When to fire a contractor?

[noharleyyet]

I work on the dark side, construction management. I characterize much of what we do as "seagull management", ie, fly in and chit on everyone and then leave.

There are a lot of great practical ideas from experienced hands on this thread, which are very relevant.

Here's an example of the same problem described by the OP, but on a larger scale.

$30M dollar school project and the mechanical goes belly-up about 1/2 way through.

Another sub gets sold into the job, finds out there is way more wrong than they thought coming in and eats the project to the tune of over $300K.

On top of that, I get handed the close out phase coz the original PM retires, and then spend the next 1.5 years after substantial completion figuring out how to get startup, Cx and TAB completed.

That's the kind of thing you might incur on a smaller scale if the sub is fired, but you want to avoid at all cost.

Lack of due diligence and a pen will put a sub in the obits. Seagull characterization spot on.

 

[Hem]

Bad seeds everywhere. No need to lump all contractors. I'm gonna get chippy with undue bashing.
If Johnny Homeowner is going to take on the task of GCing their own house then they need to be diligent with who they hire and the terms. It's called homework.
Building a house is a challenge, most people dont understand how much time it truly takes....all of which is based.on timely execution. Typically for houses I line people out a year in advance and hammer away on the phone with reminders as time gets close. Yes, I have a pool of people that I either know or are recommended by other contractors. But still need to be persistent. Guys are running from job to job and have no time or patience with hiccups. Each sub is part of a sequence that needs to be followed for smooth progress. Most people dont understand this concept in advance.

Alot of the sub work I do I dont get paid until the work is completed or in a series of draws based upon completed work. Typically when I GC I request material cost up front and labor upon completion.
Though I just bid a job for a neighbor who is struggling to build his own home because he under estimated the cost and ran out money once it was framed. Yep, this is definately a "pay first" situation.
Bad word goes further than a good word. Some of us do have integrity and could actually function on a handshake.
So , maybe defensive and off track. Always different sides of the story. Sounds like this HVAC guy is a bit of a lowlife. Whatever his motive for behaving this way best to remove him and cut your losses. I would network as far as you can with people you know. Someone must have a contact that is willing to help.
By the way, I dislike scumbag contractors. Unfortunately an element of a larger resource.
Good luck!

 

[tzone]

I am also a construction manager. So far the best advice I've seen given on this thread is to text him a pic $100 bills.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Lol you just described my work days.

 

[LuketheDog]

It today's economic climate, these guys are BUSY. It's your fault if it's December and there's no heat yet. Furthermore you're lucky if it's only a month behind. Work with him, be respectful, and when the job is done, tip. I'd give him several months, and lay off for a bit.

This is absolutely ludicrous, I hope you're joking...are you the subcontractor we're all talking about here or what????

 

[Mallardsx2]

Standard response above from a contractor lol

 

[mtmuley]

Standard response above from a contractor lol

There's been a lot of great info here from some knowledgeable people in the business. There's also been a huge load of crap thrown around by not so knowledgeable people. mtmuley

 

[7 mag]

Is there a Completion date, clearly stated in the contract?

 

[Gellar]

Thank you for all of the responses. Most were very helpful and the advice I was hoping to get and others were just ludicrous. No doubt I am no expert on being my own gc and have learned things I will do differently in the future. Most contractors I have worked with have been punctual and helpful.

The contractor and I had a face to face at the job site this morning. We went over the job description and where each of us thought he was. He will be there again on Monday to continue to work. As of today the furnace is running. The infloor heat is not, but will be ready the first of the week as we mutually agreed on. It was both of our opinions to let the concrete warm slowly instead of pumping hot water through it as it has been below freezing. We also both agreed to have the basement bathroom operational next week. The deadline for project is January 15. That is a couple weeks out but I am figuring on loosing most of a week to Christmas. And I need to have drywall finished and painted, flooring and cabinets in before he can set fixtures.

I’m ready for this project to be done. I went elk hunting in September, but have not done any hunting or fishing since last fall other than that.

 

[fmnjr]

Thank you for all of the responses. Most were very helpful and the advice I was hoping to get and others were just ludicrous. No doubt I am no expert on being my own gc and have learned things I will do differently in the future. Most contractors I have worked with have been punctual and helpful.

The contractor and I had a face to face at the job site this morning. We went over the job description and where each of us thought he was. He will be there again on Monday to continue to work. As of today the furnace is running. The infloor heat is not, but will be ready the first of the week as we mutually agreed on. It was both of our opinions to let the concrete warm slowly instead of pumping hot water through it as it has been below freezing. We also both agreed to have the basement bathroom operational next week. The deadline for project is January 15. That is a couple weeks out but I am figuring on loosing most of a week to Christmas. And I need to have drywall finished and painted, flooring and cabinets in before he can set fixtures.

I’m ready for this project to be done. I went elk hunting in September, but have not done any hunting or fishing since last fall other than that.

Here's another snarky nugget you can tuck away for reference: The first 95% of the project is the easy part.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Sounds like a good trajectory to complete your project.
Hopefully things work out for both of you.

 

[Gellar]

Well we’ve been moved in for a few weeks now and we are still getting stuff unpacked and working on things we can do ourselves. Glad I stayed the coarse with the contractor, even though I won’t be recommending him to anyone. Thanks to all who offered advice. The best part about the whole thing maybe that I only own 5 acres, but I have a 10,000 state forest across the road and the Upper Mississippi wildlife refuge a few miles away.

 

[teej89]

Well we’ve been moved in for a few weeks now and we are still getting stuff unpacked and working on things we can do ourselves. Glad I stayed the coarse with the contractor, even though I won’t be recommending him to anyone. Thanks to all who offered advice. The best part about the whole thing maybe that I only own 5 acres, but I have a 10,000 state forest across the road and the Upper Mississippi wildlife refuge a few miles away.

Glad to hear it all worked out for you!

 

[Gellar]

We are a long ways from complete but we are getting closer every day. We moved out of the camper and into the house in January. This pic looks back to the SW.