Trade partners are one of the most critical aspects of our projects.  You probably know them as ‘subs’ or ‘vendors’, but to us they’re partners.  We work side-by-side to deliver the highest level product possible.  

Gone are the days of general contractors self-performing all the trade work.  Building has become too sophisticated, product options are limitless, and code books feel like a dizzying series of encyclopedias (at least those are in alphabetical order).  Proficiency in the trades has come down to specializing, finding a niche and being the best at it.

Construction trades are a demanding profession; running a business, performing the work, providing bids, keeping up with evolving rules and regulations to name a few.  Our trade partners have a lot on their plate.

In order to be a great builder we must work and maintain great relationships with our trade partners.  We find that the best way to nourish these relationships is by taking what we can off their plate, simplifying things, and making their jobs easier.  

A few ways we like to do that:

• Clear scopes of work – Asking our trade partners to interpret plans, specs, and scopes of work isn’t fair, interpretations may differ, results become convoluted.  Clarity not only provides for accurate pricing but helps improve relationships with clients. When scopes are clear our trade partners can advise of alternative options or better construction methods.
• Reliable communication – Issues arise throughout construction projects, it’s the nature of the beast.  When our trade partners come looking for answers we want to be quick to respond, slow responses lead to poorly executed details, inefficiencies and delays.  We strive to keep our partners aware of all things relevant from schedule changes to scopes of work as soon as they become aware to us.
• Proper scheduling – When our trades step foot onto the jobsite they expect the space to be ready for them. If work is out of order, not ready, or trades are stacked nobody wins.  Proper scheduling simplifies the job, no scrambling at the last minute to find work for  crews.  When they expect our jobs will be ready they look forward to coming to our job sites.
• Clean Environment – Nothing drives us crazy like a dirty job site.  Material all over the place, empty coke cans and fast food bags thrown on the floor.  Nobody likes walking onto a dirty, unorganized job site.  We hold our trades to these standards, an organized site with trash where it belongs and materials neatly stacked allows everyone to move about and complete their work efficiently.
• Prompt Payment – Trades shouldn’t be expected to complete work and then carry job costs for weeks on end.  We feel our trade partners should be paid promptly for properly completed work allowing them to keep their “partners” (vendors, employees) happy.

Providing a work environment that allows our partners to work efficiently and succeed develops a snowball effect for others down the line.  We believe if we can do all this and more, we can become a favorite amongst our partners.   Let us know what you think of these, do you agree? Or are there other areas we should focus our efforts on? And if you’re a trade partner who wants to work with a company who puts you first, reach out, let’s talk, but the expectations are high.