How Does A Commercial General Contractor Fit Into A Project?
Constructing or remodeling a building for a business can be an exciting time. You will likely end up working with a commercial general contractor on this sort of project. Consequently, you should have a good idea of where a GC fits into a commercial effort. Let's explore what a commercial contractor does for their clients.
Consolidation
Placing all the terms of a contract under a deal with a single services provider is one of the most basic benefits of hiring a GC. The commercial general contractor will take responsibility for acquiring the materials, equipment, and labor for the job.
Likewise, many contracts put a single price on the job. If you're worried about controlling costs, consolidating everything under a single contract will provide assurance the price won't go up. The commercial contractor has an incentive to bring the job in on budget because failing to do so puts their profit margin at risk.
Protection
Commercial contracting work is subject to local, state, and federal laws governing licensing, bonding, and insuring projects. This assures customers the folks handling their projects will be qualified professionals. Likewise, if anything happens on the job site, they can rest assured the contractor will have appropriate liability coverage.
Coordination
A typical project involves more than you and the contractor. You may want to bring in architects, engineers, and interior designers. Also, many commercial operations have to comply with corporate or brand standards. A commercial contractor has to synthesize these inputs into plans and actions. To that end, they have to communicate well with all stakeholders.
Similarly, the GC will direct the necessary people to handle the construction or renovation work in question. They will subcontract jobs to appropriate professionals. Also, they will schedule the subcontractors in a way that minimizes potential conflicts and keeps the project moving. For example, a GC has to ensure the electrical subcontractors will complete their work before the sheetrock contractors start covering walls.
Quality Control
As the project unfolds, the commercial general contractor is responsible for quality control. They need to examine the work of their employees and subcontractors. If there are problems with the results, the GC also has to remedy them. When the project is done, the commercial GC will walk through the site and verify everything was completed to the customer's specifications and remedy issues as necessary.
Reports
If local regulations require reports for projects, the contractor must either fill them out or find someone qualified to do so. This provides a document trail in case there are questions about the building.
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