Introduction To The Problem
Clearnet received a call from the owner of a new start up Italian Restaurant, located in Covington, WA. The owner described his new Italian restaurant, explaining that he was in search of a contractor to provide a quote to install seven customer provided speakers, intended to be used with background music for ambiance in his restaurant.
Research
During the call, the owner stated that he was on a strict budget because of multiple cost overruns that had already occurred as part of the remodeling and overall setup of his business. We reviewed the site conditions and determined that riser rated cable would suffice but that a fair amount of supports would be needed and that the speakers would need to be supported to the structure above the ceiling tiles in a manner that the speakers were not designed to facilitate.
The speakers to be used were found to be nonstandard and would need to be modified to provide the overhead supports that Washington State requires to meet the seismic bracing code requirements. The code requires that two independent wires, chains or other type of mechanical support from the building structure above the ceiling tiles must be secured in the event of an earthquake. The code states that should the entire ceiling grid and all the associated ceiling tiles fall to the floor, that the speakers must remain secured overhead while the suspended ceiling all around it can fall to the floor.
This was taken into consideration when pricing the quote to the customer. When the pricing for the work requested was provided to the customer, the owner considered his options and gave a call to Clearnet to discuss the pricing. While the customer was impressed by Clearnet’s expertise and professionalism, it was the price at that moment that was keeping the business owner from moving forward with Clearnet. He stated that if the price could be reduced to the same or less than one of the competitors was charging, that the work would go to Clearnet and the job would get done right.
He stated that with such a small place of business and it was only background music at issue, that he felt safe choosing the lesser expensive contractor who stated all speakers, wiring and music would be installed properly and would work well in the time frame provided. The price and promises may have been too good to be true in the end. If the contractor would have actually done what he said he would do for the price he said he would charge, the business owner would not have called back to Clearnet a few weeks later to request an overhaul of what was started but not finished.
Challenges
After about 3-4 weeks after the restaurant owner’s decision to work with the other contractor, he called back describing his experience since we last spoke. He stated that the other contractor was a single individual who previously worked for a legitimate contractor, but turns out the guy who was hired was not licensed either as a business nor as a journeyman which is required to perform electrical installations in Washington State.
The business owner said none of these problems were apparent until the Washington State Labor and Industries Electrical inspector happened to arrive on site to conduct an electrical inspection for the remodel and discovered the speaker wires that had been run without proper supports and found that none of the speakers had been seismically braced as required. The job site was not approved for business and was red flagged for immediate repairs.
After the business owner inquired with his background music contractor, he discovered that the contractor had no business license, and no contracting license which made it impossible for the installer to acquire an electrical permit. He was also not trained or aware of the requirement of proper cable pathways and supports, firestopping and seismic bracing, all required to pass electrical inspection in the State of Washington.
The restaurant owner reluctantly asked that an estimator return to site to assess the current status of the project and to quote finishing the work that had been started, to pull a permit that was always require for the job and to properly support the cabling and speakers as the code requires.
Upon return to site, it was determined that some of the cables were pulled too tight at diagonal angles that needed to be repulled from the music source and only a few of the cables were of any value. The restaurant owner spoke at length about his disappointment in the first choice for the installation of his background music system. He stated that he was unaware that the contractor was working without a business license, contractor license and electrician license. The contractor was unable to pull a permit after being kicked off the job site by the Washington State Electrical Inspector.
At this point the job had already gone on about 30 days longer than he had expected so rent had started costing him money, utilities, insurance, etc. All of this was adding to the cost of not having the background music system up and running on time as expected. And with so many other things for the business owner to handle, he was in over his head. After considerable consultation and discussion, we agreed to price out the work needed to complete all cable supports, speaker supports and to make all the wiring connections back at the amplifier to produce the music he needed for dinner but most importantly to pass all inspections and acquire the much sought after certificate of occupancy so that he could open his doors for business.
Solutions By Clearnet
We calculated all the work needed and added the costs for the newly modified list of materials that was to be used to complete the installation of the background music system, which came out fairly close to the first quote provided for the original scope of work. The restaurant owner decided to pay for the work at time and materials rates, so that he would be charged for the actual time on site doing the work and not the anticipated amount of time to be spent on site because he thought the work should be very quick and that it wouldn’t cost as much using this method. We agreed to do the work at our standard time and materials rates and scheduled to return within the next couple of days to commence the project.
A new permit was pulled with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, stating that low voltage work would be completed at the restaurant address with less than 2500 feet total work space. The permit was paid for, printed out and made ready for posting on site while the work was being performed.
Our installers arrived on site with cable and materials needed and began to pull back the cabling that was deemed too short to be routed and supported as needed. Four out of the seven cables were removed completely from their original pathways and replaced with all new two conductor 18 gauge stranded speaker wire. We used tie rap bases secured to the beams above the ceiling tiles to produce anchor points to support the cables from. Since some of the cables were daisy chained from one speaker to the next, the bundles were all 3 cables or less.
A Fire rated sleeve, 1” diameter was cut and placed above the entryway into the kitchen area where the music source and amplifier were to be placed on a wall mounted shelf. The wall was quite thick and required drilling from both sides due to the hole saws available while on site. A long ¼” drill bit was used to drill completely through the wall as a pilot hole to provide an alignment hole for the pilot hole of the 1” hole saw to follow into the middle of the wall as the drill bit bottomed out about half way through. Once the larger hole was penetrated completely through the wall above the ceiling tiles, we were able to push the 1” conduit through the wall, place bushings on the ends and secure it to the wall exterior on both sides.
Next the cabling was pulled in above the ceiling to the speakers that needed rewiring. With the limited space above the tiles, the cables had to be secured to the hard surface above the tiles with minimal drooping to keep the cables off the tiles and to prevent possible damage by other servicemen performing maintenance in the future. For this reason, the cables were secured at approximate two foot intervals and stretched taught along the way to keep the wires flush with the structural ceiling above the lift out ceiling tiles.
As the cabling was run to each speaker and the multiple cables were bundled neatly and routed to the music source and amplifier, the connections could be made at the amplifier but not yet at the speakers. Since the speakers were not designed with seismic supports built in, modifications to the speakers had to be made without damaging the speakers themselves. After thorough examination of the framework of the speakers, it was determined that the sheet metal surrounding the backsides of the speakers could be drilled out for a wire to be looped through. The holes had to be drilled very carefully to avoid pushing the drill bit beyond the sheet metal and through the speaker cone, causing severe damage.
The installers were able to successfully drill two holes into each speaker without causing any damage, providing fastening points for a wire to provide mechanical support from the upper structural ceiling while being mounted to the ceiling tile for best acoustic performance. The close distance between the sheet metal on the backs of the speakers and the speaker cone made looping a wire through very difficult without causing damage to the speaker. A more flexible stranded wire had to be used to make the loop through the speaker, then back to a two hole crimp that secured the cable to itself after being crimped with a non-reversible and permanent connection. Eye lags were screwed in overhead into trusses for maximum strength during a seismic event.
After all speakers were seismically braced, we terminated each speaker wire to the speakers and began preparing for the first sound check. With all wires routed to the amplifier, they had yet to be connected. A terminal strip was used to distribute audio signal from one source to four different outgoing 2 conductor speaker wires. The wires were stripped and terminated with crimp on spade connectors that were secured to the terminal strip with a screwdriver, securing each conductor to the positive or negative signal source one at a time. Once all the wires were terminated onto the strip, and a primary wire was connected between the strip and the amplifier, the system was set for testing.
The volume was set to low and a generic music source was selected for testing. As the amplifier was powered on, the music could barely be heard but was definitely working. The volume was slowly increased to a comfortable listening level and the sound level was measured at each dining table. The levels were all within similar ranges and so no individual speaker volume adjustments were needed. The amplifier volume was turned up beyond normal levels for testing purposes and to assess the capabilities of the amplifier, wiring and speakers that were now working as a system. With the volume up at 7 out of 10, the system performed well and the restaurant owner was satisfied with the overall performance of the new background music system.
After having completed the mechanical installation and performed functionality testing, the last remaining hurdle to clear was the inspection by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries inspector. Our office navigated online to the L&I website, requesting final inspection of our work. The appointment was scheduled for the following morning for an inspector to arrive on site, specifically to review the installation performed by Clearnet’s installers.
The inspector’s arrival time is rarely known as was the case for this appointment. The technician arrived on site at 8:00 AM and waited til mid afternoon before the inspector made his way to the restaurant location. Upon arrival, the inspector requested to see where the main equipment was located, which was in the back. The connections were briefly inspected and then quickly to the cable routing above the ceiling tiles. The inspector was able to view much of the overhead cabling because the tiles were left out in some locations to give the inspector a view of the work that had been performed.
He specifically requested to view the seismic bracing supports on each speaker that are very important to the inspectors. The installer gladly provided access to the speakers in question and the inspector was impressed with the method of supports used, stating they appeared quite solid and would hold up well in the event of an earthquake. The inspector signed off on the inspection and closed out the permit. An electronic filing was submitted and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries registry was updated to reflect the passing of inspection and final close out of the project. This allowed for the certificate of occupancy to be issued and the business owner was now able to open his doors for the grand opening of his new restaurant.
While the project did get completed, there were cost overruns and time delays that could have been avoided. The business owner did not know to check for a business license, a contractor’s license and to check the installer’s electrician license, allowing him or her to complete the work for the authorized contractor if so licensed. We hope to educate business owners everywhere to avoid complications by checking credentials, licensing & to check references such as the better business bureau or on line review sites that provide feedback from past customers.
