General Contractors

General contractors can be best described as a person or company in change of supervising the construction of a building or home on the directions given by the property owner as drawn up in a legal agreement between the two parties. In other words the general contractor builds the place the owner wants at the price agreed and has the entire responsible to make sure that this end is achieved. A large company will undoubtedly have one person designated as the general contractor.

When a general contractor, or GC, is hired the position held is more than just a figurehead for authority on the site. To complete the project the GC, who holds a general contractors license, has to change hats many times, switching from design consultant and financial advisor to site administrator and bookkeeper. He or she will then wade through the hundreds of details that make up building project from getting the proper permits to making sure the site is clean and presentable when the property is turned over at the end of the build.

During the planning stage the general contractor will begin to make the assignments either to salaried crews or subcontractors. Each party will get a set of plans and a schedule to follow and is ultimately responsible to carry out the details under the watchful eye of the general contractor. Since building is a “daisy-chain” process a subcontractor who fails to complete the job in a timely manner puts the next contractor behind and so on. It is the GC who must keep the flow going either by making the subcontractor put on extra people to see this part of the process through on time or by getting another crew to complete the job.

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The other scheduling concern is to make sure the right materials show up at the right time. Untimely deliveries lead to work stoppages and storage problems – and even theft – so the GC has to be contact with the suppliers on a regular basis.

When the day comes for the ground breaking the general contractor becomes the CEO of the site and runs the events on the property much like a commander in the field. Because small errors, like a missed measurement on the footing, can cascade down the line into larger problems. And if an untimely problem does arise he or she has the ability, experience and contacts to put the project back on track.

During the building process the CG is also responsible for keeping track of all expenditures, hours of the workers and paying everybody. He or she also keeps the clients involved with frequent updates and consultations and provides accurate figures for the financial institutions.

1. After the build is complete and inspected the general contractor will instruct the new owners on the workings of  all the systems, including mechanical and maintenance. As well, after completion the GC will return to check up on the building to make adjustments and to advise the subtrades, like the HVAC supplier, if any system needs to be reworked.

From the first consultation to the handing over of the keys the general contractor will make a building project an adventure.