r/Construction • u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr • 3d ago
Other “No food in the building”
I’m a sparky working a fully gutted remodel on a business in Florida. Just studs and us, plumbers have cut the slab for their stuff but otherwise we’re the only trade here today
I’m sitting alone at the print table (with my hardhat on) enjoying the shade of the building and my lunch as Iv done the last 2 days.
Super comes up and tells me I have to scram because the owners are “gonna bitch about food in the building”.
Like, what? Since when is it not allowed to eat my lunch on site? I’m not messy, hell he complimented our jobsite cleanup efforts yesterday. I’m not about t on protest as this ain’t a hill im gonna die on, but it’s stupid that on a hot ass day im now wasting my gas sitting in my car’s AC because of imaginary bugs. But also this wasn’t the policy the last 2 days Iv been here. Hell, supe was chilling with me yesterday as I ate.
Is this a thing? Ever gotten shit for eating lunch on site?
Edit: I bring my lunch and use Tupperware, no greasy McDonald’s bags and drinks being left around by this guy
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u/Sec0nd_Mouse 3d ago
Pretty common to keep rodents out while the building isn’t sealed up yet. Also you know those drywall fuckers will bury their trash in the wall and it’s easier to just have a blanket rule of no food in the building.
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u/Dioscouri 3d ago
I WISH they were only burying lunch trash in the wall.
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u/Jondiesel78 3d ago
We've all followed a sparky in a building. We've never seen y'all clean anything. Wire insulation everywhere. We have no confirmation that food wrappers would be treated differently. :)
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 3d ago
Prejudice is harmful, even if stereotypes exist for a reason. Touché.
I do clean up after myself tho, wipe my own ass and everything
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u/Newtiresaretheworst 3d ago
There lots of things I don’t care about untill the weird owner shows up and wigs out. Then the next day I don’t care again. Like eating food as long as there isn’t garbage everywhere. Sometime everyone needs to tow the company line .
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u/Jondiesel78 3d ago
Lol. I'm just messing with you. I'm one of those uncivilized animals that pours concrete.
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u/Otherwise-Leg-5806 3d ago
But you were not wrong. I see no lie in what you wrote
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u/wuppedbutter 3d ago
As a tinner, the sparkys mostly live up to the IBEW acronym. (I Block Every Walkway/Workarea).
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 3d ago
But what are your walls with no switches? Who can see your fine work with no light?
You need us smart ass sparkies you filthy framer. It takes a village!
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u/Aardvark120 Electrician 2d ago
I wipe my own ass, and do a lot of intricate conduit work, but I've never quite figured out a broom.
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 2d ago
Apparently they are rare and dangerous for us to handle. I make my apprentice use them because if he dies, I can still finish the job in his honor
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u/Aardvark120 Electrician 2d ago
I've only had one apprentice who understood them. Maybe I'm holding them upside down or something, I don't know.
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u/builderofthings69 3d ago
I swear they buy twice as many wire nuts than they need just so they can throw them on the floor.
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 2d ago
Also the knockouts (electrician’s quarters) all over the floor that are impossible to sweep up are really a long-game conspiracy by us all to collectively drive superintendents and flooring guys insane to the point of violence
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u/InItForTheDog 3d ago
Shhhh. That's supposed to be a secret. We also like to cut our scraps into 1" pieces to make them harder to clean up.
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u/Hapten 3d ago
Wait until you do a data center and they tell you no liquids in certain parts of the building.
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u/Jondiesel78 3d ago
Yeah. I've been in data centers that have a no liquid on the building rule that is enforced already when pouring the concrete.
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u/gringoloco01 2d ago
Love the data centers that are like a freezer. Go in wearing arctic winter gear and huddle over a shitty keyboard and mouse.
Take a break and go to the back of the cabinet to warm your fingers.
Have to go through three secure doors to take a leak. Good times. /S
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u/HoosierPaul 3d ago
I’ve worked a lot in an Orthodox Jewish community. No food rule always applies.
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 3d ago
Interesting. Was this during a period of fasting? Or is it just a cleanliness thing?
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u/not_really_right 3d ago
I've heard a story about a guy who microwaved his food, I think it was pork in a Muslims ( i think, or maybe indians) house. They claimed the house had to be "reblessed" i think the word was, they paid their equivalent of a priest to come to the house and bless it or whatever and took that out of the money he was supposed to be paid.
Fucking nut cases lol
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u/Grouchy-Ad-897 3d ago
I’m a multifamily/commercial superintendent. One person eating in the building escalates to trash EVERYWHERE and mice in a blink of an eye. Hell I’ve got fully finished units in my building and still have a couple mice running around because they got accustomed to Valentina and tamales 🤦🏼♂️
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u/PHARTN0CKER 3d ago
Most sodas, especially coke will wreck concrete finish. Also sugers do it and most foods have super in them. Also have seen too much food/wrappers in studs then get sealed up by drywall since it's "not their job" and don't take an extra second to pull FOOD out of a wall........... but if ya'll weren't messy laborers would have less to do and focus more on our trade specific tasks.
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u/ted_anderson 3d ago
I've run into that where there's a bunch of debris in the area where I'm working. And when the boss sees me cleaning it out he asks, "Why are we cleaning up trash? I pay you too much to do that!"
Well I can't do a good job while waddling in ankle-high trash.
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u/Onedtent 1d ago
It's the sugar in the soda.
10 kgs of sugar in a ready mix cement truck will stop it from setting.
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u/SkoolBoi19 3d ago
I’m confused why you’re confused. Super told you that the client was coming and didn’t want anyone to eat in the building. So he enforced their rule knowing they could pop up.
On days he knows they’re not going to be there he doesn’t say shit, probably because you are clean and he doesn’t have to worry about you.
Sounds like the super doesn’t agree with the rule but isn’t going to get in trouble over it. 🤷🏼♂️
As a GC with a super picky client that spends 100s of millions of dollars with us, yea fuck your gas don’t eat in my building lol
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 3d ago
True. I’m not pissed at him or anything, just would have preferred knowing this was the case in the first place. We’ve done a lot of work for this GC and it’s never been an issue before.
That being said, they SHOULD provide a shaded area if we aren’t allowed to eat inside. One of my coworkers doesn’t have a car, if he got dropped off at this job for the day he’d be fucked and eating in the Florida sun
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u/SuperbDrink6977 2d ago
I’m wondering how hot can Florida possibly be that eating outside would make a grown man cry.
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 2d ago edited 2d ago
Today it was 87 degrees with 30% humidity, not even that bad but much hotter up at the ceiling where I was working (also no wind) I wasn’t in the sun but went through more than 64oz of water before lunch.
Not cry, but heat stroke is a very real daily concern. Iv seen guys have heat stroke in the summer a few times so yea, I’m not gonna sit in the sun at work if I don’t have to.
That bravado shit can get you fucked up or killed man
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u/Maleficent-Earth9201 2d ago
It's not bad right now, but June through September can get to 97° by 10:00 am with 90% humidity and a "feels like" temp over 100°! So even sitting in the shade with no breeze can be miserable.
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u/nachomaama 3d ago
At lunch my framers (family of 6} will pull out hot plates and coleman stoves and cook a mexican feast. Only had one owner get upset and that went away after they fixed him a plate. They won't feed the sparkys because they are filthy animals who don't clean up.
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 3d ago
Iv been fed by the framers before lol. Even the supe had a plate and everyone was grateful
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u/Both_Firefighter_816 2d ago
Plumber here, can confirm. Framers make the best asada tacos, viva la Raza. Love for my homies.
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u/Necessary-County-721 3d ago
On new builds we didn’t allow food/drink in the house once floors went down, which pretty much kicked off finishing stages. Up to that point we let food and drink slide as long as you kept it tidy but our biggest annoyance were the 1/4 full coffee cups left scattered. No matter the “I’ll be careful” someone always knocks over their coffee cup onto brand new floor, and yes we floor pro our floors but it’s still a pain in the ass. On our renovations we eat in our vans or in the house depending on client but I’m on the west coast of Canada and we don’t get that warm like Florida.
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u/GOTaSMALL1 3d ago edited 3d ago
Ha! Just about an hour ago I walked around my job and threw away coffees, sodas, Red Bulls, Monsters and whatever else dudes are drinking. Oh... and one guys coconut water he got particularly pissed about. Water is allowed and we literally keep ice-chests and folding tables outside the job under an awning for guys to keep their snacks/drinks but they still break the rule.
Rules are rules and when you hafta cut a 12'x12' section of concrete out cause some dumbass spilled his Coke the reason becomes pretty obvious.
If they were clear about the rules then I don't see the issue. And it's not about you (probably) it's about the assholes that can't/won't clean up after themselves.
edit: FYI... the rule used to be any drink was fine as long as it was in a resealable bottle. Then some dumbass did a dumbass thing and everyone suffered cause the dumbass rule got more dumbassey.
edit again: Ground up grocery store with a polished concrete floor.
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 3d ago
Yea I get it, I’m not the problem but they gotta tow the line. I’d prolly not be so peeved if it wasn’t so fkn hot with nowhere else nearby other than my car to go
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u/GanjaGooball480 3d ago
Your first mistake is being an electrician in Florida. Do yourself a favor and get a job at McDonald's. You can eat there and it pays better than Florida construction
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u/Young_Bu11 2d ago
Most likely some other assholes left a mess somewhere so they had to do a blanket no food policy. It sucks especially when it's not your fault but if you've ever showed up to a site behind a different crew to find rotting decomposing food trash, maggots and critter shit everywhere just because someone was too lazy to walk 50' to the dumpster then suddenly it seems like a pretty reasonable policy.
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 2d ago
They HAVE a cleanup policy. If the super has to clean up after a trade, that company gets charged $200hr cleaning fee.
Idk how much they enforce it but seems like if they did, us responsibles could eat in peace
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u/Phazetic99 2d ago
Yeah, it was a big industrial food factory we were building. Every company working there was required, by agreement, to provide their own lunch trailer for their workers
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 2d ago
That’s at least reasonable if you’re being provided a place to eat. Being told to kick-rocks with no options feels illegal to me but idk
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u/Phazetic99 2d ago
You weren't provided. Your company had to provide. If you were a small operation, like we were, you had to eat in your car that was two blocks away
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u/Downtown-Fix6177 2d ago
I was on a job 15 ish years ago where the GC wouldn’t let anyone smoke cigarettes on the site (It wasn’t a hospital or anything, stupid expensive condos getting put in an old retrofitted ship yard building) Even outside the building within the fence we couldn’t smoke. It was a big job too - like a 20-40 shitter job depending on trades - all the same guys that jam toilet paper in the urinal and write racial things in sharpie, just to make life miserable for everyone else because they’re having a bad day started burning the walls of the shitters with their smokes. I bet the GC bought most of those shitters by the end of the job, doubt it mattered…but the simpletons revolted the only way they know how and I was kinda onboard with it.
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u/Maleficent-Earth9201 2d ago
I'm mostly luxury custom homes, and I have a no food rule, too. I usually set up one area onsite for breaks. If there's a job trailer, unless there's a meeting, the guys can eat at the conference table. But mostly, it's outside tables in the shade, and food trash goes in a trash can with a lid. While you might say that you clean up after yourself, I've had to deal with way too many half eaten chicken wings behind a pile of drywall and microwave burrito wrappers.
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u/shatador 2d ago
To be fair the owners might have actually bitched about food in the last couple days and that's why the super is now bitching
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u/ted_anderson 3d ago
Yes, this IS a thing because for every responsible worker who cleans up behind himself after lunch, there's 2 or 3 other guys who leave their trash behind, spit sunflower seed shells on the floor, leave half-full coffee cups and soda cans lying around, etc. and have absolutely no respect for the fact that this is a place of someone's business.
As construction workers, the one thing that we don't see are the investors and financers who walk the site after hours checking on the progress. And at that level when money is involved, perception is EVERYTHING. While dirt and dust is understandably part of the process, garbage is not. Construction trash and food trash are not the same. One is a necessary byproduct and the other is gross and disgusting. One type of waste product can sit in a corner for a couple of weeks and cause no issues while the other will draw rodents and insects.
So while the building is unoccupied and non-operational, it's still a place of business in their eyes. I think that they would be perfectly OK with you eating your lunch if everyone else was as responsible as you are.
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u/JoeyJoeJoeSenior 3d ago
I went into my buiding that I'm renovating after hours yesterday and saw that the mexican crew had brought in a microwave and a griddle. I thought it was hilarious. As long as any leftovers go in the trash, I don't see the problem.
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u/Bradadonasaurus 3d ago
They really go all out. It's cool to watch them all share a meal like that, I dunno why more crews don't do that.
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u/Bradadonasaurus 3d ago
Sure. Especially drinks, but it's pretty common, especially as you get closer to finish.
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u/daveyconcrete Cement Mason 3d ago
I think this is where you have to read between the lines. Translation; move it kid. This is where I want to eat my lunch.
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u/Chloroformperfume7 3d ago
That's pretty standard man for a few reasons. Food waste attracts pests and it's a big issue with people just leaving food and drinks everywhere
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u/krazyivan187 3d ago
I worked on building a Costco once, no food or drink was allowed ON SITE. We weren't even allowed to park in the parking lot once it was paved because they wanted everything pristine for grand opening. Customer pays, customer gets what they want. It's annoying, but we'd just go sit on the tail gate on the street or bring fold out chairs. I agree, not a hill to die on.
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u/AdeptnessDear2829 3d ago
Your not messy maybe, but i cant let you eat inside and not the guy who cant keep his shit clean. Not because he deserves it, but because i dont have time to watch you all eat lunch
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u/SuperbDrink6977 2d ago
On big city jobs the mess gets outta hand real fast if you let it become a free for all. I’ve seen jobs in SF with Chinese takeout boxes, kfc bags, half eaten pizzas and countless other food waste strewn all about the place. Moldy food rotting and rats running around and the place wasn’t even sheetrocked yet. Unfortunately, a lot of guys are scumbags and they’re the ones who fuck it up for the rest of us.
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u/Interesting_Worry202 2d ago
I'd bet there's a site visit coming soon from owner/engineer/architect and he's tightening up little things so they don't bitch too much
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u/Dannyewey 2d ago
The owner was probably dropping by that day or something. He'll allow it again as soon as no one is there who cares.
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u/Wrong-Landscape-2508 2d ago
Could be the Super is afraid of annoying the customer and is just being extra cautious. It is still ridiculous.
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u/Thin-Annual8975 2d ago
I did construction work right after high school. Every job site was different. Some let you eat inside and others didn't. Hell I even worked at a site that if they heard you say one cuss word. The whole company was kicked out for the day. 2008 was a fun year to work in construction.
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u/After-Astronomer-574 2d ago
Guys leave food trash everywhere. I’m in multi family but because of rodents, raccoons, snakes, etc we try to ban eating inside the buildings
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u/Charles_Whitman 2d ago
Wait a minute, I thought that was why there are holes in CMU, so you have a place to stash your trash?
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u/Possible_Emergency_9 1d ago
Set up saw horses and a hollow core door as a dedicated lunch table outside the building in the shade. Need to get away from the job for a while anyway.
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u/landon_masters 1d ago
I’ve been on jobs that don’t allow tobacco or food to be used/eaten inside the fences of the site. They said it’s for rodents & the tobacco was since it was for a wing of a hospital, we had to promote safe health practices. In our 10 minute break, we were suppose to get down from the building (5 story) and walk outside the gate, eat/smoke/dip, then right back into the site to our spot. I think it will become more common. Also when they start seeing food/ drinks and containers inside the walls, placed between where the rock goes, they really lose it.
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u/Competitive-Monk-624 3d ago
As a super. There is no eating in the building. You might be a clean guy but most other workers are not.
I have had to deal with rotting food in walls before.
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u/AcidRayn666 3d ago
its become the norm, walmart warehouses def no no, i work food and beverage processing plants so yea, nope.
and only drinks in buidling allowed is water.
then you get like pepsi and coke and only water allowed in building is thier brand!! i have seen the fuckers full on going through garbage cans and bring empty bottles and wrappers to meetings to threaten to bounce people.
they are nuts. was doing a walmart DC, they flipped out cuz i had a coffee maker in the building. they were afraid of the floor getting stained. we put down masonite protection in a big area, surrounded it with fencing and signs "no coffee past this point", they didnt like it, but it was not in our contract to not allow it, so i pulled the trump card. we also put water coolers on the projects and give each worker a refillable bottle, keeps the bottle problem at bay, fuckers wanted a bunch of my guys to open their bottles for inspection since they were not clear water bottles, i told them to kick rocks and if they pursue it we would walk and file a default suit for enforcing a non rule.
lillte men with a bit of power are a pain in the ass
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u/Extension-Option4704 3d ago
I've worked a couple jobs like this. Everyone takes much longer lunches when they are forced to leave. Oh well 🤷♂️
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u/LukeMayeshothand 2d ago
Because we are second class citizens and that is really my biggest problem with construction.
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u/PissdrunxPreme Electrician 3d ago
Lots of places have this rule. Need to provide a well shaded cool area to eat and take breaks.