SFECA Newsletter 12-2010

San Francisco Electrical
Contractors Association, Inc.
555 Gough Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
December 2010
From the President
Dear SFECA Member,
A
Leonard Lynch
President
Officers, Directors & Staff
President
Leonard Lynch
Vice President
James Young
Treasurer
James Reed
Secretary
Michael Garner
Governor
Kenneth Paganini
Directors
James Coffman
Andrew Ferrari
Patrick McMillan
Thomas McClure
Bernard Poggetti
Ernie Ulibarri
s 2010 comes to a close, so does
my Presidency. It has been an
honor to serve as your Association
President since 2007. We have faced
some real challenges these last few
years and I could not have risen to
meet them without the help and support of those around me. Thanks to
the association membership and committees for all of your ideas and input.
I would also like to offer my sincerest
gratitude to the SFECA Board of Directors. Your hard work and dedication to the industry continues to move
us forward in these tough times.
n the years to come, I look forward
to working with our next Association President, Jim Young. Jim has
been our Vice President for the duration of my term. He has been very
active and involved throughout his
time on the Board and as a member.
Please continue to give him all of the
support you have shown me.
hanks to all of our members and
guests in attendance at the Association’s Annual Installation of Officers and Directors Dinner Dance.
Once again, this event was well
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attended. We were fortunate to have
NECA’s President, Rex Ferry and
NECA’s Executive Director of Government Affairs, Lake Coulson, in attendance, as well as representatives from
NECA’s Western Region office, and
IBEW Local 6.
pecial presentation of awards are
made to show the gratitude we
have for our fellow contractors who
continue to give generously of their
time and energy to our association.
This year’s Electrical Industry Man—of
the—Year Award was presented to
Ernie Ulibarri of Barri Electric. This
award is given to a member who has
made significant contribution to our
industry. Ernie has served on numerous association committees and continues to offer his time and dedication
to our Association.
egularly scheduled membership
meetings will resume in January.
2011 calendars and details for all 2011
events will be distributed as they are
available. Have a safe and enjoyable
holiday season and I look forward to
seeing you all in the new year.
S
R
Executive Manager
Thomas A. Coleman
Assistant Manager
Jason A. McClean
Newsletter Editor
Jason A. McClean
Under the terms of the Inside, Sound & Communications,
and Storekeeper agreements, December 24thand 25th are
recognized holidays. Any work performed on those days
shall be compensated at the double-time rate. Enjoy the
holidays!
January Membership Meeting
1/27
February Membership Meeting
2/24
March Membership Meeting
3/31
April Membership Meeting
4/28
May Membership Meeting
5/27
Tri District Meeting
6/26—29
September Membership
Meeting
9/29
NECA National Convention
10/23—25
October Membership Meeting
10/27
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ECA is lobbying to extend an
energy efficiency cash grant program that was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA). NECA has sent a letter to
Senate leadership in support of the
extension, known as ARRA Section
1603: The U.S. Treasury cash grant
program.
ECA contractors have reached
out to the national office about
the opportunities created by these
cash grants for their companies. The
cash grants offer wind and solar renewable energy projects a cash grant
instead of the 30% investment tax
credit. The program will provide a
more immediate incentive for small,
start-up companies to invest in renewable energy projects.
ccording to the Electrical Contractor Profile for 2010, over 20
percent of electric contractors work
on renewable energy projects. If Section 1603 grants are not extended,
NECA members may lose out on
these renewable energy opportunities.
With the limited time before Congress adjourns, we ask that you please
contact your Senators in support of
extending this necessary cash grant
program. As always, we believe that
the most valuable communication will
come from their constituents back
home -- you. Please emphasize in
your letter if your company has or is
participating in any renewable projects using 1603 financing. Please
note, there are sections in the form
letter where you must manually enter
your company letterhead and company name.
Please visit NECA’s website:
www.necanet.org, under the
“Legislation” tab.
Look for the
“Action Alert” section.
Only Certified Electricians to Perform
Work as Electricians. Effective immediately, the Contractors State License
Board (CSLB) establishes a zerotolerance enforcement policy and will
issue legal action against any C-10
Electrical contractor who willfully employs even one uncertified electrician
to perform work as an electrician.
CSLB is legally required to open an
investigation and initiate disciplinary
action against the contractor, which
may include license suspension or
revocation, within 60 days of receipt
of a referral or complaint from the
Division of Apprenticeship Standards
(DAS).
ubsections within Labor Code
Section 3099 clearly state that
certification by DAS is required for
anyone who performs work as an electrician for C-10 Electrical contractors.
DAS is required by Labor Code Section 3099.2 to report violations to
CSLB.
lectricians are defined as all persons who engage in the connection of electrical devices for C-10 contractors. It is CSLB’s position that
electrical work must be performed by
a certified electrician or an approved
apprentice.
Trenching, concrete,
framing, and other work that does not
involve connecting electrical devices
may be performed by noncertified
workers, according to the CSLB.
Questions regarding this CSLB
enforcement policy should be directed
to Brian Gedney (916) 255-4435.
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A
Installation of Officers &
Directors Dinner Dance
11/05
This Month’s Safety Topic:
“Confined Entry
Work Procedures”
OUT OF WORK LISTS
INSIDE
Book I:
Book II
Apprentices:
392
190
97
SOUND & COMM.
Book I:
Book II:
Apprentices:
SFECA News
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2
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Page 2
FASB’s Subtopic 715—80 and 450
will not take effect in 2010.
n Nov. 10, the Financial
Accounting Standards
Board (FASB) met to discuss
Topic 715-80 ‘Disclosures’ proposal, and chose to delay implementation of the final standard.
FASB’s decision to delay indicated that implementation
would not take effect for the
2010 calendar year.
t will decide on an effective
date at a future meeting, after
it has substantially concluded its
redeliberations.
he board’s actions parallel
decisions made on a similarly connected rule, Topic 450,
that would potentially expand
the list of employers that would
need to disclose withdrawal liability.
ECA filed comments on
FASB’s 715-80 proposal
earlier this year, and reiterated
concerns with FASB’s Exposure
Draft entitled “Topic 450: Disclosure of Certain Loss Contingencies.”
ASB’s proposed disclosures
for withdrawal liability
deeply affect NECA members
who participate in multiemployer pension plans.
NECA’s comments to the organization emphasized the conflict between FASB’s proposal
and existing ERISA statute, as
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SFECA News
well as national public policy
that has aimed to provide relief
for employers participating in
multi—employer defined benefit
plans.
ECA stated that only
when a plan is underfunded and an employer elects
to discontinue contributing to a
defined benefit plan, yet continues to operate in the same geographic area should withdrawal
liability be required to appear on
an employer’s financial statement.
ECA also described the
misleading nature and inaccuracy associated with disclosing withdrawal liability and
urged FASB to withdraw and
“re-propose” a rule that would
be more acceptable to multiemployer defined benefit stakeholders.
gnoring construction industry-specific rules that have
worked well for many years, Subtopic 715-80, better known as
the “Disclosures” proposal,
would have required construction employers who contribute
to such plans to routinely disclose estimates of their potential
withdrawal liabilities in their audited financial statements even if
those liabilities are merely speculative and unlikely to ever actually occur. In effect, contractors
would have been forced to sup-
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ply what amounts to misleading
information to sureties, banks
and other users of financial statement, jeopardizing their ability
to secure lines of credit and
bonding.
uring the rediliberation
phase, NECA will advocate for FASB to engage in additional consultation with employer stakeholders before proceeding with any final action.
ECA’s Executive Director,
Government Affairs, Lake
Coulson hastens to add that this
isn’t a permanent fix, it does
provide more opportunity for
NECA to make the case for
avoiding unnecessary reporting
for contractors’ and workers’
pension plans.
“We believe that FASB requiring
withdrawal liability in ‘remotely
possible’ situations is in violation of congressional statute,”
Coulson said.
“It is important to note that
FASB’s merely delayed implementing the disclosure proposal
and did not abandon it. Neither
did FASB suggest that it is revising its position,” Coulson said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to
educate the incoming 112th Congress, as well as the banking and
surety industries, about how
FASB’s proposals will negatively
affect an industry already hobbled by the economic recession.”
D
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Page 3
S . F . E . C . A . INSIDE WORK HOURS
2008
2009
2010
Total Hours
2010 - 1,170,226
260,000
2009 - 1,685,281
2008 - 2,837,543
210,000
160,000
131,522
111,993
110,000
116,067
100,849
109,047
119,741
112,341
134,702
123,799
110,165
60,000
10,000
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
S ep
Oct
Nov
Dec
S . F . E . C . A . SOUND & COMMUNICATIONS
WORK HOURS
2008
2009
Total Hours
2010 - 273,175
2009 - 324,574
2008 - 489,552
2010
50,000
45,000
40,000
34,188
35,000
30,000
30,848
29,193
28,605
27,888
32,911
31,640
30,489
27,413
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
Jan
Feb
M ar
Apr
M ay
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
017: Confined Entry Work Procedures
Discussion leader
duties for this session:
Read through your company’s
confined space policy and the
confined space procedures
related to this job site. Be prepared to answer questions.
What this Safety Talk
covers:
Procedures for working in permit-required confined entry
spaces. This safety talk is not
all-inclusive. Its purpose is to
highlight general principles and
make people aware of their
responsibilities.
Discussion notes:
Two confined space facts to think about
■ Confined space requirements address the atmosphere within that space. They
cover such things as poisonous gases or lack of oxygen.
■ Confined space requirements are part of the total safety picture. You must also
address other hazards that may be present, such as electric shock.
Cautions
■ Know the hazards and dangers of the confined space in question. Not all dangers in a particular space are necessarily listed on the confined entry permit.
■ Test and properly apply PPE to protect yourself from the hazards of equipment
in the confined space, not just the hazards of the space itself.
Procedural highlights
■ Follow all instructions given by the entry supervisor before entering, and those
of the attendant after entry.
■ Communicate with the attendant as needed to keep the attendant apprised of
your status. Be alert to the condition of your coworkers.
■ Know which gases may be present, what the concentration limits are, and how
those limits will be monitored.
■ Obtain, test, and properly apply the PPE required by the permit and/or the conditions.
■ If you detect a prohibited condition (per the permit), report it immediately.
■ If conditions change, report this immediately.
■ If you discover an atmosphere hazard the permit did not identify, the conditions have changed. Exit the confined space until the entry supervisor has
addressed the hazard.
■ Know the locations of fire extinguishers and other emergency equipment.
■ Review and understand emergency and extraction procedures for that space.
[Note to Presenter: Address some specifics from your company procedures].
Review and discussion
1. What is your primary working document for confined entry?
2. Whose job is it to ensure the confined space program is followed, and
why? [Note to Presenter: The point here is it is not someone else’s job to catch you making a mistake. It is your job to use the confined space program as a tool for making yourself
safe when you go into a confined space.]
3. What are some duties the person going in to the confined space has?
4. Other dangers may be present, in addition to those addressed by the
confined entry program. What might some of these dangers be? [Note to Presenter: A confined entry job is just like any
other job, except now you have to account for the atmosphere of a specific working space. So, the confined entry permit doesn’t
address all possible dangers.]
5. Identify some common PPE used in confined spaces, how to test for proper condition, and how to use or
apply them correctly.
6. The entry supervisor tells you to remove your metal belt buckle, due to spark hazards. With that caution
given, what else might you consider too dangerous to bring in with you? Does it matter that the entry supervisor didn’t specifically mention those things?
7. While you’re in the confined space, you have no radio. This is an attendant-required space. You call out to
the attendant, but get no reply. What should you do?
8. Your confined space is dark inside. You call out to the attendant that your flashlight died. The attendant
replies, “I’ll bring you my flashlight.” What should your immediate response be?
9. How do you know which gases may be present and in what concentrations?
10. Suppose you are in a confined space with atmosphere maintained by forced air, and the airflow stops.
What should you do?
Participant’s Signature and Date
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A Tainted Supply Chain
Counterfeiting is largely a silent financial crime. A fake might pass through several countries and
companies—whose employees may not realize the item is fake—before it ends up on a jobsite.
There are some warning signs, though. “[Counterfeiters] don’t go through the marketplace
through a common distributor,” explains Tom Grace, manager of anti-counterfeiting and brand
protection for Eaton Corp., Pittsburgh. “They usually find someone who is wheeling and
dealing.” For that reason, beware of brokers and keep in mind that dirt-cheap prices may not be
the only tip-off, experts say.
“Unlike a counterfeit Rolex, a counterfeit circuit breaker may not reflect a dramatic enough price
difference for the end-use customer that they are going to tell enough just on price alone,”
explains Tracy Garner, anti-counterfeiting manager for Schneider Electric, Square D’s parent
company. Scrutinizing its own supply chain is the most important action a company can take,
experts say.
Doing so is not always easy. About the same time that customs officials confiscated the fake
Square D circuit breakers in San Francisco, Schneider was investigating a company called Scott
Electric, an independent distributor in Greensburg, Pa. The supplier had advertised buying up
“Square D products by the trailer-load” so it could sell them at lower prices than Square D’s
authorized distributors. Schneider bought and inspected some of the breakers and traced them
back to illegal producers in China (Square D only produces circuit breakers in Lincoln, Neb., and
Pacifico, Mexico).
On April 7, 2006, Schneider sued Scott Electric and others for trademark infringement, claiming
that their Square D inventories were counterfeit. During testing, the breakers failed, causing
explosions or fires. However, they all bore certification labels. Anyone near one of the exploding
breakers “would be subjected to extreme heat, sprays of molten metal and a powerful blast of
energy,” the lawsuit said.
common counterfeit myths
MYTH #1 Construction goods aren’t an attractive market for counterfeiters
Counterfeiters traditionally have flooded retailers with knock-off shoes, DVDs and
luxury goods. Construction commodities are now an easy target because they cost
FACT
little to make and fly under the radar of law enforcement. Fake critical components—
such as steel, electrical parts and plumbing— are readily available over the Internet.
MYTH #2 All counterfeit goods come from China
While China is the largest source of most counterfeit goods, the problem extends
globally—even at home. For example, two U.S. residents pleaded guilty last year to
FACT forging an American Petroleum Institute monogram on substandard pipe couplings
that were manufactured in Tomball, Texas, and sold to nearby oil-and-gas
companies.
MYTH #3 Customs officers know how to spot and seize fakes
Actually, enforcement officers are less likely to catch items that would show up on a
FACT construction project. It is the responsibility of trademark owners to register with U.S.
Customs as well as provide training materials and hands-on demonstrations to border
officers. If you think you may have a counterfeit item, you also can report it directly
to authorities at https://apps.cbp.gov/eallegations/.
Legal discovery during the case led to more evidence of fakes and more lawsuits. Since 2006,
Square D has filed 13 cases against 27 U.S. distributors and brokers. The suits have been
resolved through settlement or trial, and many independents are now barred from selling any
Square D products. In addition, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued
five national recalls of more than 550,000 circuit breakers, ranging in price from $3 to $85.
In some cases, the investigations have yielded large quantities of fakes. In 2006, Square D sued
Specialty Lamp Inc., Deerfield Beach, Fla., which, after Square D got a court order to inspect its
warehouse, turned over more than 100,000 counterfeit breakers worth roughly $450,000.
“There was just pallet after pallet of counterfeit circuit breakers,” Garner recalls. Since then,
Square D has raided several illegal manufacturers in China, including Jiangxi Sunhong Electric
Co. Ltd. The company still advertises electrical products on Alibaba.com and other Internet
trading posts for foreign wholesalers. Sunhong did not return repeated messages seeking
comment.
The case against Specialty Lamp put it out of business, according to David Langley, a Plantation,
Fla.-based attorney who represented the company during Square D’s lawsuit. Invoices that came
to light showed it had bought up large amounts of circuit breakers through a foreign distributor,
Specialty Lamp International Colombia, or SLICO. The Florida company’s owner did not know
the breakers were fake, says the lawyer, who describes his former client as “the Big Lots of
lightbulbs.”
“[The client] would only buy something if he got an incredibly good deal on it,” Langley recalls.
When asked about the Colombia deal, he says, “[SLICO] was a reputable distributor,” and the
breakers “passed the smell test.” Speciality Lamp later issued one of the largest national recalls,
with 371,000 breakers affected.
This past August, the CPSC led the most recent recall, comprising 43,600 breakers sold through
Miami Breaker Inc., Miami. According to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association
(NEMA), Rosslyn, Va., 750,000 Square D breakers have been seized since 2006. But officials
say hundreds of thousands of faulty circuit breakers could still be lurking in the electrical panels
of homes, hospitals and other facilities worldwide.
Even though manufacturers, with the assistance of local authorities, continue to raid sweatshops
where many of the fakes are made, the effort takes discipline. “This is a game of Whac-a-Mole,”
says Clark Silcox, NEMA spokesman. Another recent concern, he says, is fraudulent “upamping” of electrical items. For example, a counterfeiter represents a 15-amp breaker as a 20amp breaker. The danger is that such devices will not trip when overloaded, causing damage or
death.
Homes, office buildings and institutions are not the only places at risk. An October 2009 report
from the Electric Power Research Institute says Duke Energy removed four suspect Square D
breakers in its Catawba Nuclear Station in York County, S.C. Another nuke plant removed five
breakers that did not have amperage ratings painted in white on the handles, a sign that it was an
outdated model or, worse, a fake. In both cases, the items were sitting on a shelf, not yet installed
at the plants.
Pipe Dreams
The industrial sector has become another target for forgeries. “Given the competitive nature of
most industries—certainly the oil-and-gas industry—you have to find ways to be competitive,”
says Ted L. Kelly, global procurement manager for Mustang Engineering L.P., Houston, and one
of the CII report authors. “Obviously, low-cost sourcing countries are a great avenue to reduce
cost. You just have to make sure you maintain the quality.”
However, when the supply chain becomes tainted with fakes, “you’ve lost control,” says Max R.
Casada, head of global supply quality with ConocoPhillips in Houston and another CII report
author. He says his company is placing most of its quality-control efforts on products that
“contain energy,” such as rigging gear, pressure equipment and electrical parts. Today, forged
documents and certifications pose an bigger risk than “classic” counterfeits, CII says. In 2006, a
pipe ruptured in China’s Datong Power Station, killing two workers. The steam pipe, which burst
at 1,006° F, originally was manufactured in China, sent to Houston, fraudulently certified as safe,
then sent back to China, according to industry sources interviewed by ENR.
Perhaps a more telling case was in 2008, when Tomball, Texas, businessmen Hayden Greene
and James Roy were arrested for stamping American Petroleum Institute monograms and an
India company’s API license on substandard pipe couplings, including one thousand 95/8-in.-dia
sections made out of rejected steel stock. Those large fittings sold for $33.90 to a distributor,
which then resold them to an oil-field company for $37.50 each, court records show.
If such risky components fail on an oil project, experts say, owners could end up with a situation
similar to the recent Gulf oil spill or worse. The forged fittings in Texas, experts add, are the
same type used to connect pipe on deepwater oil projects, such as BP’s doomed Macondo well.
Greene and Roy now are serving between 15 and 30 months in prison.