Duties of a Building Contractor
In any construction project there are three main parties involved: the owner or client, the management team, and the contractor. The building contractor plans and coordinates construction activities, and must complete the project within the established time and budget. Contractors are responsible for the entire construction process, and must determine the best methods to finish the project as specified.
General Responsibilities of a Building Contractor
In general terms, a contractor is responsible for planning, leading, executing, supervising and inspecting a building construction project. The responsibility extends from the beginning to the end of the project, regardless of its scope.
Contractors accomplish their duties by planning activities, supervising workers, and ensuring the project follows local codes and laws. A contractor may hire subcontractors for specialized areas, such as electrical installations and HVAC systems.
Specific Roles and Duties of a Building Contractor
As mentioned before, a building contractor has multiple responsibilities, which may vary depending on the contract. There are many roles a contractor can assume during different stages of a project, and this section covers the most common ones.
Project Planning
Every project has a master schedule that describes all activities, along with their time distribution and planned budget. This schedule has a completion date that contractors must meet, and hefty penalties normally apply for missing the deadline. A late completion can only be justified if the project was delayed by external factors beyond the contractor’s control, such as extreme weather.
The first duty of a building contractor is creating a project plan to deliver it on time. Some responsibilities include:
Planning all crucial project development and implementation details.
Determining the construction equipment and material requirements, and planning their procurement.
Predicting possible changes and creating risk mitigation strategies.
Meeting any legal and regulatory issues.
Establishing effective communication among all project participants.
The building contractor must establish a budget for the construction project, and follow it as closely as possible. The budget is a useful tool to track project costs, since contractors can detect waste by comparing their actual expenses with the planned budget.
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