According to an Aug. 29 press release from Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), 80 percent of construction firms are having a difficult time filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the...
In my June article, I discussed the various types of smoke detection and the requirements for their spacing as NFPA 72 outlines. In all cases, the code requires the manufacturer’s published instructions to be followed. The...
Mindful of the huge potential for energy savings from commercial building design, the State of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia have brought their building energy efficiency codes into the next decade. After nearly...
The 100th PGA Championship took place Aug. 9–12 at Bellerive Country Club in Town and Country, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. Around the edges of the main event, the work of St. Louis-based electrical contractor Guarantee...
“A cell tower down the street? Not in my back yard.” Those of you working in the area of cell towers, wireless carriers, and large antennae in municipalities across the country, how many times have you heard that statement in...
Until recently, contractors installing LEDs didn’t need to focus on the design—considering how the lighting will perform within a specific location and whether it matches the customer’s expectations. But electrical contractor...
According to the latest report from Dodge Data & Analytics, July construction starts dropped a total of 9 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of $817.4 billion. This is following an increase in May of 14 percent and an...
Dirty connectors are major problems in fiber optics. They cause high connector loss and high reflectance, and they contaminate transceivers. Network operators claim the majority of fiber optic network problems can be traced...
These days, multiple power sources can be present in a single building or structure. Many of these are what the National Electrical Code (NEC) calls separately derived systems. Transformers, batteries, fuel cells and generators can supply these systems. An electrical system produced by a generator is either required to be grounded as a separately derived system or it is not, and the key to this is the transfer equipment.
Pathway survivability requirements are an often-misunderstood area of fire alarm systems. Test your knowledge of the requirements in NFPA 72, 2016 edition.