World Construction Symposium

Hiring A General Contractor For Your Project And Understanding His Role

12 December 2017 by Wallace Simmons

When you need a contractor to complete a project, you need to understand what their purpose and role is in the whole process. On a small job, the role of the general contractor may be much different from his responsibility on a larger job. Because there will be decisions made by the contractor for you, you need to find one that you are comfortable with and can trust to handle things the way you have outlined for him. If you don't have faith in the GC (general contractor) on the job, you may be adding more stress than you need.

Finding the Right General Contractor

When you are getting ready to tackle a project that requires a contractor, you need to take the time to research the ones in your area a little. Keeping in mind that the general contractor on a job may be doing the work themselves or subcontracting some of the work to other contractors, you have to know that he or she is honest and working for your best interest. Treat the meetings with any potential contractor like a job interview. You want to know more about them, their work history, and if they can do the job you need to be completed. Asking questions now is better than regretting not asking questions before you hired them.

The General Contractor's Role

In most situations, a general contractor will have a crew and do most of the building and construction work on a job themselves. His role is to direct the crew and make sure they are doing the work that needs to be done correctly and efficiently. There are times when the general contractor needs a specialty service, for instance, an electrician or plumber on the job site. It is their job to hire the subcontractor and get that work completed. While the electrician will be working for you on your project, he is supervised by your general contractor.

How Are Subcontractors Hired and Paid?

Often a general contractor will have subcontractors that they use whenever they can because they know and trust their work. You need to trust your contractor when it comes to this and let him do what you are paying him to do. In a lot of cases, the GC and the subcontractor have worked together in the past and know what to expect from each other. The contractor will take care of hiring, scheduling, and paying the subcontractor and will add the cost of their services to your bill for the job. You will be paying them in the end, but the general contractor takes care of all the details and gets the work done for you. On large jobs, the general contractor has to coordinate many services but on a smaller job in your home, it may be just one or two that the contractor will need.

Contact a company, like SBL Contractors LTD, for more help.

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