General contractor

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A general contractor is an organization or individual that contracts with another organization or individual (the owner) for the construction of a building, road or other facility. A general contractor is defined as such if it is the signatory as the builder of the prime construction contract for the project. A general contractor is responsible for the means and methods to be used in the construction of the project in accordance with the contract documents. Said contract documents usually include the contract agreement including budget, the general and special conditions and the plans and specification of the project that are prepared by a design professional. A general contractor usually is responsible for the supplying of all material, labor equipment (engineering vehicles and tools) and services necessary for the construction of the project. To do this it is common for the general contractor to subcontract part of the work to other persons and companies that specialize in these types of work. These are called subcontractors.

General contractors conducting work for government agencies are typically referred to as prime contractors. The responsibilities of a prime contractors working under a contract are essentially identical to those outlined above. In many cases, prime contractors will delegate portions of the contract work to subcontractors.

[edit] As a service

The to the business and private sectors. Usually, when an entity wishes to have a building constructed, they are first put in touch with a general contractor. In many cases, the entity commissioning the construction never deals directly with the subcontractors.

[edit] As an owner

Occasionally the entity commissioning the construction of the building chooses to act as the general contractor. In such cases, they work directly with the subcontractors and take care of the administration and organization of the various subcontractors.

Under these conditions the owner takes on all liability for proper sequencing of the work, and dealing with the realities of construction. More times than not, the risks far outweigh the potential reward of saving the general contractor's fee should all things go perfectly.

Owners considering this approach should keep in mind that general contractors make a living working with known subcontractors. An established General Contractor will have established relationships that will outlast one construction project, and the subcontractors will acknowledge this with their cooperation. Owners seldom have this advantage, and most subcontractors will recognize the risk of working with a one time client with higher bids.

[edit] General contractor example

A real estate developer would select a plot of land, hire an architect to design the building and specify the building systems and then hire a general contractor to actually build the buildings. The developer, architect and general contractor work closely together to meet deadlines and budget. The general contractor then works with subcontractors to ensure quality standards in addition to timeline and budget.