Finding Freelance Work

[Sprinklers89]

I'm currently considering picking up some freelance work, does anyone have any suggestions on where to start looking for contractors.

 

[skdesigner]

My #1 suggestion would be to phone up the Victaulic / Viking / RASCO sales reps you've dealt with in the past and let them know you're available. They probably get asked about where to find designers on a daily basis.

 

[TravisMack]

I would also say this is not something you do on the side without proper things in place. Are you going to use your employer's software or buy your own? If using theirs, you should get it cleared first. How are you going to handle professional liability insurance? That is a must in this world. If you aren't going to carry professional liability insurance, then be careful about doing any work. I would not consider it.

Travis Mack, SET, RME-G,
MEPCad, Inc
AutoSPRINK | AutoSPRINK FAB | AutoSPRINK RVT

 

[Sprinklers89]

Travis, good questions.. my employer is fine with me using their software. One question I would like to ask you about the liability insurance I know that everyone says to get it and I definitely will, but if your not stamping the plan your sending it back to a company and they are stamping it how are you liable? The person stamping that plan at that company is taking liability and saying they checked it by stamping it are they not?

 

[TravisMack]

That is the common thought until something goes wrong. If there ever is a lawsuit you will be brought in. There will be records of you doing as a 1099 subcontractor and therefore you will have liability in the game. You can do everything right and still be brought into a lawsuit. It is up to you if you want to carry that risk yourself. Personally, I would never do that. I've been dragged into law suits.

Travis Mack, SET, RME-G,
MEPCad, Inc
AutoSPRINK | AutoSPRINK FAB | AutoSPRINK RVT

 

[Sprinklers89]

Would having an attorney draw up a liability clause maybe be a good idea? One you can use for every contractor saying they will review it and take liability?

 

[MGXFP]

If anything goes wrong, the owner will sue you, the GC, the city, and the guy who takes out the trash. If you make a document stating someone else is liable for anything you do, it will be an office joke on its way to the trash can. You need errors and omission insurance, period.

Through no fault of my own, I have been brought in on a few lawsuits. Typically the owner sues anything that moves. A team of forensic engineers will scour your plans and look for any tiny mistake, they will do the same for whatever got installed in the building. They will put a micrometer on pipe walls, threads, and grooves, check tolerances of anything fabricated, demand calibration certificates from your fab shop equipment, measure every stick of pipe and compare dimensions to your drawings. They will validate your drawings and calculations and if anything is off, you will answer for it.

None of these lawsuits have ended up anywhere and nothing I've designed was found faulty. However it is expensive to get sued and jump through these hoops. Even if you're right you still need insurance.

 

[SprinklerDesigner2]

Travis and MGXFP are absolutely correct.

The only way I would do any freelance work is with errors and omission insurance.

Without errors and omission insurance I would only do the work if they paid me as an employee. payroll check with taxes taken out, or forget it.