A Guide To General Contracting
Imagine you wanted to build a house yourself. You have a piece of land, but no plans, permits, utilities, materials, or builders. You have a choice to complete the project yourself, juggling an enormous process and your own day-to-day obligations, or have a general contractor that will fit the pieces of the project together seamlessly. With the general contractor, you have a partner in your project who wants to bring you a great space or building, at a reasonable cost for the labor, management, and materials. Below we’ll detail ten of the services that general contractors provide to ensure your project is completed in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner.
Single Point of Contact
The general contractor is a single point of contact that will make the communication process simpler during your project. They will coordinate all of the subcontractors, suppliers, and materials as well as allow you to make selections based on your preferences.
Experienced Project Management
An experienced project manager, who understands how to create a reasonable timeline and hold all parties accountable, ensures your project stays on budget and all labor is completed on time. This person is also responsible for acquiring the necessary permits so your project can proceed without any municipal roadblocks, which are often the most common delays for any project.
Project Accountability
The General Contractor is the single point of contact AND accountability. This helps to avoid any blame games, which can often lead to larger problems in the job. The GC is responsible for and accountable to all parties, so you don’t have to worry about managing all the personalities and can sit back and watch your dream become a reality.
Construction Knowledge
When you hire a GC you are hiring all the knowledge they’ve acquired from years of successful projects. From the best materials to use, to understanding how to decipher drawing and city codes, the GC will offer you their entire bank of knowledge to ensure your project is completed safely, within budget and to code.
On-Time Scheduling & Timeline
Scheduling subcontractors can be a time-consuming element, which can be a drag on your overall timeline. Subcontractors and suppliers will prioritize work for general contractors who have a good relationship with them. Tapping into these relationships can help your project to be completed on time, without waiting on vendors. In addition, the GC will have scheduling software, like CoConstruct, to keep an up-to-date schedule that you can view the entire time your project is under construction.
Managing Risk
Risk is a huge aspect of the building process, and having a GC that has the correct levels of liability and workers compensation insurance gives everyone peace of mind. This reduces the exposure to risk and covers the homeowners, whose insurance may not be enough to cover the myriad accidents that can happen on a construction site.
Administrative Duties
Construction projects are well-known for the huge amount of organization needed for materials and coordination, but just like the roots of a tree, the invisible paperwork needed for a project can be just as substantial as the visible aspects. Handling the administrative duties such as insurance paperwork and accounting for subcontractors and tracking city permits is a job in itself, and one that you will want to have an experienced ally for.
Material Prices
Price is one of the most important aspects for anyone to consider, so having someone on your side who can find the best materials at below-markets rates is important to complete your project. The GC has connections with suppliers who they often work with to source the right materials for your project. Taking the time to find these suppliers can take years, but luckily we have put in those years to make the best connections at the best prices.
The Unexpected
What happens when you are excavating to expand your basement and you find part of your lot is not on the granite bedrock, but on a soft sedimentary rock? Your entire plan must be altered, which takes time and more consultation. An experienced GC will have navigated complicated changes, and most likely will have done the work to avoid them all together. In the event any issues do arise, they will already have ideas and plans to tackle the issue without sacrificing unnecessary time and money. More peace of mind is never a bad thing.
General Warranty
Each general contractor should offer a comprehensive warranty for all the work they have done. The solution to a leaky pipe, faulty flooring, or chipping paint is just one phone call away. They have a responsibility to come and make it right within the warranty, the GC has a responsibility to make it right. If you are your own general contractor, you’ll be scrambling to find a good price for a new service just to make sure your project doesn’t fall apart. We stand by our warranties.