Electical Contractor

First federal privacy standard affects all aspects of healthcare The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA, though some may even know it as the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act) seems to keep making things more difficult for those in the healthcare industry.

A retail clothing store advertises, “An educated consumer is our best customer.” Prices are adjusted weekly, and if you know the value of designer merchandise on the racks, you can get some very good bargains.

Perhaps the most prominent issue in the retail and systems industries is balancing security versus privacy. The debate can get quite heated, sometimes even emotional.

Electrical contractors working for utilities or interested in a growing niche market might do well to investigate opportunities in distributed energy resources (DER). They are parallel and stand-alone electric generation units located within the electric distribution system at or near the end-user.

When most people think of the word “government,” the word “regulation” is usually close behind. The government regulates the speed that you can drive on the highways, how much income tax you pay, how much pollution a factory can emit, even which drugs can be sold (legally).

Are fire alarm system requirements for healthcare facilities different than for other occupancies? Are the requirements for fire alarms different from one code to another? Today, there are two new building codes available.

In the day-to-day challenges of electrical contracting, when a specific wiring question arises, the wiring methods you use depend on what you have learned in the trade along with an occasional dose of the National Electrical Code.

On Oct. 31, 2002, a 15-year-old boy was shot in the stomach by another 15-year-old at Lincoln High School in Jersey City, N.J. The next day, another student was attacked blocks from campus. The incidents caused a community outcry, prompting calls for heightened security.

The Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council today applauded the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) decision to deregulate FTTH networks owned by incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs).