What is a Self-Performing General Contractor?
Are you looking for a construction contractor, but don’t know where to start? First, figure out your budgets, location, specialty, and the size of the team required to complete the job(s). Most importantly, choose someone reliable who is known to fulfill their promises and meet deadlines: doing what they say they will do, when they say they will do it.
Maybe you’ve heard the term “self-performing contractor” thrown around and you’re wondering Should I focus on finding one in that category?
So, what is a self-performing general contractor?
A self-performing general contractor fulfills its services using their own team members rather than outsourcing to other teams. Self-performance allows flexibility that provides opportunities to meet the needs of customers. Not all contractors self-perform their services. Many general contractors focus on construction management, which means they oversee a variety of sub-contractors for the majority of their jobs.
Should you try to find a self-performing general contractor for your project? In this blog, we’ll outline the factors you should consider.
Benefits of Hiring a Self-Performing Contractor
The main benefit of hiring a self-performing contractor is that they have better control over cost, schedule, and finished product.This benefit eliminates conflicting schedules and pricing between multiple parties.
Ultimately, self-performance is most beneficial to clients; wherein, it affords numerous possibilities for the contractor to exceed clients’ expectations. The contractor does not need to worry about managing several external contractors and can stick closely to their internal processes and standards.
Better control of cost
Whenever a contractor needs to bring in external support, a “subcontracting” fee is associated with the project. In addition, there is a potential risk of surprise costs; as it is harder for subcontractors to anticipate and prevent unexpected scope. When contractors self-perform their services, staying within the budget is easier because there are far fewer external expenses.
Better control of schedule
When you have one team on board, everyone is accustomed to the same timeline. They work closely with each other to ensure each project phase stays on schedule. However, the more external parties you bring in, the more likely there will be hiccups that can delay work.
Better control of the finished product
A self-performing contractor has internal quality control standards that every team member must meet. When work is outsourced, steps are more likely to be missed. This does not mean that subcontractors do poor work; it’s just that every team has its own set of systems for getting a job done.
When Subcontractors Come into Play
Does that mean a “self-performing contractor” never works with subcontractors? Not necessarily.
Unless your general contractor is a very large company with specialists in every type of construction service, they’ll probably still need to hire subcontractors from time to time.
At Nichols Contracting, we self-perform the vast majority of each construction project and bring in specialty subcontractors for a few areas, such as architectural design. By being selective in the subcontractors we work with, we can still maintain our quality, timing, and budget management standards.
We believe it’s usually not in the client’s best interest to subcontract the majority of a project to multiple parties. We prefer the flexibility, accountability, and satisfaction of doing it ourselves, in collaboration with a small selection of specialists. This approach allows us to be agile and more responsive to our customers’ needs.
What Services Does a Self-Performing General Contractor Provide?
A self-performing general contractor can provide any combination of construction services. This may include:
- Selective demolition
- Concrete and masonry
- Metal fabrication and erection
- Carpentry
- Pipefitting/plumbing
- Welding
- Electrical
The combination of services may vary from contractor to contractor. Be sure to ask your contractor about which elements of the project they handle directly and where they bring in external providers. If they bring in external providers, ask them about their processes for maintaining control of the project.
Reach Out to Discuss Your Self-Performed Project
If you’re looking for an experienced self-performing contractor in the Mid-Atlantic or Southeastern USA, we can help. Our team has been building excellence since 1991, and we’d love to do the same for you. Contact us to talk about your next project!