General Construction Contractors

What the different between contractor and subcontractors?

Think of it like a wedding, you need to hire the wedding planner, but he or she can’t do all the work like cooking meals, playing music and even baking the cake. You pay him or her to use his or her knowledge in this field to organize and bring together the best caterer, musician and even baker so that your event can be successful. The event planner is like a general contractor in construction industry and the people in his or her
rolodex are the trusted subcontractors. General construction contractors are the bigger picture thinkers and work with you throughout the project from the idea to finished product phase.

Should general construction contractors have their own staff?

General contractors may have their own permanent staff or employees. In this situation, you might see a few subcontractors being involved in your construction work. Which is more economical, hiring extra employees or having subcontractors? Having a general contractor with subcontractors is more economical than hiring your own employees because he pays the salaries of his subcontractors as opposed to what you would pay your own employees. In addition, you are able to negotiate for the whole construction project costs not just the work then employees’ salaries.

What are the advantages of a general contractor?

General contractors bring peace of mind, project management expertise and knowledge of construction standards in general. In addition, he brings tangible and necessary things in the job such as insurance and license. The general contractor takes responsibility of any injury and property damage which might occur.

The other responsibility of a general contractor is to ensure that the project is of good quality. It is the duty of the contractor to fix things when they are not going as per expectation. He funds the cost of repairs and not you.

General contractors bring the knowledge of building codes, proper construction methods, the right materials and safety measures in you construction project. This knowledge saves you money and time of having to learn all the construction knowledge. He takes care of the structure by giving instruction to subcontractor on what to do when for example the weather changes, when to pour concrete and when to install under your sink.

Lastly, they have the experience. They have done this job before while you haven’t. From the initial planning to the final cleanup, they manage your construction work like conductors.