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Yes, there are quite a few construction contractors who require they be paid an amount before they begin work. They then either don't even show up, do an awful,
by adt2bt 13y ago
Yes, there are quite a few construction contractors who require they be paid an amount before they begin work. They then either don't even show up, do an awful, intentionally half-finished job, or simply quit to never be heard from again. While anecdotal evidence, my father has been doing construction contracting for the last 17 years and runs into these types of people regularly. He often comes in and finishes the jobs that these people ran from. Usually, he just tears it apart and re-starts.
- entendre 13y agoThere are (in the software world) far more instances of bosses who hire you to build a brick wall without the money to do so and put you on net 60 hoping they'll somehow come up with the money by the end. The more likely scenario in software is you get to day 45 with 90% of the wall built and the client asks you to hand over your key to the job site and stops taking your calls. There's where most of the "half built walls" in my industry come.
- enjo 13y agoI own a company that works with a number of contractors. I can confirm: this is a huge deal. The fly-by-night subcontractor is a thing. In construction there is nothing more valuable than a network of dependable skilled tradesman. General contractors will pay for good help. I always thought "if this software thing doesn't work out, I'm gonna go be an electrician". I've now met lots of them making way more money than I am (and I'm well paid). Most of them basically have two or three customers, all of which are GC's. They've shown that they are: - responsible (show up on time and in the right place) - dependable (they get the work done on time and on budget) - knowledgeable (they keep up to date with changes to code) - respectful (they keep the job-site clean and work well with other subs) In short, they're professionals in every sense of the word. In exchange they charge 3x what other tradesman charge. People are happy to pay it.
- pacaro 13y agoThis. A friend of mine is an electrician. He did his apprenticeship with a guy who worked a lot with high end residential clients (i.e. stately homes — this was in England). He says the one of the most important things that he learned was to clean up after himself — which talks to your respectful point. It made him stand out amongst his peers, and is one of the factors that goes a long way towards repeat business and referrals.
- gbhn 13y agoI just finished paying 2x market for an electrician who had the following invaluable skill: 1. Physically appearing at job site.
- singingfish 13y ago> In construction there is nothing more valuable than a network of dependable skilled tradesman. General contractors will pay for good help. Being a software developer who just completed a substantial project (200 metres squared house on a difficult site) this was the most powerful thing I learned on the job. And now I apply it to my own code related problems. Who's in my crew? Where can I get new good crew? How do I manage dealing with cognitive overload by delegating back to other team members etc. I find the similarities/differences between software and construction crews fascinating.
- VexXtreme 13y agoI can attest to this. It's ridiculous how unreliable most contractors and tradesmen are. Our house is about 25 years old so we often need to have a bit of work done to fix things and we are often looking for various contractors and I honestly can say that about half of them never show up after agreeing to do the job. Some of them won't even answer their phone and others will try to reschedule indefinitely and still never show up. I totally wouldn't have a problem paying top dollar for someone who is reliable and respectful of my time.