Under the Contractor Umbrella

Coordinating a group of commercial construction contractors can be tough under any circumstances. A business will almost always hire a general contractor (GC) to deal with the array of plans, subcontracting issues, supplies, and paperwork. In fact, many businesses will turn to commercial construction general contractors rather than folks who work more broadly as GCs.

Do you need a GC whose operation focuses specifically on commercial work, though? Continue reading for four reasons why it may be wise to hire a general contractor with a focus on commercial builds.

Scale

Many commercial construction projects occur on scales that are bigger than typical residential jobs. Bear in mind that every build is a form of controlled chaos. Scaling up the build means multiplying the chaos. Even if a GC has a history of success with smaller jobs, they might find themselves out of their depth when it comes to commercial construction. At this scale and with what's riding on the project's timely success, the smart move is to work with someone who knows how to work in this environment.

Compliance

Every commercial structure is subject to a host of regulations, and these tend to go beyond anything that involves a house. The government has good reasons, such as protecting the larger numbers of people who track in and out of typical commercial buildings on any given day. However, this means commercial construction general contractors have to deal with more officials, pass more inspections, and file more reports to get things done.

Likewise, a GC assigned to a commercial project may have to address compliance issues at more levels. Frequently, commercial operations have to comply with more regulations from local, state, and federal agencies.

Standards

Businesses often need to meet standards, particularly if they're part of a larger corporation or a chain of franchises. This means the GC has to take an exacting approach because spacing, color choices, layouts, and many other things have to meet strict specifications.

Insurance and Liability

Whenever you hire a contractor, you're also bringing on at least some of their insurance to cover any liability for things that might happen on their watch. By hiring a commercial GC, you're bringing in a firm that should have sufficient coverage for the liability that comes with commercial work. If a passerby is injured by something falling from a crane, for example, you want to know there will be insurance there to cover it. Especially if you want to assign that sort of potential liability in the contract to the GC, it's important to know their policy can handle it.

Contact a local commercial construction contractor to learn more.