“Woohoo!”
That’s what the average (sub)contractor thinks upon getting the job, be it a public project or a private one. Or, more likely, he thinks, “All right, let’s get down to brass tacks and build something.” But no matter what the contract is – be it the prime contract on a major state public works job, or the smallest subcontract on a tiny private project – there is one thing that contractors as a group tend not to do:
READ THE CONTRACT.
They go over the specs or other pre-bid information with the precision of a medical laser, carving out scope of work and exceptions to it like my doctor did to that weird mole on my face. And then, having gotten the job, many of said contractors might receive a notice to proceed and then (often quite a bit later), a written contract. And the contract is then gone over with the intensity and sharpness of… a pillow covered in marshmallows. The contract is, far too often, an afterthought in the mind of the contractor.
But that agreement contains numerous features that are now critical to the contractor’s prospects for doing the job correctly and profitably.
Do I have you hooked? Good. Because in the coming issues, of Get a Clue, we’re going to be looking at some of the most important parts of a typical contract… and some of the pitfalls that contractors fall into when reading (or not reading) them. Scope of Work, Contract Documents, Payment Clauses, Notice provisions, Extra Work clauses… all of it is more fun than you can shake a stick at. Or, if not that, at least they are things that you, as a businessperson who wants to stay in business, must pay attention to and understand.
For now, even though we’re not going into specifics (but they will come, my young student… they will come ), listen to this: when you get a job, read the contract before you sign it. Understand everything before you sign it. If you don’t understand something, talk to someone does… before you sign it.
Because after you sign it may be too late.
That’s what the average (sub)contractor thinks upon getting the job, be it a public project or a private one. Or, more likely, he thinks, “All right, let’s get down to brass tacks and build something.” But no matter what the contract is – be it the prime contract on a major state public works job, or the smallest subcontract on a tiny private project – there is one thing that contractors as a group tend not to do:
READ THE CONTRACT.
They go over the specs or other pre-bid information with the precision of a medical laser, carving out scope of work and exceptions to it like my doctor did to that weird mole on my face. And then, having gotten the job, many of said contractors might receive a notice to proceed and then (often quite a bit later), a written contract. And the contract is then gone over with the intensity and sharpness of… a pillow covered in marshmallows. The contract is, far too often, an afterthought in the mind of the contractor.
But that agreement contains numerous features that are now critical to the contractor’s prospects for doing the job correctly and profitably.
Do I have you hooked? Good. Because in the coming issues, of Get a Clue, we’re going to be looking at some of the most important parts of a typical contract… and some of the pitfalls that contractors fall into when reading (or not reading) them. Scope of Work, Contract Documents, Payment Clauses, Notice provisions, Extra Work clauses… all of it is more fun than you can shake a stick at. Or, if not that, at least they are things that you, as a businessperson who wants to stay in business, must pay attention to and understand.
For now, even though we’re not going into specifics (but they will come, my young student… they will come ), listen to this: when you get a job, read the contract before you sign it. Understand everything before you sign it. If you don’t understand something, talk to someone does… before you sign it.
Because after you sign it may be too late.
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