When should I work with a General Contractor?

If you’re planning to build, move, or renovate a commercial property, a general contractor is a key member of your construction team. A general contractor is the person in charge of day-to-day operations, quality control, and deadlines at your building site. This is who turns the visions and renderings of architects, engineers, interior designers, and others into reality. 

As you can imagine, the bigger the build, the more complex the role. So to break down exactly what you should know about the work a general contractor handles, when to hire one and what to expect.

To take a deeper dive we spoke with our owner Paul Gordon to find out his thoughts. Here is what he had to say.

Q: What is a general contractor?

A: In short, general contractors coordinate and execute the construction of commercial properties and tenant improvements. This firm enters into the primary contract with a property owner and bears the responsibility of overseeing the project. A general contractor is the construction manager, responsible for the daily oversight of the site, the safety and management of all vendors and subcontractors, and the primary communicator to everyone involved during the course of a building project. Contractors must ensure that their work meets code requirements. The state of Texas and several other states do not offer general contractor licenses.

Q: When is the best time to hire a general contractor?

A: “Yesterday if possible, and bring them in to do pre-construction services such as budgeting and scheduling,” says Gordon. “They can give you a realistic expectation for the feasibility of your project that the design team may speculate. For instance, if you are doing a tenant improvement. You can buy a few hours of a contractor’s time to know if it will work or help make a decision between two spaces. ” 

Q: What should I look for in a contractor?

A: You are wanting to look for a contractor with solid industry knowledge, a sound system for building, and subcontractor and allied professionals (architects, engineers, etc) relationships primarily. Often overlooked are the technology and people on the internal team, they are the most important factor as they make the show go smoothly. We personally take it one step further past execution and we try and incorporate a high-class customer experience within our culture.

Asking about a contractor’s organizational and billing structure is something that’s rarely addressed right off the bat, and it should be, believes Corr. “With large-scale projects, you've got 40 or so different entities that you're dealing with between subtractors and suppliers on average, and if your contractor doesn’t have a technical system of how to manage them, that can lead to problems,” he says. “The more complex the project, the more sophisticated your contractor’s back-of-house organization needs to be.” For instance, Corr estimates that his team is currently tracking four or five different containers on their way from Greece and Italy, and amending their schedule based on when each is expected. 

“We realize that the work we do is not cheap, our customers are trusting us with a high-value investment so we make sure to deliver a high-value experience along with a great service,” Gordon explains. “If you’re spending half a million on cabinets, we’ll make certain we’re flushing out the shop drawing process so that the outlets are in the right places and the lighting is what you envision and the whole thing works for you. Only a meticulous professional can do this for you.

Contractor vs. SubContractor  

Subcontractors typically form agreements with a general contractor, rather than a property owner or client directly. Often these “subs” specialize in one specific area of construction. Who are they, usually? Per Corr, “You have your typical, your framers, your concrete guys, your pool guys,” he says. Tiling, drywall, insulation, electricity, plumbing, masonry, and roofing are also regular jobs of subcontractors for most new construction builds. “As your spec increases, you start to deal with more specialty subcontractors, like for elevators, escalators, and concrete stamping,” Corr adds. Subcontractors form relationships with contractors that often span years and dozens of projects. Again, with experience also comes knowledge of the best in the field—even if the pros are out of state. General contractors are also ultimately responsible for their subcontractor’s quality of work, efficiency and behavior.

Subcontractors should be insured and licensed, as well as highly qualified and experienced in their trade. If you choose to work with a subcontractor directly, check their qualifications and if possible, get estimates from several to get the best value proposition. Remember that when working with specialty contractors without a general contractor, the role of managing schedules payments, and budgets falls to you. 

Q: Why not just hire the subcontractors yourself?

A: That is always a possibility if you have the requisite knowledge and time to both research and ensure that the entire project is built to code. Not to mention the amount of time needed and research or experience already gained by the general contractor. The contractor has years of experience and has an entire team that will be dedicated to being familiar with your project. If you have the time and you are not scared of the cost of mistakes in construction, you can do it yourself. However, it would not be wise as general contractors hold millions of dollars in insurance and are professionals dedicated to saving you from the time and stress that construction demands. Not to mention dealing with permits, codes, and inspections.

Q: What are the types of contractors?

Outside of being the General Contractor you have mechanical(HVAC), electrical, plumbing, carpentry, concrete, and painting contractors. There are about 22 common trades like masonry, fencing, landscaping, excavatation, and many more. There are even more specialized trades that you can list as well. It is the general contractor’s job to coordinate the logistics and communication between all trades to ensure that the job is performed correctly.

Conclusion:

Apex Genesis advises that customers work with contractors who actively utilize construction management software such as Buildertrend in order to communicate both with you and all other stakeholders. We also recommend if you don’t have experience, and the time to research and manage a project full-time hire someone who can. The opportunity cost and risk are 2-3x what you would save by doing it yourself.

If you are in the early stages of looking for commercial property or if you have found a location you can give us a call and we can help you.