Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

[Andrew R.]

Interviewed a very clean cut siding and cornice sub to work for me, he is fully insured yet has no city business license and has no state registration. Also just had a roofer not renew his policy and come to find out he has no license and registration. Apparently as long as you have money ,these insurance companies don't even care if you're actually a business.

[Cole_22]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Nope they dont, that is the most crooked industry there is.

[Fredremodeler]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Andrew,
It's the same with the Yellow pages. Now I check the Sub's business name & reg. with the license board online before I even bother calling and listening to their line of bull. Saves alot of time.

--Fred

[Howell Cavalier III]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

In addition to taking steps to assure my subs are insured, I put together a simple Excel sreadsheet that grades them on several criteria- quality, price, scheduling, financing and communication. We take the total score and use that as their "subcontractor grade." It's a quick way to make decisions on who to award jobs to.

[Allan Edwards]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Howell:

I like that idea, I've always kind of graded my subs, not in a formal way like you are talking about, but just sort of like a letter grade you might receive in school. I cannot afford all A+ subs, but B or B- is about as low as I want to go.

Another big factor for me is taking care of warranty and customer service.

[John Larson]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Howell & Allan,

Are the categories weighed the same? If not, what is the hierarchy? Hypothetical situation: An "A-rated" sub (all categories) quotes $50K to trim your project. Another lower-rated sub quotes less. How much less is it going to have to be to go with him? Does a "B-rated" sub need to be 10% lower for example?

Why not all A+ subs (if you can find them)? Would not that allow you to better spend your time elsewhere with less supervising, fewer scheduling changes and/or hand-holding lower-rated subs? Isn't this an example of sometimes you have to spend money to make money?

[Carl Sperry]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Andrew,
It's the same with the Yellow pages. Now I check the Sub's business name & reg. with the license board online before I even bother calling and listening to their line of bull. Saves alot of time.

--Fred

In CA you are required to list your license # in your ads or you are in violation of the CSLB law. I have actually seen people get there licenses suspended for that.

[David Meiland]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

We have an excellent system here in WA. There is a state website for contractor lookups. You can see a LOT of info, who the insurer is, what the limits are, who the owners of the corp are (if applicable), whether they are current on their worker's comp, etc. The best part is that you can then fill out a tracking request and the state will notify you if anything changes. If they cancel or lose their insurance, the state automatically pulls their license and then sends you a letter. If the get behind on their comp, same thing. I must be monitoring a couple of dozen subs right now.

[Allan Edwards]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Howell:

Thanks for the spreadsheet you sent me, I think grading subcontractors based on various critical factors helps to choose the best. Different jobs, different contractors, different price ranges might dictate which criteria is most important.

In addition to the ones you had (quality-price-communication), I might add a couple of other factors, like service and size of crews (speed). A 10 man frame crew is a lot better than a 5 man crew, if all other criteria is met. I also might apply different weight to different factors. In other words, a "5" for quality might be worth more than a "5" for communiction. So are just talking about tweaking your spreadsheet. Other than that I like where you are going with this.

[Andrew R.]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

In CA you are required to list your license # in your ads or you are in violation of the CSLB law. I have actually seen people get there licenses suspended for that.

And we have the same, it is not enforced ever.Maybe 1 out of 200 actually has their state registration numbers listed. I like the Wa. website info, that would be a great sales tool against the illegals. I called the insurance agent today who did not send me a cancellation notice on this roofer. He said he was not obliged to send these out and that he didn't check licenses or registration. That was the underwriter's job and if they don't care then he don't care.....a professional industry indeed.

[Fredremodeler]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Carl,

Let's take painters and drywallers, for example. They may have a license when they took out the add, but with publishing lead times, by the time I check on them, they are either suspended, or revoked. From that I can infer they aren't insured either. Saves a lot of wasted time.

Where do you get good sub referals? I've been calling suppliers, subs and other generals with good results.

--Fred

[Carl Sperry]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Carl,

Let's take painters and drywallers, for example. They may have a license when they took out the add, but with publishing lead times, by the time I check on them, they are either suspended, or revoked. From that I can infer they aren't insured either. Saves a lot of wasted time.

Where do you get good sub referals? I've been calling suppliers, subs and other generals with good results.

--Fred

You're right.

As for getting good referrals I would add your local NAHB or NARI to that list. Asking other contractors is also a good idea. Sometimes when I was driving around I would see a job going & I would stop by to "check it out". I have also had subs come by my jobs & ask me to hire them for a project.

[Allan Edwards]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Where do you get good sub referals? I've been calling suppliers, subs and other generals with good results.

Almost everyone of my vendors has someone in outside sales who calls on builders. They visit and see dozens of builders weekly, see work done by other subcontractors, know them, interact with them. If I need a subcontractor (which is rarely), this is my best source.

[Howell Cavalier III]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

[QUOTE=John Larson]Howell & Allan,

Are the categories weighed the same? If not, what is the hierarchy? Hypothetical situation: An "A-rated" sub (all categories) quotes $50K to trim your project. Another lower-rated sub quotes less. How much less is it going to have to be to go with him? Does a "B-rated" sub need to be 10% lower for example?

[Howell Cavalier III]

Re: Workman's Comp and G.L. stupidity

Larson,

No, the categories are not all weighed the same. There is a small table below where you can adjust each of the categories for it's relative value or importance. Also, it will rank your subs. This will help you better appreciate the subs that are making you money and at the same time discover those at the bottom of the list who are costing you bucks.

If you would like a copy of this spreadsheet, simply email me your request. I would like to know what others think of it.