General Contractor vs Individual subContractors

[Kim H.]

I am close to starting rehab on my first multifamily complex (9units) and have been looking at hiring a general contractor to handle the entire process. However, I am wondering if I would be better off hiring the subcontractors on my own because I can shop for quotes and I won't be paying for the GC's time. What is your experience?

[Liam Goble]

@Kim H. I'm a general contractor and have worked with clients in both roles (with my company as the GC and my company in a sub role with the project owner as the GC). We have had mixed experiences regarding each role.

Each project owner wanted to save money by acting as GC. However, due to lack of experience as GCs, the project owners may have saved money, but usually at the expense of speed, comfort or quality. For instance, we had a client who decided our services as GCs were too expensive so they would handle the GC role and call us in when we were needed. We got a call to come insulate the house because it was getting cold. We showed up ready to insulate and no drywall had been hung, so we couldn't insulate.

A good GC should be able to get you discounts from other subs, because the subs know the GC will be back and the project owner probably won't be back. These discounts can range from 10-30% depending on the individual sub (in our experience). A good GC should also be almost cost neutral but provide the benefits of extensive project management experience.

If you feel your project management skills are able to handle project, I would say go for it. If however, you're Googling for GC skills (we are working as subs for a guy who is pulling his GC info from Google right now), you will probably benefit from using a GC.