A building manager in Charlotte insisted we skip the annual brake test on a traction unit

He said it was 'just a formality' and the unit felt fine. I refused, found a worn shoe that would have failed within six months. When has a client's pressure to cut corners been most wrong for you?

3 comments

3 Comments

felixramirez10d ago

Heard a story from a buddy like sam17's. His foreman pushed to skip checking a roof's anchor points before a big window cleaning job. They found two bolts ready to pull clean out of the concrete.

hannah4229d ago

Seriously? I mean yeah it sounds bad but how often does that actually happen. People cut corners all the time and most of the time nothing goes wrong, that's just how it works. Those stories get passed around because they're scary, not because they're normal. I feel like the danger gets way overblown online.

sam1710d ago

We had a client at a warehouse in Spartanburg who wanted us to skip the full electrical panel inspection to save a half day's downtime. They said the old system had 'never given them trouble.' We did the full check anyway and found three corroded main lugs that were one good load away from arcing and starting a fire. That kind of pressure always seems to come right before you find the big problem.