Schedule Crunch Remodelers love to tell horror stories about subs not showing up on time, but few recognize the irony of their own role in the difficulties trade contractors face when scheduling. Plumbers, electricians, and other trade contractors are likely working for several different general contractors simultaneously. That means they need to adjust their schedules any time a job is delayed by weather, a change order, or a missing or damaged fixture. In addition, they have to squeeze in service calls to homeowners —some of whom are your clients and many of which are emergencies that need to be taken care of right away.
So the trades need flexible schedules. At Roberts Electric, Pitcock says he has one crew member always on “float” to handle service calls. At Synergy Environmental, an abatement contractor in Hayward, Calif., vice president Sal Vaccaro says that “our No. 1 strength is our ability to respond in a timely manner. We can do a job tomorrow 95% of the time.” To keep that promise to its clients, Synergy has “extra” crews available to take emergency calls. When the emergency schedule isn’t as full, those extra crews increase Synergy’s efficiency by doubling up on some of the “regular” jobs.
Nigel Costolloe, president of Catchlight, a painting contractor in Brookline, Mass., keeps crews that work on jobs for homeowners separate from those that work on jobs for contractors. “With a homeowner, deadlines and dates stay pretty firm,” Costolloe says. “With a GC, it keeps moving.” By keeping the crews separate, he prevents the general contractor part of his business from affecting the work the company does for homeowners.
Of course, it’s unrealistic for full-service remodelers to keep extra lead carpenters hanging around — it’s cost prohibitive, and besides, how many quality leads do you know who are looking for work? But you can take a hint. It wouldn’t be a bad idea, for example, to keep your carpenters’ and helpers’ schedules flexible enough that they could be moved from job to job if one project gets behind or is particularly labor-intensive. Better planning is critical to avoid creating the feeling among field crew that they’re being yanked from job to job.
O’Harra has a couple of tips for handling scheduling pickles. The first is to avoid them, in his case by staying in contact with the contractor he’s working with, rather than just showing up on the appointed date. The sooner he knows about a potential delay, the more likely it is he’ll be able to avoid a conflict.
However, some delays are inevitable. When they do occur, O’Harra says that solving the problem comes down to people skills. Rather than commit to a schedule he can’t keep (ahem, does this sound familiar?), O’Harra likes to be upfront with the contractor. “If I can’t make it within their [new] timeframe, I tell them when I can,” he explains. “Then, I talk to my next customer.” Far more often than not, O’Harra is able to work out a solution that leaves everyone happy.
The lesson for full-service remodelers is clear: Be realistic about your schedule. Trade contractors can’t say “We’ll make it up,” which is what so many remodelers do when they fall behind. Don’t over-promise and under-deliver, something that remodelers are notorious for with both clients and trade contractors.
Write It Down Trades — plumbers and electricians in particular — are meticulous about keeping track of the materials they use on each job. They do this primarily because of the substantial inventory they keep in their trucks. At Romano Plumbing in Boise, employees itemize what they use on every job, according to Julie Romano, who owns the company along with her husband, Jim. Unless the company is doing a rare time-and-materials job, the materials and their costs are listed simply as “rough materials” on the invoice. But that “behind-the-scenes” paperwork helps Jim Romano — who checks and restocks the trucks —keep track of what the company has used.
Remodelers could adopt this practice for change orders. Too often, a change order is agreed to and completed without being written up, and when it’s time for final billing, sometimes weeks or months later, the contractor is stuck trying to remember what materials were used and how much time it took, often erring in the customer’s favor, just to be safe.
Even if your change order procedures are relatively sound, having your carpenters write down everything they use daily on change-order work is a good way to make sure everything is being accounted for and nothing is being inadvertently given away to the homeowner. It’s easy to remember that the entry door had to be moved and re-installed; it’s just as easy to forget the tube of caulk, the can of spray foam, and replacement weather stripping needed to complete the job.