At DESCCO Design and Construction, we frequently get asked questions surrounding our industry-leading general contractor services across southeastern Pennsylvania. To shine more light on general contracting and what it entails, let’s take a closer look into our own DESCCO general contracting practices and values. These include what you should expect from the experienced professionals who make our company prominent and driven to pursue the highest standards for our clients.
What Does A General Contractor Do?
Essentially, general contractors often oversee and are responsible for executing renovations, planning remodels, and overseeing building projects for commercial enterprises and businesses. A general contractor may act as a project’s construction manager, or the manager of all vendors and included subcontractors, or even the central communicator to every person involved over the course of a building project.
Contractors are almost always licensed by their state and must ensure that their work meets code requirements. As requested by clients, they’re responsible for providing all the required project materials, tools, and labor for completion of a construction project.
Additionally, general contractors may hire highly-specialized subcontractors (like plumbers, carpenters, floorers, and roofers) to guarantee that a project is finished as precisely as planned. When employing subcontractors, a general contractor is trying to ensure that the quality of a project’s overall work is as good as it can possibly be.
Top 6 Skills To Expect From Your General Contractor
Effective People Management
Any large-scale construction project involves a lot of different professionals and tradesmen who can only do their best work together if everyone knows what’s going on. A general contractor’s ability to organize different teams is essential to their role and one of their most sought-after skills. Their knack for controlled oversight also helps maintain schedules and keep budgets from drifting off target.
Great Communication
A contractor is responsible for more than just explaining job details to a customer, client, or employee. Effective listening is at least as important in order to ensure all parties can thoroughly understand available project options and manage their expectations. Open, clear, and honest communication can resolve or prevent problems and make it easier to deal with issues that do arise.
Practiced Network Development
Putting together the best teams for a job largely depends on creating and maintaining solid relationships across a given project’s industry. A practiced contractor utilizes their previous successes with reliable vendors and subcontractors to make certain they can gain access to quality materials, fair prices, and dependable workmanship.
Applicable Software Expertise
Modern commercial construction projects usually start with digital drawing boards. Advanced software handles a wide range of project needs, including rendering, modeling, and tracking on-site progress and development milestones. Most contractors who recognize the value of computer technology in their industry make frequent use of it, usually on a daily basis. The application of emerging software helps better estimate efficiency and control for project costs.
Problem Solving Adeptness
Part of any success toward industrial and commercial building projects is based on efficiently addressing and solving problems as they come. An experienced general contractor knows that every project requires daily problem solving skills that protect a client’s best interests with well-conceived and tested action plans. A professional approach to problem-solving also makes sure that inevitable and even unexpected issues don’t take up more time, quality work, or money than needed.
Navigating Public And Industry Requirements
Everything from securing building permits to successfully completing inspections fall under what a commercial contractor has to know in order to satisfy local, state and federal agency standards. Plans for on-site safety, ADA compliance, and uniform construction procedures are just a few examples of crucial regulations that require the experience of an expert.
Whether you’re renovating a restaurant or constructing a manufacturing site, hiring a general contractor is one of the most important decisions you can make. We believe that the more you know, the better prepared you are to hire with confidence. At DESCCO, our general contractors have years of experience in more-than-satisfactory construction projects, and we will always go the extra mile to make sure that your project is finished as safely and efficiently as possible while meeting the specific standards and needs of your business.
Our experts have decades of project management expertise and understand the industry standards. Contact us online today for more details about how we can help you accomplish the design and construction projects you most need.