Role of contractor in construction
A contractor is a person who enters into a contract to provide labor and materials to perform a specific job or service. He/she is responsible for providing all the items and services that are necessary for the construction of a project. In short, a contractor is a person who manages the construction of a building or space. Being a good contractor is not everyone’s cup of tea. A person must have the skills, knowledge, experience, and organizational capability to carry out the work that they are hired for in a safe and smooth way.
A building contractor has a large number of responsibilities on the site whether it is a private or public project and without proper experience in the field, he/she cannot carry out their work properly. Once hired, he/she has to be in charge of the planning, development, and other activities that coincide with the construction of the particular structure. The role of contractors in construction is immense and hence a detailed study of these roles will be done in this article.
A contractor has to review all the different process that is involved in the construction site. He/she is the person who has to oversee the entire project from the beginning till the end and also has to make sure that all the duties required to be performed on-site are completed on time. There are a number of qualities that make a contractor good in his field. Some of those traits are as follows:
Can make good decisions
Of all the things that a good contractor must be, he/she must be a quick and good decision-maker. A contractor is somebody who has to deal with the whole project from the planning stage to the completion stage, from the coordination stage to the maintenance stage. Hence, decision-making must be on top of his list of qualities so that he/she knows how to properly manage certain issues. A good contractor is never indecisive and can make good decisions without consulting anybody else.
Experience matters
A person can be a good contractor only if he/she has the established experience required. When an inexperienced contractor single-handedly tries to deal with a project, the results are usually not up to the mark. As they are not an expert in handling such projects, it kind of makes them unproductive. That is why having enough experience in this field is mandatory as it helps the contractor perform his job in a timely and effective manner without any difficulties.
Leadership Skills
A good contractor must always be a good leader. He/she must have leadership skills as they are the head of a project which means the whole project is run by them. Most of the individuals that are linked with the construction project generally count on the contractor if they face any kind of difficulty and so, the contractor must possess good leadership skills to be able to guide the people involved in the project and show them the way to solve their problems and get the work done on time.
Problem Solver
A good contractor must be able to instantly solve problems that arise on the site and provide necessary solutions. Since a time frame is followed on a construction site so that the work is done on time, a little delay in one of the activities might delay the entire construction project. One mistake might be a heavy loss for the client, and so a contractor must be able to provide solutions immediately.
A contractor is responsible for the entire construction project. It is his/her responsibility to meet the expectations of the client and make sure the project is going according to the drawings provided by the architect. The role of a contractor in construction can be described by the following points listed below.
Making a plan
After a contractor is hired, the first and foremost thing he does before the start of a project is to draft a proper plan of the activities and duties that will be required to be done during the construction. The plan includes everything from hiring workers to buying materials to the maintenance of the structure after the completion of the project. This plan is a step-by-step timeline that acts as a guideline for the people involved in the construction from start to finish.
Managing pay rools
A contractor is responsible for hiring people for various works that take place on a construction site. Similarly, he/she is also responsible for firing people who are not good at doing their jobs properly. Since these two aspects are his/her responsibility, it is also his/her duty to pay these people after they are hired since workers need to get paid.
Buying materials
A contractor is responsible for sourcing out the accurate materials provided by the architects or designers in construction. It is their duty to properly coordinate with various vendors and suppliers so that it becomes easy to get the required number of materials listed by the designers.
Acquiring permits
Before the start of construction, a contractor must acquire all the permits and licenses required by the local government authorities for the project to be constructed without any problems on-site. These include building construction permission and zoning permission which are the most important permits required to ensure that the construction of that particular building is safe, is environmentally safe, and shall provide no hazards or problems to the community in general.
Law research
A good contractor must know and have research ready regarding the rules or laws that are relevant in the present day which is related to the construction of his/her site. He/she must be aware of the environmental hazards and must make sure that the construction of the structure is done in a law-abiding manner.
Proper use of budget
The contractor must make sure that the project that he is working on goes according to the budget provided by the client. If the construction does not go according to budget, it becomes very difficult to manage the costs that are involved in the construction of the building. It is his/her duty to convince people to take the budget seriously and work within the budget so that the construction can be completed smoothly.
Implement changes
If any changes occur on-site, it is the duty of the contractor to implement them as they are responsible for monitoring the entire construction. As they are the sole supervisors of the project, they must implement changes necessary for the betterment of the project.
Emergency issues
On a construction site, problems can arise regarding anything or anyone. It is the contractor’s duty to deal with all kinds of problems that might occur on his/her construction site and also come up or consult the client for solutions. Since the contractor is responsible for the entire project, he/she is always accountable for such issues.
After going through this article we all can come to the conclusion that the role of contractor in construction is not an easy one. He/ she is a person who can be demanding and may want perfect results from his workers. The reason for such behavior is his/her responsibilities and duties towards the construction. He/she must have a quick-thinking capacity and must be able to deal with unavoidable situations. A contractor must be determined and strict regarding the completion of duties so that people take him seriously. And to become the best in this field, one must learn and gather experience from other contractors and learn how to manage a site in the smoothest manner.
