WEBVTT NOTE 6. Crush the Sprinkler Guild 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 Chapter 6, Crush the Sprinkler Guild, May 9, 2006 2 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:20.000 I suspect it as much. What the lady at the Home Depot called the Sprinkler Repair Cult is an emerging guild seeking privileges and regulations from the government. 3 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:28.000 That means a supply restriction, high prices, or another do-it-yourself project. But there is a way around it. 4 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:34.720 I first began to smell a rat when the automatic irrigation system on my front yard needed 5 00:00:34.720 --> 00:00:39.800 work, but I had unusual struggles in trying to find a repair guy. 6 00:00:39.800 --> 00:00:43.920 The first place I called informed me they could accept no more clients. 7 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:44.920 Clients? 8 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:49.200 I just wanted a new sprinkler thing, for goodness sake. 9 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:51.000 I don't want to be a client. 10 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:53.080 I want to be a customer. 11 00:00:53.080 --> 00:00:57.960 Is there no one who can put on a new sprayer or stick a screwdriver in there or whatever 12 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:07.120 The next call was not returned. The next call ended with the person on the line fearfully 13 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:12.200 saying that they do landscaping but will have nothing to do with sprinklers or automated 14 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:17.520 irrigation systems. Um, okay. 15 00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:23.120 The next call seemed more promising. The secretary said they had an opening on the schedule in 16 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:30.160 Three weeks. Three weeks? In that period of time, my yard would be the color of a brown paper bag. 17 00:01:31.440 --> 00:01:38.240 The next call failed. And the next one. And the next. Finally, I was back to the off-putting 18 00:01:38.240 --> 00:01:44.880 secretary. I made the appointment, but the guy never came. Fortunately, in the meantime, 19 00:01:44.880 --> 00:01:50.720 a good rain came. And then at regular intervals for the whole season, and I was spared having 20 00:01:50.720 --> 00:01:51.720 ." 21 00:01:51.720 --> 00:02:01.120 Why all the fuss? We aren't talking brain surgery here. These are sprinklers, little 22 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:07.160 spray nozzles connected to tubes connected to a water supply. Why was everyone so touchy 23 00:02:07.160 --> 00:02:14.500 about the subject? Why did all the power seem to be in their hands and none in mine? Must 24 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:21.740 Must I crawl and beg? Above all, I wonder why, with most all lawns and new subdivisions 25 00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:27.220 sporting these little things, why, oh, why are the people who repair them in such short 26 00:02:27.220 --> 00:02:34.220 supply? Little did I know that I had stumbled on to the real existence of a most peculiar 27 00:02:34.220 --> 00:02:42.000 thing in our otherwise highly competitive economy, a guild. It had all the earmarks. 28 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.200 If you want your nails buffed, there are thousands of people in town who stand ready. If you 29 00:02:47.200 --> 00:02:52.160 want someone to make you dinner, you can take your pick among thousands of restaurants. 30 00:02:52.160 --> 00:02:56.500 If you want to buy a beer, you can barely go a block without bumping into a merchant 31 00:02:56.500 --> 00:03:02.800 who is glad to sell you one. None of that is true with sprinkler repair. 32 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:09.800 What does a guild do? It attempts to restrict service. And why? To keep the price as high 33 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:17.040 as high as possible. And how? By admitting only specialists or supposed specialists to 34 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:22.540 the ranks of service providers usually through the creation of some strange but largely artificial 35 00:03:22.540 --> 00:03:27.160 system of exams or payments or whatever. 36 00:03:27.160 --> 00:03:32.880 Guilds don't last in a free market. No one can blame producers for trying to put it off, 37 00:03:32.880 --> 00:03:39.200 but they must always deal with defectors. Even the prospect of defectors can cause people 38 00:03:39.200 --> 00:03:50.880 There is just no keeping a producer clique together for long when profits are at stake. 39 00:03:50.880 --> 00:03:55.640 There is also the problem that temporarily successful guilds face. 40 00:03:55.640 --> 00:03:58.920 High profits attract new entrants into the field. 41 00:03:58.920 --> 00:04:02.360 They must either join the guild or go their own way. 42 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:07.180 This creates an economically unviable situation in a market setting that is always driving 43 00:04:07.180 --> 00:04:10.700 for a Market Clearing Rate of Return 44 00:04:10.700 --> 00:04:15.020 Further evidence of the existence of a sprinkler guild came from the checkout lady at the Home 45 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:19.940 Depot. I was buying a sprinkler head, and she said in passing that they didn't use 46 00:04:19.940 --> 00:04:24.980 to carry these things, that the decision of the manufacturer to supply them in retail 47 00:04:24.980 --> 00:04:30.580 got some people mighty upset. She spoke of the sprinkler repair people as a cult that 48 00:04:30.580 --> 00:04:33.060 should be smashed. 49 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:38.100 Now, does this Guild really exist or is it an informal arrangement among a handful of 50 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:39.820 local suppliers? 51 00:04:39.820 --> 00:04:48.960 As best I can tell, here's the Guild's website, www.irrigation.org slash default.aspx. 52 00:04:48.960 --> 00:04:55.260 The Irrigation Association is active in providing a voice for the industry on public policy 53 00:04:55.260 --> 00:05:01.300 issues related to standards, conservation and water use on local, national and international 54 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:08.060 levels, acting as a source of technical and public policy information within the industry, 55 00:05:08.060 --> 00:05:13.740 raising awareness of the benefits of professional irrigation services, offering professional 56 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:19.580 training and certification, uniting irrigation professionals including irrigation equipment 57 00:05:19.580 --> 00:05:24.900 manufacturers, distributors and dealers, irrigation system designers, contractors, 58 00:05:24.900 --> 00:05:30.440 educators, researchers and technicians from the public and private sectors. 59 00:05:30.440 --> 00:05:39.380 Watch that, certification, unity, standards, public policy, these are all dangerous words 60 00:05:39.380 --> 00:05:46.000 that come down to the same result, high prices and bad service. 61 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.340 Why should anyone become certified? 62 00:05:49.340 --> 00:05:55.380 Prestige and credibility among peers and customers, professional advancement opportunities, enhances 63 00:05:55.380 --> 00:06:00.940 is the professional image of the industry, your industry. 64 00:06:00.940 --> 00:06:06.020 I thought I needed a sprinkler repairman, but these people want me to hire a Certified 65 00:06:06.020 --> 00:06:10.300 Landscape Irrigation Manager, a CLEM. 66 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:11.980 How do you become a CLEM? 67 00:06:11.980 --> 00:06:18.700 Well, you have to send in $400 plus a resume that includes an overview summary of how you 68 00:06:18.700 --> 00:06:21.500 plan to meet program criteria. 69 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:28.500 Two examples of project development to include System Design Objective, System Budget Estimate, 70 00:06:28.500 --> 00:06:33.960 Water Source Development, System Design Drawings, Hydraulic, Electrical, Detailed Drawings, 71 00:06:33.960 --> 00:06:40.400 Pump Station, Project Specifications, General Specification, Installation Specification, 72 00:06:40.400 --> 00:06:43.460 Material Specification, Pump Station. 73 00:06:43.460 --> 00:06:50.640 Two system audits or evaluations to include Audit, System Performance, Uniformity, Base 74 00:06:50.640 --> 00:06:58.640 Case Schedule, Recommendations for Improvement, Evaluation, System Performance, Uniformity, 75 00:06:58.640 --> 00:07:05.680 Hydraulic Analysis, Electrical Analysis, Grounding, Water Source, Product Performance, 76 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:11.800 Recommendations for Improvement, Two Construction and or Construction Management Projects, Site 77 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:18.560 Visit Reports, Drawing of Record, Final Irrigation Schedule, Punch Lists. 78 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:23.080 Of course, they are working with government, federal, state and local. 79 00:07:23.080 --> 00:07:26.400 They want restrictions of every sort. 80 00:07:26.400 --> 00:07:32.260 They want their own turf and landscape irrigation, best management practices, or BMP, to be the 81 00:07:32.260 --> 00:07:33.880 law of the land. 82 00:07:33.880 --> 00:07:36.840 You can read more about this here. 83 00:07:36.840 --> 00:07:40.000 How hip-deep are these people in government? 84 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:45.680 It's hard to say, but I'm guessing that local developers, landscapers, builders and 85 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:50.160 others are intimidated by all these and are reluctant to challenge their monopoly. 86 00:07:51.280 --> 00:07:57.040 So thank goodness for hardware stores. They are working to bust up these vicious little 87 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:02.560 guilds to the benefit of the consumer and everyone else. It means having to stick your 88 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:08.880 fingers in mud and read instruction manuals and the like, but sometimes the defense of liberty 89 00:08:08.880 --> 00:08:11.880 The Theory of Money requires that you get your hands a little dirty.