CA. #835032
(925) 595-5049
A CONVERSATION TO HAVE WITH YOUR GENERAL CONTRACTOR
There will come a time where you will feel that the planning for your project has taken it's course and that it is now time to contact a few general contractors to get some bids on the work to be performed. This has come from many hours of your diligence and duty and should result in your project running much more smoothly, and ultimately should stay within budget as most of the details have been specified. Now that you have been through the remodels section of this webite you will be in a much better position to have a frank, and to the point, conversation upon meeting a general contractor for the first time. After going over the plans with the general contractor you will want to let him know what your expectations will be and this conversation should go something like this.
"I have been enlightened as to where much of the labor cost comes from in the remodeling of residential homes. That is to say that I am aware there is a tremendous amount of waste in the industry, and this waste many times comes from the plans being drawn up without a lot of attention to details. I understand this deficiency in details and specifications leads to an abundance of unnecessary questions, each of which usually is routed from a subcontractor through the general contractor to the home owner, and then back to the subcontractor via the general contractor. This can really add up time wise, and time is money. I understand many contractors, and subcontractors, prepare a 'unit cost' bid where a unit is a switch, a receptacle, a toilet, linear foot of molding, a square foot of tile, and so on. This unit cost is higher than it needs to be in order to cover the inevitable lost time incurred during the job when unnecessary time consuming questions create down time in the production on the job. I understand that many commercial building projects have plans that are thought out much more thoroughly than most residential plans and this results in a much more enjoyable, less costly experience.
I have gone to great lengths to specify as many details as I know how to in an effort to take out of this project the usuall inefficiency seen on most residential remodeling projects. That is to say that with most of the details having already been decided on, you-the general contractor- will not be standing around playing 'jobsite trivia relayer', and consequently will have much more time to 'strap the old tool bags on' and get more work done. I am looking to hire a general contractor who stays on the job and works along side his crew. It is my personal, and fundemental belief that with less work, should come less cost. So, knowing this, your bid should reflect the fact that you will have less work on this project that you do on other typical jobs."
