>www.electronconnection.com
>
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