Live Sound International | Street Talk: Eyes Wide Open If Supplementing Your Business

Street Talk: The Incidental Contractor
Eyes wide open if supplementing your business

By Bruce Main

The shop's cleaned and organized, over and over... Now what to do? (By the way, this is the shop of ATK/AudioTek.)

Another touring season has wound down. Cables and snakes have been tested and repaired, wood painted, and cases treated to fresh new stenciling. All racks have been repackaged to their standard configurations, trucks subjected to annual maintenance, and warehouse floor swept twice.

Aside from a stray show here and there, for many hire companies, things are pretty quiet. Yes, these are the days that turn sound company owner and manager thoughts to Alternative Revenue Sources (ARS).

The contracting/install market is generally one of first potential ARS markets that come to mind. There’s that club downtown that wants to stop renting and buy a system. And one of the churches that use your rental stock and services for the Christian rock festival now needs a new loudspeaker cluster in its sanctuary.

Pretty simple stuff, if you leave it at that. But if you intend to be more than an incidental contractor, there are a whole lot of issues that must be addressed.

HOLD ON A MINUTE

First, understand the not-so-small reality of licensing. Most states in the U.S. require some form of license and bonding to qualify for work in the permanent install business. In many states, this entails having someone on staff with an Electrical Administrator ticket. To earn this, one must pass a test on the National Electrical Code (NEC).

You do know the NEC, don’t you? That’s the rather large book containing the rules for installed electrical systems in the U.S. But not quite all the rules. There are also state codes, and sometimes, local ordinances as well, administered by the AHJ, or Authorities Having Jurisdiction. (Ah, how boring life would be without bureaucrats and acronyms...)

These additional rules and standards cover things like proper grounding techniques, conduit fill limitations and proper wire types for specific uses (CL2, CL3, Plenum, Riser, Power Limited Tray Cable, Direct Burial, FPL, FPLP, etc., etc., etc.). Any installation that does not conform can be “red tagged” by an electrical inspector, with the project required to meet compliance before the system can be turned on.

But chances of an inspection are virtually nil, you say? Well, unless an inspector happens to show up at the club to check the new refrigeration circuit while you’re installing the rack. Or maybe an inspector attends that church where you’re putting in the new cluster. Or a licensed contractor who’s been trying to get the same work decides to place a call to the inspector when you get the job.

Then there are labor issues, which are looked at very differently in terms of workers doing permanent installations versus those dealing with temporary sound systems. A “different” (translation: higher) pay rate is generally required when the troops are installing.

There may be also union issues. Some areas require IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) membership to even pull wire. Usually there are apprenticeship programs, journeyman to apprentice ratio requirements and a ton of administration to do to qualify for union jobs.

Many low-voltage contracting companies simply retain a licensed electrical contractor to pull wire, mount back boxes, run conduit, supply rack power and even hang loudspeaker cabinets. Sort of like working with an IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts) crew, except that members of this union are familiar with audio equipment while most electricians are not.

Extra supervision will be required if this is the path is chosen. Any work done in conjunction with union labor will prove to be an exercise in dealing with both the regulatory and the political.

FIELDING CHALLENGES

The install market also requires one learn the art of the project bid. “Backdoor, sweetheart” deals with certain customers or not, there will almost always be challenges from others wanting the same work, and the best way to get it is via a competitive bid.

Sounds familiar, eh?

Bruce Main’s Seventh Axiom: “It’s not the job you DON’T get but the job you DO get that can kill you.” Horror stories abound regarding contractors getting “sunk” in jobs. They bid too low, don’t verify conditions on the job site, run into the aforementioned code or union issues, plan poorly, and ultimately get in over their heads and lose their posteriors.

The installed system world can be rewarding, but do the homework before diving in.

Thus a process must be established that includes bid analysis, site inspection, architectural drawing review, preliminary system block diagrams (in CAD format), parts/equipment price verification, and wire and termination type lists. These all come together in a bid spreadsheet from hell.

Next, someone who didn’t generate this data (preferably someone who knows what they’re doing) needs to check it. And there is etiquette to the bid process.

Strange as it may seem, you can’t always just call the consultant and ask a question, but rather, may need to generate an RFI (Request for Information) that is disseminated to all other bidders. Approved bidder lists, job walk-through, bid openings and due diligence are all terms and processes to become familiar with.

Daunting though it may seem, there are some real advantages to chasing bid jobs. Most of the “big work” goes to market this way. In fact, virtually all public works projects (read: stadiums, performing arts centers, civic theaters, etc.) are mandated by law to go through this process.

In addition, you can learn a great deal by working with consultants. While their reasons for designing systems a particular way may not be obvious at first, most of the time, they have a unique understanding of job conditions, budgets and most of all, the requirements of the owner. Even if you intend to do design-build jobs only, much can be learned by paying attention to how consultants work.

NOW COMES THE FUN

Once the bureaucratic “mosh pit” has been navigated, it starts to get fun. Live sound providers are used to doing in one day what contractors can take weeks to accomplish. You put up a large sound system, tweak it, do a show for thousands of critical listeners, and just for good measure, take the whole thing down and put it back in the truck, and do it all again the next day.

The skills that enable you to do shows are the same skills that can breed an outstanding installation company. Planning, preparation, scheduling, on-the-job problem solving and critical listening lead to success in the contracting arena as well.

If doing system design work for installs, it’s well worth the time and effort to get a modeling program and learn how to use it. One night with a poorly arrayed system is bad enough don’t install one that stays that way permanently. It’s smarter and cheaper to do it right the first time.

This type of software and affiliated tools can be useful in a touring business as well. (See “Predicting Array Performance”, Nov/Dec 2002 issue of Live Sound). If you haven’t dabbled with one of these programs, frankly, you’ll be amazed at how much the software can teach about system and room behavior.

It’s also extremely beneficial to have, and know how to use, a system analysis program such as (Gold Line) TEF or (SIA) SMAART. Careful testing, analysis and tuning are required to maximize the benefit of a new system installed on behalf of a client, and you may be called upon to provide proof of performance once a system is finished. Further, many consultant-designed jobs require performance documentation as part of the completion paperwork.

Contracting/install can help lower costs on the sound reinforcement side of a business. Most equipment manufacturers reward companies for doing more business, usually in the form of lower prices and freight allowances. Thus quantity purchasing can be leveraged to buy rental inventory at a deeper discount.

Further, trucking and warehouse costs can be amortized over more jobs. And, you might even be able to find a good 1099 subcontractor and turn him/her into a full-time employee, locked in for the concert season.

One other caveat is that timetables can be slippery in the contracting work, so that big church project you begin in the dead of winter ends up needing to be finished during your first big spring festival weekend. But understanding the idiosyncrasies of the contracting business and staying in control of the details help make it a valuable addition to a hire company’s basket of services.

And if we couldn’t handle pressure, we wouldn’t be doing this, right?

Bruce Main has been a systems engineer and FOH mixer on and off for 27 years. He has also built, owned and operated recording studios and designed and installed sound systems. He can be reached at bmain@vectorcorp.com

January 2004 Live Sound International

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