How to Hire A Subcontractor

Try looking at a construction project as if it were the three legs on a stool.
Consider the three major elements to be the owner and designers, the consultants and planners, and the construction team itself. If one of the legs isn't carrying its own weight, the stool will be unstable.

This is true when considering the fundamental elements of the "legs" of your project.
o You must have a clear vision of the capabilities and intent of the owner.
o You have to have a complete cast of competent designers, consultants and planners.

Once you have done this, then it is possible to select a general contractor and/or subcontractors. Picking a construction team or the mechanical contractor for a part of the project team cannot be done effectively with out a clear vision of the other members of the project team.

With this vision in hand, then consider the specifics of the job that is being built: cost, schedule and quality. You can achieve any two of these goals, but always by sacrificing the third.

When picking a subcontractor, look at the element that needs to be sacrificed. One contractor may be cost-effective and get done fast but produce poor-quality work. Another may take longer and cost more but achieve higher-quality results.

The contractor needs to have a high level of competency at the specific job at hand, but you also must select a construction team that covers the weakness of the rest of the team. For example, has the design team and/or owner built in the specific area that you are building in? Do they know the code officials, the nuances of how the codes are specifically applied relative to your job? If not, than hiring a contractor with experience in your particular area is particularly important.

The next step is to understand the kind of delivery system that will be applied. Will the project use a plan and specifications situation or a design-build mode? Plan and specifications will be completely designed and be put out to bid. The actual cost of the work is identified at that time.

advertisement

The issue here is that the budget may be one of the important factors that was identified early on. In a plan and spec mode, the project can easily be over budget and it would not be known until it's too late to fix the design without significant cost and delays to the job in redesign.

If this is the case you may have selected the wrong type of delivery system. Perhaps the design team and subcontractors should have been working in a design-build mode from the start to make sure the budget would be met. On the other side of things, design-build could provide a project that's within in budget but at a reduced level of finishes.

Once you know the speed, cost and quality; and you have assessed the skills of the owner and the designers; and you have a clear vision of the delivery system, can you look at different subcontractor's qualities that specifically meet the projects needs.

The final element then is to assess the subcontractor's capabilities based on the real needs of the project. Look at related job experience, financial stability, current workload (available capacity) and a subcontractor's ability to put together a sound budget.

Ask yourself what estimating, purchasing and project management skills subcontractors have. Which specific people will be assigned to the project? If you hire a firm that has a lot of experience building hospitals but it assigns a team that has only built office buildings, be wary.

Check references and dig into the capacity and the character of the team being proposed. Make sure the personality of the company and its team meshes with the personality of the owner and consultants. And make sure the company backs up its team with the appropriate support staff.

The selection of a good contractor or subcontractor can only come after an honest assessment of the entire project and the project team and then really boils down to a people question.

Finding the right combination of people, some of whom are contractors and subcontractors, is possible only after a project's unique aspects have been carefully considered and all of its strengths and weaknesses clearly identified.