An electrician is a member of a skilled trade that performs electrical work on your home or business. In Texas, if you perform any electrical work you must have certification. Electrical work encompasses many tasks and projects. However, generally, it is anyone who performs labor to install, upgrade, maintain or extend any electrical wiring system and apparatus, appurtenances, or equipment used in connection with “the use of electrical energy in, on, outside, or attached to a building, residence, structure, property, or premises” according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).
Understanding the Licenses for a Texas Electrician
TDLR offers a variety of licenses and you must possess the correct one or you are not in compliance with the law. There are licenses for business and for residential electricians because the electrical requirements are vastly different between the two environments. This leads to the different licenses needed by businesses and individuals. Businesses must be licensed as contractors and individuals must be licensed for the various functions that they can perform and the stages of the craft you are in, such as whether you are an apprentice, a journeyman or a master electrician. You must also have a different license if you are an appliance installer, a lineman or a wireman because each of these jobs requires a different skill set and level of training.
If you are in Teas, you can go to B & B Electric if you have need of an electrician. We have all of our licenses, and will use only a union electrician. We specialize in electrical construction for heavy industrial, pulp and paper, power generation, marine shipyard, manufacturing, chemical processing, mining, health care, educational and commercial customers. Call us at (817) 600-8376 if you have an electrical project in need of a contractor.
What Does an Electrician Do Exactly?
In a nutshell, an electrician can install the wiring that brings electricity to a structure or a building. There are various skills required to do that and often becomes a highly specialized job. For example, a wireman install the wiring that goes into your home or business. Inside wireman install and maintain wires that go inside larger structures like office buildings, large structures, manufacturing plants, airports, arenas and schools.
A telecommunication wireman will install the cables needed to bring connectivity to your building such as phones, computers and LANs. Outside lineman connects the outside of your building to the power plants. These are the people that the Wichita Lineman song talks about. They lay the heavy power cables on the side of the road and are the ones climbing the telephone poles. They are especially in demand during power failures when lines are down. These jobs are difficult and therefore pay very well.
What Responsibilities Does an Electrician Have?
An electrician normally undertakes enormous responsibility. If they don’t perform their job correctly and safely, it can lead to loss of life and loss of property. This is why it is important to hire only a union electrician to do your electrical work for you. That way you can ensure that your electrician has the right training and certification. Plus, you can be certain that the work will be right and up to code.
An electrician will have to be able to read blueprints so they know where the circuits, outlets and panel boards are located or have to be placed. They have to plan out the installation of wiring throughout the building or buildings. Then, they may install electrical machines in factories or fiber optic cables for telecommunications devices in commercial structures. From there, they install systems that allow computers, security systems, telephones, fire alarms and other devices to work. Then add, maintain and replace circuit breakers or fuses. They trace the current flow and review work performed by other electricians to ensure they meet the building code. An electrician may find faulty wiring and replace them before they become a safety hazard. They also manage the work crews and train apprentices.
Is There a Difference Between Installation and Maintenance?
This is a good question and the answer is yes, there is a difference between installation and maintenance. Installation generally refers to new construction. In this application the electrical contractor, with the experienced electrician, plan the best way to install the electrical services. They want to make it easy to maintain and ensure that it does the job required by the application, whether commercial or residential. In this instance, is important to completely understand what needs the building has currently, and also to allow for growth, particularly in a commercial environment.
Maintenance, on the other hand, involves doing periodic testing to ensure that everything is working correctly. The objective of maintenance, of course, is to avoid power outages due to faulty wiring or insufficient service such as 60-amp service that requires 100-amp due to changing electrical requirements. A maintenance electrician that works in factories will often have a more complex and dangerous job because they have to work with motors, assembly line generators, machinery or transformers.