When Your Trade Is The Last Phase..

Westcoast_RD

Hey. So my husband has a contracting business, ((Stucco)) and works on custom homes. Been in the business for 20 years. Its a constant problem with him having to take the rap for problems others have caused or left behind...a couple of examples would be...if windows were installed incorrectly or plumbing,wiring, etc. issuses come up, they bust out his freshly done stucco work to correct the problem and then...here's the problem...they expect him to repair/patch up for free. He has done the work to keep good relatioons but its a financial hit having to send guys or leave a job to go back and fix the repair (not to mention they are custom colors he has to go order more color for) or if he insists they pay him for additional work or sign an additional work order, they hold on to his last draw and wont pay. So im wondering if others come into this problem too and/or is there something I can add in his proposals/contracts to try and prevent this? **Be nice, Im new here**

Bodger

It's a defined scope of work issue. If this is something that consistently comes up to bite you, make sure it's written into your contracts that any damage done to stucco after your work is completed is a change order and was not included in your original price quote.

Otherwise, where would it end? If an entire window had to be removed and replaced, and they called you back to repair the stucco, why should you do that for free when it was not included in the scope of work as bid.

A simple line of language in your contracts that applies to this situation will make it clear that you don't work for free at someone else's convenience.

As GC, I encounter this frequently and I don't ever expect it to be done for free. I always assume it will be a change order and a fair market price for the extras.
As a result of that approach, the contractor I use for my stucco work wil often times send a man back to the job to do a few repair details and he won't charge me for it.
Hope this helps somewhat. maybe an actual stucco contractor will weigh in with a contract wording for you.

Westcoast_RD

You're right...Im thinking I need to get much wordier in the contracts/proposals because it is happening way too often. This stick-it-to-the-last-man-on-the-job to avoid having to chase down all others involved is getting old. I appreciate your advice, thanks =]

Bodger

I find myself in a similar situation as a GC. Inevitably, a crew member from one sub or the other will cause damage and not be man enough to come and tell me about it. It's on my watch, so it falls to me to make it right. Not an easy thing to try to cover in a contract.

Schmidt & Co

I use PDCA standards in my contracts. Standard P1-04 defines touch-ups as deficiencies in the painting contractors work only. "Latent Damage" and Damage caused by others" shall be repaired upon receiving a change order from the contracting entity.

The way I look at it, if I chip the bathtub, will the plumber fix it?

CrpntrFrk

That is custom building for you! Yes you should not work for free but in custom home building it should be somewhat expected. Maybe you should put in the bid that there are a certain amount of hours free after the the main job is done. After those hours are up it will be x amount per hour.

I do have to say that with any sub we hire it is made known that if they see something not right they need to tell us so we can make it right. There have been times in the past when certain things have been over looked by 2, 3, 4 subs and in the end it looks like crap because no one spoke up. Yes I know it is up to the GC to make sure everything is right all the time but you don't notice somethings till it is covered up. Most of the time the sub is a bit more intimate with certain parts of the project.

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Stone Mountain

When doing a job for a builder, I am usually the last-man-in.
After the house is up, the landscaping done, the driveway paved, and the cleanup bin gone, the builder suddenly remembers he needs a fence or a deck. Or both. He then calls around to see who can do it fastest, and if you do get the job, he usually takes out his frustrations for the rest of the job on you. Or, by then he's run out of money, so you have to wait, or he's extremely picky, or the broken tile in the bathroom is a result of the vibrations caused by your airgun.

Not much you can do about it.

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Meetre

I've heard the term "back-charge" used for this. If someone does something that causes more work for you than the original scope, you back-charge the builder for it, let him get the money from the party that caused the back-charge. when ever I do work for other contractors, they will know going into it that I will charge them for ANYTHING outside the scope of work in the bid. It's their problem getting from the other subs. If you let them know, by word of mouth and in the contract, what they can expect, shouldn't ever give you any troubles.

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wellbuilthome

Well , I don't expect any one to take a hit for me. If there is a few holes in the stucco plaster or sheet rock for that matter ill fix it my self most of the time . If i cant fix it or don't have time I expect the guys to come back and throw me a bone . I spend a lot of time on the jobs HELPING weather the guys want the help or not and don't back charge them when things go in the crapper . If its a change its a different story. John

Wolfgang

I have a "system" that works well for me; I back charge the damage responsible trades at THEIR hourly labor rate. Heard a few choice words and saw a few raised eyebrows but I stayed firm. Now the GC"s I do work with let the other trades know. Needless to say it cut down on alot of carelessness. I've always helped the GC as much as I can, which is why I have good relationships with them.