At the end of the day, when one party is paying for a service, the party providing that service is in the 'service' business. That applies to general contractors as much as it does to someone waiting tables at a restaurant. Using this perspective to vet the team you build for a development project can considerably impact the job's success. This is particularly powerful when you're interviewing GCs in Cape Coral, Fl.
There are some specific things that I look for when selecting a GC:
• Financially stability. Are they 'bondable' and willing to share their financials?
• A clear team structure. Who is doing what, and what are their qualifications?
• Good field supervision. There is nothing like a good super with existing
relationships with local trades.
• A project executive who knows all the details. Ask them how involved they typically get.
Aside from understanding how they run their day-to-day, I also pay close attention to the quality of the service they provide by looking at:
• How they communicate. Are they professional, clear, and concise?
• How prompt they are in responding. Do they return your calls and emails within a
reasonable timeframe?
• How knowledgeable they are on local trades. Have they worked with the local
subs before?
• How closely they listen to and follow direction.
Using these principles as a checklist can help take the emotion out of the selection process. Tracking response times is a great way to compare teams apples to apples. Often, a charismatic GC will get the project because they were able to build social rapport with the project owner, much to their dismay months later when it turns out that what seemed like a somewhat slow response time was indicative of their work ethic all along.
Once on a project, the marks of a good GC are:
• Responsive leadership. Are you able to escalate and resolve an issue promptly?
• Good subcontract management. Do they know what their subcontracts say, and are they executed per the prime agreement?
• Strong accounting. Are their requests for payment issued periodically, timely, and mostly error-free?
• Lighting fast response to site challenges. When unable to foresee, do they solve problems quicker than reasonably promptly?
• Up-to-date scheduling and coordination. Are two-week lookaheads consistently issued and reviewed? Do they bring up questions to the design team promptly? Is their procurement in tune with the field schedule?
HomeQwest Real Estate, Building & Development Companies
4020 Del Prado Blvd S. Unit B3 Cape Coral, FL 33904
homeqwestrealty@gmail.com | O. (239)770-5429 | www.homeqwest.com