Managing Subcontractors Compared to Coaching Basketball

Posted on | by Savannah Sokol

This week basketball practice started for my son’s 1st-grade team, The Clippers, whom I get the opportunity to coach. At first glance, outside of the very dissimilar physical differences, I thought I was in one of our weekly subcontractor progress meetings. Four kids locked in and focused on having a productive practice. One kid did not want to be there, two kids wanted to complain about everything, two showed up for the snack at the end of practice and one kid showed up 10 minutes late.  Yes, this season will be the constant herding of cats but then I laughed, went home, and told my wife I do this every day. Our job as the general contractor is to take the constant chaos and charter a path for everyone to follow. Below are the eight principles The Clippers are focused on this season followed by a description of how each...

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The Contractor-Subcontractor Relationship

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

In the past decade, the construction industry has experienced an exodus of sorts in the construction workforce. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2005 and 2015 the construction industry as a whole lost nearly 16% of its workforce. This decrease in manpower accompanied by a large increase in construction (especially in multifamily and senior housing construction), we have experienced an increase in subcontractor workload and inevitably a decrease in subcontractor availability. Subcontractors are forced to either decline work or raise costs to help manage their workload, leaving general contractors and construction managers scratching their heads. Is there a reliable solution to this ever-volatile supply and demand issue? Yes- one word- relationships. We have found repeated success in forming long-standing business relationships with subcontractors.  As we have experienced, designers often time design in a vacuum, without understanding the cost impact of their designs; however, our subcontractors do. The Douglas Company...

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