When embarking on a home project, many clients realize that they need a contractor. However, we’ve found varied views on how much clients perceive a contractor to be worth. So, we’re setting out to define the value of our services. How exactly does a client benefit from hiring a general contractor and what roles do we play on a project?
This topic is interesting to us because some people view contractors as having limited or singular value on a project, especially in a city like Pittsburgh where the range of contractors is vast and the reputation of contractors can be less than desirable. We’ve found that to some, contractors are almost seen as a necessary evil where contractors are simply a presence on site that work to complete a project for a client, and they are hired because the client lacks interest, time, or expertise to do it themselves. Our issue with this definition is that we (and other builders we’d consider to be competitors) will always look expensive if we are viewed through this lens. It’s crucial for any builder to understand their worth and make sure that they align themselves with clients who agree on this shared view of value.
Experience
This is probably the most obvious benefit to hiring a professional builder or remodeler. Unless a client spends 40+ hours every week in construction, there is no comparison to using a company whose existence is related to home building or remodeling. However, there are different angles of experience that a contractor brings, and many of them are overlooked.
By completing many projects every year, we carry those experiences with us from one project to the next. So, every time we’re hired, our clients get the benefit of past projects we’ve already completed. This helps us in recommending products to stay away from, upgrades that are actually worth it, and value engineering ideas that we’ve previously implemented successfully. For a lot of the homeowners we work with, this is the first time they’ve ever embarked on a project of this scale. With so many decisions needing to be made and with so much money at stake, having a builder as a trusted resource is invaluable.
Experience may also lead us to be more familiar with the permitting process and inspectors in a certain neighborhood. Because we are constantly applying for permits and working with the township on building inspections, stormwater management, and structural details, a contractor is better suited than a client is to anticipate permitting or zoning issues and not cause any potential delays on the project. This helps to streamline the process before the project even begins.
Experience enables us to be the go-to source for everything a client may need. Besides the convenience of having a single point of contact, we are able to intelligently navigate questions or concerns related to permitting, product performance, mechanical efficiency, design implementation, and the longevity of the design.
Knowledge
Contractors (good ones at least) are constantly increasing their knowledge base. We are up-to-date on the latest product technology, partly because we invest in relationships with our suppliers and product reps, who often hold training sessions or product demonstrations on our job sites. We attend factory tours, trade shows, and local events to gain familiarity with new products to understand their benefits and how they may be implemented. We have a large sample library at our shop space where many manufacturers send us product samples and literature to increase our working knowledge of their product offering and notify us of any product releases.
We are familiar with building code because we have to know it on all of our projects and we frequently meet with inspectors to verify our work in place. And by communicating daily with architects and engineers, we’ve also developed a sophisticated working knowledge of building efficiency and building structure. This knowledge base can help to save time (and money) in the pricing, permitting, and building stages.
Before we start a project (or even finish pricing it for that matter), it’s common practice for us to print out the full drawing set and thoroughly analyze it amongst our team and with our suppliers and subcontractors. Not only do we study the drawings so that we can be experts on what we are about to build, but we also seek out opportunities to be more efficient and identify areas of concern relating to durability. We lean on our suppliers and subcontractors to do the same.
By working with a professional home builder, our clients benefit from having multiple sets of eyes review their architectural drawings. In the past, this has led us to recommend enhanced waterproofing techniques, discuss alternative framing plans, confirm the best insulation approach, and consider the most appropriate type of foundation strategy. In our experience, these are typically not things that clients would be able to identify themselves. To many clients, the architectural drawing set looks like a foreign language. It’s our job to interpret it, identify any issues or areas of concern, and then execute the build at a high level.
Management
Many clients don’t realize how much time and energy it takes to manage a construction project from start to finish. Remodeling seems fun at the onset, where clients exclusively have the end product in mind and envision how they are going to use their new space. However, as many builders will tell you, the construction process can be long, complicated, and unexpected.
For a singular job, our duties might entail selecting subcontractors for the project (based on location, expertise, and availability), scheduling appropriate subcontractors to work on the job site (while keeping in mind the overall schedule and being careful not to overlap work), ordering materials (while being mindful of materials that could be 12+ weeks out), scheduling deliveries to site (while making sure there is adequate room to store material and that someone is available to take the delivery), monitoring subcontractor work for accuracy, efficiency, and completeness according to the drawings, documenting all site conditions, maintaining an overall project schedule (and subsequently updating it to reflect changing site conditions), monitoring the budget and documenting any potential change orders, and coordinating with the design team for finish selection and design implementation. Put frankly, there is a staggering amount of detail that goes into every project.
Because we are so familiar with the building process and constantly absorbed in these details, a contractor isn’t usually thrown off by hiccups on site. Good contractors are used to pivoting frequently to ensure that the overall project stays on track. This leads to a faster project overall because we have learned to anticipate these issues and stay ahead of them, or at least deal with them in an efficient manner when unexpected issues arise.
The amount of communication and coordination needed to pull a job off can be exhausting. On average, we’d estimate that a client is realistically exposed to only about 15% of all communication that is related to their project. One of our jobs is to effectively manage that communication channel and decide when it’s necessary and appropriate to involve the client. There are consistently issues on site that need to be worked through. From weather delays to product backorders to scheduling difficulties to human error, it’s impossible to have a perfect job. One of the main benefits to hiring a contractor is that the client is shielded from the majority of these inevitable occurrences.
Access
This is a benefit that many homeowners will overlook. Have you ever called a contractor and didn’t get a call back? This is why. For all of our subcontractors, we have spent years building trusting relationships. They know the quality of work that we do and the standards that we have on our job sites, they understand how they will get paid, they appreciate our communication and attention to detail, and we use them often enough that we are a main supporter of their business. If a contractor for a particular trade doesn’t return your call, it’s usually because they have no context for who you are, what you are like to work with, and whether or not it would be a good project.
It’s a risk for a subcontractor to work with someone they haven’t worked with before. Everyone wants to work in a stress-free environment, be treated well, get paid on time, and get to work on projects that they can be proud of. Our extended team of roofers, electricians, plumbers, tile installers, etc. prefer to work with us as a known entity. By hiring a professional builder, a client receives access to this network of subcontractors that they would not receive otherwise.
Not only does a client benefit from accessing a subcontractor database in general, but a client benefits from getting to work with vetted subcontractors. Every contractor will tell you that they had to go through a couple of subcontractors to find their ideal team. As builders, we’ve spent a lot of time assessing who we want to work alongside. We’ve cut out any subcontractors that didn’t perform up to our standards and our clients get the immediate benefit of only being introduced to reliable, trustworthy, and high-performing individuals.
Relationships
This ties in with access and management, but through working with a handful of architects, designers, subcontractors, and suppliers, we naturally have developed long-lasting relationships over time. A client benefits from these established relationships in many ways.
First, your builder has a built-in network of support from product reps, salespeople, and consultants that are available to assist them on a project. Because we have strong relationships with our suppliers and do significant business with them every year, they are quick to offer their help on warranty claims, product installations, or even new product introductions that we can help to drive. A client wouldn’t have the same purchasing power or loyalty from a supplier that we have been able to develop over several years.
Every client wants their job to go smoothly. And a bad relationship between the builder and design professional is a quick way to ensure that it never does. By working with a variety of designers and architects, we’ve not only developed relationships with design professionals that make them an easy choice for referrals, but we’ve also learned how to work with very different groups of people on projects that are challenging and complex. The client benefits from these relationships because we naturally have a built-in way to problem solve and communicate with the various players on every team. With so many project details to keep track of, the communication and relationship between builder, designer, and architect cannot be overstated.
It’s our job to advocate for our client and make sure that they receive a quality product that is meant to last. Professional builders are uniquely poised to have the resources necessary to carry this out, mostly from the cumulation of an ever-increasing knowledge base, an investment in relationships, and a commitment to project and client management that leads to a wealth of experience.
In many other professional industries, the merit of those professionals is never questioned. In construction, oftentimes the advantages of general contractors are debated or misjudged. Knowing that contractors are sometimes valued on a limited perception of their expertise where cost is the only thing that sets them apart, we’d challenge any client or fellow builder to rethink a contractor’s worth and the true benefit of their services.
