# TEGG certified contractors



## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

Is anyone here a TEGG contractor? It was brought up in a conversation today so I looked them up and would like some input from you guys. 

Has anyone looked into this and is it worth going through the training?

Thanks guys


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## drumnut08 (Sep 23, 2012)

zwodubber said:


> Is anyone here a TEGG contractor? It was brought up in a conversation today so I looked them up and would like some input from you guys.
> 
> Has anyone looked into this and is it worth going through the training?
> 
> Thanks guys


A contractor I used to work for had a TEGG service division that lasted quite a few years , until he organized ( went union ) and opened up his own testing / preventative maintenance company . The way I understood it , it was like a franchise ? I never worked for TEGG , but I know the guys he had doing the work all went to school for testing and medium / high voltage training . My guess is , he didn't make enough money with TEGG , but makes a killing now with his own testing company .


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

drumnut08 said:


> A contractor I used to work for had a TEGG service division that lasted quite a few years , until he organized ( went union ) and opened up his own testing / preventative maintenance company . The way I understood it , it was like a franchise ? I never worked for TEGG , but I know the guys he had doing the work all went to school for testing and medium / high voltage training . My guess is , he didn't make enough money with TEGG , but makes a killing now with his own testing company .


Yeah from what I read you go for training and certification, then you (or your company) is TEGG "certified".


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## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

Most of the TEGG companies failed, they tried to compete with NETA companies but the training was not even close to being enough. Still a few out there though.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

Zog said:


> Most of the TEGG companies failed, they tried to compete with NETA companies but the training was not even close to being enough. Still a few out there though.



Thank you


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## JohnR (Apr 12, 2010)

It is a franchise, they bench on the fact that, as one of the owners of the T--- name is a insurance company, they can get cheaper insurance than any of the competition.

I worked for a company that tried it, They decided after a couple years of having NO luck with "salespeople" that T--- supplied, (and were nearly or completly worthless) that the entire idea was a waste of time. 
This company (not T---) does not believe in service work, they think that construction is the only way to make money. IDK service is fine if billed correctly. I kind of got the idea that the franchise fees were kind of high, but that also depends on your market and your sales. 

I can't use the T--- name anymore so that is why I put it like that.


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## ScooterMcGavin (Jan 24, 2011)

I used to work for a Tegg contractor as well. (I never worked in the Tegg department). The company dumped tons of money into it. Here is how it was supposed to work. The sales guys sell the inspection, the Tegg techs do the whole dog and pony show with all their fancy equipment. They generate a report with all the stuff that needs to be repaired with the associated cost and the construction department gets all this work making the repairs. 

In reality it was a total disaster. They constantly had to send people back east for training because the techs kept quitting because it sucked. The franchise fees and training fees were ridiculous. It is a very tough sell to companies because it was so expensive and frankly, they didn't see the value in it or understand the whole concept.

Every time the company tried to get out of it Tegg would convince them to stick it out and keep sending them a check. They finally had enough and got out of the business.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Every time I hear TEGG I laugh my tushie off, what a freaking joke. The hype is pretty sweet, what I have seen of the companies offering the service is laughable.

I know 5 companies that did the TEGG route and in theory it should be a decent thing but many of the firms did it for the money with not a thought to what they were really taking on. Three of the five dropped out the 4th has does a decent job and offers real testing as part of their services, the 5th hasn't a clue.


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## Arc'n'Spark (Jul 21, 2011)

Well I hope things go better for the company I work for than what's been described here. We bought into the franchise late this past year. Myself and another electrician were chosen to run the new division, and just got two weeks of training in November. The owner of the company had experience with TEGG through a previous employer and apparently believes in the franchise, considering the substantial cost to become a member contractor. Brian and Zog, as you're both well respected members of this community, what would you recommend to keep us from becoming another joke in the testing/PM industry?


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## JohnR (Apr 12, 2010)

I forgot to mention that both project managers that were on the T--- project didn't buy into the idea at all. One slept through the classes, the other never had them. 
How to make sure you don't become a joke? Make sure that everyone in the project is of the same mindset of the entire theory that -egg preaches.

Don't let your salesperson cold call the presidents of the companies you are trying to get, have them call the service managers, head of maintenance instead.


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## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

Arc'n'Spark said:


> Well I hope things go better for the company I work for than what's been described here. We bought into the franchise late this past year. Myself and another electrician were chosen to run the new division, and just got two weeks of training in November. The owner of the company had experience with TEGG through a previous employer and apparently believes in the franchise, considering the substantial cost to become a member contractor. Brian and Zog, as you're both well respected members of this community, what would you recommend to keep us from becoming another joke in the testing/PM industry?


Go hire some experienced testing guys, 2 weeks training is not even close to breaking the ice. Read all the NETA specs, you will need to know how to conduct every single test in there, and you will need about $200k in test equipment just to get started, and even then you will need to rent some of the equipment until you can invest more. Attend some good training like AVO, each guy will need a few months of classes just to cover the basics.


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## Charlie K (Aug 14, 2008)

I agree with Zog about the time needed for training. I worked for a TEGG contractor in the TEGG department. We did go to the training in Pittsburgh and they did have different classes. I did ultrasonic, Power Quality and infrared. A knowledge of the code was needed as you were doing inspections. TEGG was founded by Sargent Electric Co. It is a franchise that you bought into. Besides training they provided programs to set up your pricing, scheduling and reports. The reason to go with TEGG was to get back into buildings we origionally wired and worked in. Kind of repeat customers. It was my understanding that TEGG stood for the center of integrity and not peoples names.


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## Tonedeaf (Nov 26, 2012)

Neta has been around for at least 25 years. 
There is a testing company in this area that started doing PM services +30 years ago when the only other option use to be GEneral Electric (they were expensive as hell). Any how they blew up and are now have shops in 4 states and have a rock solid reputation. I've see a dozens of other companies jump on the band wagon go into this business with vary degrees of success. I do sub contract work for a few.

Back to my personal opinion on neta...being certified does not make you qualified to work on high power, high voltage equipement. Pretty dangerous stuff alot of certified ppl really don't know what they are doing. Adding to that a lot of customers don't know what your doing either.

I recently replaced on an emergency basis a 4160v switch that a PMer customer of mine damaged. They Broke porcelon stress cones off of during a shutdown(cones were fill of oil). Anyhow the switch and everything in the vault was from 1945. I really don't know what this guy was thinking selling this job, the equipment in this room scarred me.


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## Arc'n'Spark (Jul 21, 2011)

Charlie K said:


> I agree with Zog about the time needed for training. I worked for a TEGG contractor in the TEGG department. We did go to the training in Pittsburgh and they did have different classes. I did ultrasonic, Power Quality and infrared. A knowledge of the code was needed as you were doing inspections. TEGG was founded by Sargent Electric Co. It is a franchise that you bought into. Besides training they provided programs to set up your pricing, scheduling and reports. The reason to go with TEGG was to get back into buildings we origionally wired and worked in. Kind of repeat customers. It was my understanding that TEGG stood for the center of integrity and not peoples names.


Sounds like you had the exact same training I did. You are correct about the origins of the name.


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## Arc'n'Spark (Jul 21, 2011)

Zog said:


> Go hire some experienced testing guys, 2 weeks training is not even close to breaking the ice. Read all the NETA specs, you will need to know how to conduct every single test in there, and you will need about $200k in test equipment just to get started, and even then you will need to rent some of the equipment until you can invest more. Attend some good training like AVO, each guy will need a few months of classes just to cover the basics.


Thanks for responding. I realize that the two weeks training was just the first step down a never ending road of continuing education. If I remember correctly, the material that was covered at that training came primarily from ASNT and NETA documents. We did make a sizable investment in some startup equipment, along with lots of PPE. There is still a lot we don't have and wouldn't yet know how to use if we did. As I mentioned this is a brand new venture for us.


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