After working for someone else for years I decided to make a go at it on my own. Since I had security experience and I needed a license anyway, I took the state test for Burglar Alarm license(Florida). This license will allow me to install Burglar and Fire alarms and all other low voltage wiring.

Problem is I can't find general liability insurance to cover the burg and fire part? And was told that if I did it would be 15 to 20,000 a year! Is this right and where can I find this insurance?

Funny thing is I could get insurance for 450 a year if I don't do security. And I must admit that I would rather not do security but in the area I am in I need it.

Well, it sounds like you need to pass along the cost of the required insurance premiums to the customers whose needs demand your qualification to meet their demand.

In other words, figure out the average extra cost to you of the insurance job by job, and add it to the bill. If it's 18K/yr, that's 1.5K/mo. If you do 5 security jobs a month, that's $300/job. Then, add your mark-up.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

Unfortunately, that's the cost of doing business. Up here I had much the Same Ideas without the security. We have always played by the book, Fully licensed electrical contractors, with commercial space, etc., to comply with local business code. And even being small potatoes, it will cost 100,000+ in various costs for one or two men to operate effectively ... that's without paying them. This is all offset by growing, but that's a tough nut to crack. Most people can't deal with it. I do pretty well being poor. lol Seriously though. Don't underestimate your operating expenses.

I know a lot of great guys who would be doing very well if it were not for taxes, , insurance, regulation, and general operating expense; moreover, I know a lot of people who ARE doing very well that are not playing by the rules. It generally catches up with them, or they find it difficult to grow beyond a certain point. Anyway, good luck.
If you have a spare 5 years, have saved (not loans) up a bunch of money, are really good at what you do, and people love it. Then go for it. Oh yeah. Be prepared to work 80 hours a week, and pay yourself half of whatever ... or less, than what you were making before you decided to do this... Oh and that's a salary. That doesn't mean twice as long equals better pay.

I know things can go better than decried here, but these results are typical. You have to be able to ride a lot of storms. I know people will say I'm trying to keep people out of the business. I'm not. There can be a lot more in it. It would be great, but anybody in the business, whether playing al the rules or not.. They realize he major expense of doing business. Just be prepared to expense your shoelaces (uniform) if need be.

What does being a fully licensed electrical contractor or having commercial space have to do with complying with local code? Unless you're talking about high voltage electrical work. In which case I still don't get the part about commercial space.

No problem QQQ.
To do both low and or high voltage work in the city of Chicago you must be a licensed electrical contractor. And yes there are many different classifications of this work. From hospital electrical, to signage, to residential/comercial electrical, to low voltage tel etc.... Anyway, one must maintain the minimum license for the work they would like to perform. (we can also do high voltage pipe service upgrades, etc.), but we only use these skills for automated lighting, etc., as our focus is to NOT be a home electrical contractor. And no we didn't start out that way either. We are all about custom low voltage. Moving on. To get this license, you must work for a licensed electrical contractor for at least 2 years, then you can take the test etc.
To get your business license as a licensed electrical contractor, you must obtain a commercial space to operate you business out of. (any business that requires the use of tools and materials can't be run out of your home, painters, carpenters, plumbers, etc.) Also, you must show proof that you have waste removal (dumpster) service, various for of insurance, the proper business bank account, a FEIN #, etc. These rules are in place to protect the quality of work, but people try to skirt them regularly. Any people are unaware of this until they are required to pull a permit, or have an inspection, or the rewired 2,000,000 insurance policy is required to win a proposal. Then there can be trouble. I've worked for 2 companies years ago that had these problems. Guess where they are now? That's not to say there are not well qualified people who can do excelent work, but those who don't play by the rules underut the legitamite competition to get work, may not be paying taxes etc, and overall do a huge diservice to all of us.

Whatever you locat requirements are, you should comply by them, or find work elswhere. I can name a couple of local cities that we are licenced to do work in, but we turn it down to aviod having to comply by thier PIA requirements. We get more work that we can be proud of by doing it well. Even if we charge a little more than our competition.

To find out more, go to you city hall and ask for information on getting a buiness licence. They should be able to give you all of the inforamtion about requirements that you need.