signs_commercial03

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SIGNS

Too many commercial sign vendors are offering three to five day installation from day of order. We can follow suit with three day installation from time Georgia UPC clears our Utilities Locate Request if your company maintains inventory which we store for you and have ready to go. We call in all locations for Utilities Protection Commission utilities locate orders. We strive to protect our crews, your business and your clients. One mistake with a set of hole diggers can cause more than inconvenience for your client, surrounding businesses and neighbors. When utilities are damaged its not just the installer that is fined but now the person or company that hired them and in some cases the property owner as well. This is a law in Georgia and if your current sign company does not comply with Utilities Protection Commission and E.P.A. regulations all involved parties are left exposed to liability issues. If you do not follow link to our UPC education section at least read this short news article where Georgia UPC levies a half million dollars in fines in 91 seconds to five contractors.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

CO-OP SIGNS WHEN TWO AGENCIES SHARE A LISTING THAT REPRESENT BOTH WELL

MEETING THE WIDE NEEDS OF A COMPANY WITH LOTS OF INVENTORY

For years Georgia Utilities Protection Commission did not require a utilities locate if digging with hand equipment. Up to the point a utility was damaged then the person/company causing the damage was subject to fines and repair costs. Now the rules state any excavation even if its a mailbox or planting a rose bush in your back yard for the wife requires a utility locate order. When a utility is cut there are repercussions. If its cut without a locate order being submitted then its a big deal. In the past many hired a "guy with a truck" to put up their signs or installed themselves without thought. Your installer must have a business license, liability insurance, workman's comp, E.P.A. Soil Erosion certification and obtain UPC locate requests for all jobs requiring excavation or digging a simple post hole. Because many were hiring small vendors, teenage kids, a guy in a truck with no real resources when it came time to levy fines and cost of repairs the person who did the damage could not pay. Now they get their fine and repair money from someone and it is usually the person who hired the installer or even the property owners.

To date there have been many cases dispensed where the court system now evaluates everyone's ability, in the chain of damage, to pay fines and repairs. We have seen companies with several hundred trucks and employees bankrupted over one cut utility after being served up to a five or six figure fine and repair bill. In some cases, civil suits are filed based on businesses loss of ability to operate. For example; over 100 businesses were taken offline for over half a day in a major outlet mall area. The total fines, repairs and civil court judgments were almost one million dollars. Now the court looks at the installer, person or company that hired them along with owner of property and everyone's ability to pay. If the damage is beyond the installers ability to pay or even if they are able, UPC and courts are trying to stop all people in the chain from taking such action again and split those costs among all they deem involved based on their assets.

We looked at five cases dispensed, just in one county of Georgia, where they took five and six figure fines then split them up among the company contracted to do the excavations, the company that hired them, the property owner and placed the brunt of the costs on who has the most assets. A careless subcontractor digs without a locate request then the person who hired them had to step up and pay five figures in fines and repairs along with the property owner. Its your responsibility to ensure people hired are reputable contractors with proper licenses, insurance and follow the laws of the state and municipality. Your required to ask for copies of Liability Insurance, Workman's Comp Insurance, Business License and make sure they follow UPC guidelines. If not, when they cut a utility your likely to be looking at an empty checkbook after the fines and repairs are paid even if you were sitting in an air conditioned office while your subcontractors employees made a mistake.

WEBSITE NAVIGATION