Things I Liked at the Irrigation Show

[grassman177]

damn straight, oh have i learned, lol.

[cjohn2000]

Originally Posted by 1idejim

All of the testing and CEUs in the world won't replace in field working experience.
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And all the testing and CEUs won't replace ignorance

[bcg]

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

I wonder how many States require annual certs to keep up their irrigation contractor's license? It's not a bad idea, but any of those meetings I ever attended were so simple as to be meaningless.

I have to have 24 CEU's every 3 years to renew my irrigators license and another 24 for my BPAT. Some fo the BPAT CEUs will cross over to the LI but not all of them.

You get out of the classes what you put into them, if you take the Intro to Gluing Pipe class over and over you won't learn much but take the Advanced Electrical Troubleshooting or Auditing classes and you can gain some knowledge. I always try to find something I haven't already studied so I don't get bored.

[txirrigation]

Originally Posted by bcg

I have to have 24 CEU's every 3 years to renew my irrigators license and another 24 for my BPAT. Some fo the BPAT CEUs will cross over to the LI but not all of them.

You get out of the classes what you put into them, if you take the Intro to Gluing Pipe class over and over you won't learn much but take the Advanced Electrical Troubleshooting or Auditing classes and you can gain some knowledge. I always try to find something I haven't already studied so I don't get bored.

I have both LI and BPAT licenses also. That being said, I cannot believe they allow us to test our own valves. I still pay a third party to come and test the valve to take the liability off my company. I figure it will not be long before they do not allow it.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by txirrigation

I have both LI and BPAT licenses also. That being said, I cannot believe they allow us to test our own valves. I still pay a third party to come and test the valve to take the liability off my company. I figure it will not be long before they do not allow it.

I don't get it: you either accept the responsibility and liability of testing , or you don't. Who's to say that Joe Blow Backflow Testing Co. is going to run a two minute test, or not? Sounds like a weenie cop-out, to me.

[1idejim]

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

I don't get it: you either accept the responsibility and liability of testing , or you don't. Who's to say that Joe Blow Backflow Testing Co. is going to run a two minute test, or not? Sounds like a weenie cop-out, to me.

Tex is spot on boss, testing your own ORIGINAL install is a conflict of interest.
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[Kiril]

Originally Posted by 1idejim

Tex is spot on boss, testing your own ORIGINAL install is a conflict of interest.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by 1idejim

Tex is spot on boss, testing your own ORIGINAL install is a conflict of interest.

Bullshit. If you take testing seriously, and believe in what your responsibility to the public is, there is no conflict of interest.

[1idejim]

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

Bullshit. If you take testing seriously, and believe in what your responsibility to the public is, there is no conflict of interest.

You're wrong, when anyone (me included) inspects his or her own work the potential exists.

Feel free to dissagree but aren't you one of the biggest supporters of backflow testing, education and enforcement? I believe that you were involved in catching fraudulent testers in your state?

That said, i believe that you have seen how easy it is for an unscrupulous individule to forsake the health and safety of others to put a few extra bucks in their pocket.

I would think you would be the first to see the potential and agree with Tex.

What Tex is doing is not only right but it is morally right.
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[bcg]

A test takes like 2 minutes and repair on a new device usually involves nothing more than cleaning the pipe glue or other debris out of it, maybe another 2 minutes depending on the valve type. Why would anyone who has gone through all the trouble to get a BPAT cert lie to save themselves 5 minutes? Seems pointless to me.

I only got my BPAT so I could test for myself. I don't install much (unless it's a replacement) but what I do install I test to save time and money, not to game the system. Hell, I don't even charge the customer extra for the test, I just do it because it should be done.