r/GeneralContractor

I’m a sommelier by trade, I’ve spent the last 20 years working in hospitality, running restaurants etc.

Ironically there’s quite a lot of “handyman” work a restaurant GM learns, just by being thrown into the shit and having to figure out how to fix things because owners are too cheap to pay for someone to do it.

That said, my grandfather was an architect, my uncles are electrical and structural engineers, and I grew up in houses being built and sold. (Finish a build, move in while you start the next one, stay in that house until the next one is livable and then move again kinda thing.)

Long story short, I’ve been taking some courses on plumbing, electricity, flooring, tiling, drywall and I’ve really fallen in love with a project based work life.

So I’m curious, aside from doing some schooling at a trade college, is the first step into this industry just “become an apprentice?”

Or would you advise a girl to start somewhere else. Thanks.

I’m a new GC starting out. Focusing on bathroom/kitchen remodels to get started but would like to eventually get into building custom houses. My question is how did you guys get the ball rolling? I’ve been advertising on Google ads and meta ads with little success, I only have 10 reviews on Google and It’s hard when you don’t have a ton of content from previous jobs to post like my competitors. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

This is our first time flipping a house, and I’m not sure if what we’re experiencing is normal or if we’re just dealing with a bad contractor/project manager.

When we signed the contract, we thought the general contractor (GC) would also be the project manager. After signing, he basically handed the project over to someone else, which wasn’t explained in the contract. We still have to pay the PM a fee, and he pays the GC and the subcontractors from the total remodeling budget. (So double payment from us ti to the PM and I don’t know how much is making the GC from the remodeling total cost).

The project manager has been terrible at communicating. He often ignores our texts, and when we ask for invoices or receipts showing where the money is going, he says he’ll send them but never does. The project has been delayed and he’s asked us for more money, which we’ve paid.

We only ask for a few minutes every couple of weeks for a progress update, and even that is difficult to schedule because he’s so flaky. He also promised things like drawings and design plans, but never follows through. It often feels like he’s making design decisions on his own instead of discussing them with us.

When we visit the house, people are working and progress is being made but however he likes, he ask us questions sometimes but when we say our opinions immediately he said no and he does what he wants at the end of the day, sometimes I wonder why would you ask us if we want this design when at the end you don’t give us the freedom to choose is ether his way or he said we have to pay him more , so it’s not like nothing is happening. But the lack of communication and transparency is really frustrating.

The worst part is that we met him through a group of friends. We actually became friends before hiring him, and now I just can’t wait for the project to be over.
Is this normal in the remodeling/flipping world, or are these major red flags? I’d really appreciate hearing from people with more experience.

As a GC, is this something that you would allow? Obviously helping on licensed projects like plumbing and electrical would not be permissible due to licensing, but if I was offering to pay the normal rate but just wanted to help wherever possible… with demolition or tiling or whatever, just to learn, would this be something that many contractors would be open to?

I've been the GC on a number of builds for myself in Canada, but am considering offering to others. Wondering how you are handling deposits and payments? Amounts (%), timing, etc... I realized different people use different approachs to this but I'm curious on hearing any input.

Warning: this might be a wildly frustrating confusing read, I apologize in advance.

Background: I worked as a redseal journeyman plumber for a company for 15 years. I was paid hourly at $42/hr, received 3 weeks vacation, and basic minimum health benefits.

I recently left my job to pursue my own business. I mostly flat rate quote all my work, however I work it out so I earn $125/hour minimum (on smaller jobs that cost me travel time I make it $150/hour)

I’ve worked out most of my monthly expenses which include
Fuel: $400
Vehicle payment: $500
Vehicle insurance: $117.24
Liability insurance: $215.91
Disability insurance: $150-$200 (I am currently deciding between premiums)
Bonding fee: $9.72
Bank fee: $6
Invoicing software: $22.40

Total: $1422

Disclaimer: There’s a few more I haven’t added for example I haven’t switched my personal family plan phone into a business plan yet, and I haven’t calculated things like vehicle maintenance, cpp, accountant fees, life insurance (haven’t picked a plan yet)

My hourly overhead per month works out roughly:
(160 hours is based on 8 billable hours per day working subcontracted, 100 hours based on 5 billable hours working just under my own company as I can’t charge travel / supplier time directly to customers)

160 working hours: 1422 / 160 = $9 (round to $10)

100 working hours: 1422 / 100 = $14 (round to $15)

Given these overhead numbers, how do I apply this to a fair hourly wage to my old boss when he wants to subcontract me out for work? I assume it’s customary to charge less than my regular rate as they are providing the work and dealing with billing the customer, however I need to charge enough so it’s not a loss on my end.

I was thinking $70/hr is fair as that’s 42 (my old wage) plus $10 (my overhead providing I’m billing 8 hours a day) then $18 padding to cover the rest of things I’m missing out on like employer benefits vacation, job security, etc.

Can any people who subcontract or tradespeople I. Similar scenarios share how they calculate their rate?

Ps sorry for my crazy math, it’s not my strong suit and I’m trying my best to do the work without asking strangers for complete assistance. Thank you

State is PA. Non paying GC, mechanic lien filed, owner forced prime to provide bond for 2x amount.

Payment bond doesn’t have time frame in document. Would it be the length of mechanics lien(2 years) due to owner requiring it once lien was filed?

“Based on my personal experience, I would not recommend Novcon. I was disappointed with the quality and felt my house project was not given proper attention. Although they appear good on social media, my actual experience was different. I eventually decided to terminate my contract even though I accepted a financial loss because of the stress. I hope others carefully evaluate before deciding.” No to NOVCOn

I have been in the general construction business for around 20 years, I am a licensed electrician by trade and currently building heavy industrial projects. I have used Procore, Accubid, B2W, Buildertrend, Projectsight, Smartbarrel, Ezaktime, and a crazy amount of other software to patch a bunch of things together just to make one finished product. Anyone have any advice, im tired of spreadsheets and constant broken formula issues, currently paying around 25k a year for procore, KPA, and smartbarrel. That doesnt include other things like estimating this is just to get daily reports/time from the field and try and keep track of everything.

Running around 15-20 active subs at any given time. Keeping track

of who's current on COI, workers comp, state licenses, and OSHA

certs has always been a headache.

Currently spreadsheets + whoever remembers to follow up. Nearly

had a sub start a job with expired workers comp last month -

caught it the day before. Pure luck.

What does your system actually look like? Software? Binder?

Admin person who owns it?

Curious what's actually working for people out there.

I’m looking for some general career advice.

I already work in the underground utility/construction industry on the engineering side, but my state requires documented field experience (typically as a foreman or in a supervisory field role) before I can qualify for the contractor license.

The problem is that it’s difficult to get that experience without leaving a stable engineering job. I’m not looking to fake or shortcut anything -I want to earn the experience the right way.

For those who have been in this situation:

• How did you transition from engineering or office work into field experience?
• Are there companies willing to let someone work weekends, part-time, or in a hybrid role to gain qualifying experience?
• Would small utility contractors be more open to this than larger companies?
• Any advice on networking or finding opportunities that aren’t publicly advertised?

I’d appreciate hearing from anyone who’s gone through this or who hires people in the underground utility industry. Thanks.

​Hi everyone,

​I’m a 32-year-old GC specializing in 7-Eleven commercial fit-outs and builds. I’ve been in this business since 2018, but I’ve hit a scaling bottleneck and could use some advice from more experienced contractors on how to handle a personnel issue.

​Right now, my pipeline is:

​Project A: A graveyard-shift project starting this week.

​Project B: An ongoing commercial fit-out.

​A few upcoming, more complex "concept store" sites.

​Because the upcoming concept stores require rigid IMC conduit work, I want to reserve my primary, trusted electrical leadman and his crew exclusively for those sites.

To free them up, I hired a new, secondary crew to train and handle the standard fit-out on a different site.

​It was always agreed upon that my primary leadman is my go-to guy for major projects. However, when he found out I brought on a secondary team to handle the overflow, he took it differently. He told me that since I "called a new team," I should just find a new leadman to finish his current project as well.

​I’m caught off guard. I’m trying to scale and handle an influx of work, not replace him.

​To be completely honest, my gut reaction is to get frustrated and let resentment take over, but I want to handle this logically.

​How would you approach this conversation with the leadman?

Is this kind of territorial pushback common when you start scaling and bringing on multiple crews

Thank you!

I am looking to add on to a customer’s house. This will be my first project as a GC. The customer wants to close in their carport but it will be about 3’ off the ground (haven’t measured yet) to meet the existing floor. Where can I find the foundation/footing requirements for something like this?

EDIT: Close in carport for livable space. It will be a living room / office area.

Hey yall,

I just wanted to shoot a general question out there that I hope helps GCs everywhere. What systems have you implemented in your business that actually work?

We all have ideas and things that we want to implement. Then we implement them and it doesn't stick with staff, subs, etc.

What have you done that has stuck and provides value? Details are greatly appreciated.

Im 18 in FL and I’ve working with my dad in his remodeling company since I graduated high school a couple months ago. I’m starting college now for my associates in building construction. I’m planning on getting my OSHA 30, learn procore, blue beam, and excel, as well as get a respectable construction management certification if necessary, all while being 18 working for my dad and in college. If I do all these things and have all that in my resume, could I get hired as a field or project engineer despite only being 18-19?

When contracting to build a custom home, shouldn’t a clear presentation of details of the build be agreed prior to any contract presentatio?

If anyone here works in sales for a small to mid-sized residential GC, could you give me a quick rundown of your responsibilities? I recently switched from flooring/tile sales to GC sales. I’m the company’s first salesperson—the owner handled sales before me. I’m 100% commission, get 10–15 leads a week, and have a company vehicle and gas card.

I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I’m honestly trying to figure out if I’m just not cut out for GC sales or if my role is different than what’s typical. I understand smaller companies require you to wear a lot of hats, but I feel like selling has become a small part of my job, even though it’s the most important.

This caught me off guard…the company only has a home improvement license (under $25k jobs), and I’ve now been tasked with studying for and obtaining the residential contractor license for jobs over $25k. I had no idea this would be part of the job, and it feels like a liability Is that normal?

Quoting is also incredibly inefficient. Every project is different. I usually have to coordinate with subs for pricing, often making 2–3 extra site visits because it’s the best way to communicate the scope. Many times I only get a labor price, so I’m also responsible for researching and pricing all the materials. I get zero to little help with pricing. Also, only 2-3 types of work have standardized pricing. Even somewhat simple estimates can take weeks to get out, which kills momentum. Should there have been training? Or is this normal??

Also I’m responsible for permits and paperwork for permits , samples, design, product selection, renderings, estimates, revisions, ordering materials, and coordinating delivery of materials after the sale. All while trying to sell and what goes along with that process.

How do other companies handle quoting such a wide variety of work? What does your day to day actually look like? I’d really appreciate any feedback. Maybe this is just how the industry works. maybe I’m taking on more than what’s typical. I’m honestly trying to figure that out.

Unsure if this is kind of an obvious answer to the question. But is there a clear difference between Commercial GCs and Residential GCs? Is the flow from Owner -> GC -> to working with subs the same? I’d imagine that commercial jobs have more pressure put on them compared to residential unless it’s multi family home job.