John Bleasby
Enter our new ‘What Would You Do?’ contest and you could win $450 in DeWALT equipment!
Canadian ContractorWhat should Peter do about a sub trade who steals his work?
Peter got poached!
Peter Trussman was nearing completion of a new home for his client, Jack Galsworthy. He had used a number of sub trades in addition to his own crew of five. One of the sub trades was the trim carpenter, Gordon Twohey. The detailed carpentry towards the end of the project was complex, and Gordon frequently ended up talking directly to Mr. Galsworthy about it. Peter had been OK with that – as long as Gordon passed the design and material requirements back to him.
With two weeks left to completion of the original job, Mr. Galsworthy indicated that he and his wife were considering some custom extras, such as built-in bookshelves in the library and storage units in the pantry off the kitchen. Although these were generally indicated on the plans, there had as yet been no decisions made regarding how these details would be completed or priced. Peter asked Gordon to go over some ideas with the client. He did, and Peter then calculated the materials and time, and submitted his price to the client with his regular mark-up. Jack Galsworthy said he would think about it.
A couple of days later, Peter asked Mr. Galsworthy if he would be going ahead with the extras. He said yes he was going ahead – but not with Peter. Peter was confused and disappointed, but informed Gordon of the client’s decision. To Peter’s shock, Gordon told him that the work was indeed going ahead: He had cut his own deal with Mr. Galsworthy to do the extras after the work contracted by Peter was complete. Gordon’s price was 20 per cent lower than Peter’s quote. Peter felt punched in the gut – by both his customer and his trim carpenter.
What would you do if you were Peter?
- Stay calm, accept the situation, and write the situation off to experience.
- Speak to the client and explain that separating the project into pieces and making side deals with his sub-trades wasn’t fair.
- Ask another trim carpenter to quote on the extras and make a new proposal to the client at no profit just to make a point.
- Fire the trim carpenter immediately for poaching the work, finish the project with a replacement carpenter, and make a new proposal to the client about the extras.
- Something else….please give details.
Send your proposed solution in an email directly to
jbleasby@canadiancontractor.ca
…and be eligible to win
A DeWALT TOUGH SYSTEM storage system
plus….
A DeWALT TOUGH Music System, featuring a built-in 12V and 20V charging station, awesome 5 speaker sound, and Bluetooth connectivity.
Total retail value for the set is nearly $450!
Entry deadline is June 30th
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I would let them go ahead but first have the conversation with both parties that this is excluded from the original contract, and can be completed only after the initial contract is completed/ paid for. I would explain to the home owner that work done may affect parts of the home warranty, and that any interaction with other subtrades ie moving of plugs or lights to accommodate the new changes are also going to affect warranty. I would then privatley take aside the finish carpenter and explain to him that what he has done is not appropriate, and if he would like the next job, he will refrain from doing so again. Also, I would express to the owner that on issues of quality and dealing with the carpenter, I will no longer be available, and to the carpenter, that on issues of payment for services rendered for the book cases etc.. , I will not be involved. The Carpenter is nuts to have offerred the same deal to the homeowner as to the contractor, and hopefully this is just a one time lapse of judgement.
Never let the sub trade deal directly with the client unless there is a deal in place prior with your self and the sub trade.
All subs should sign off about doing work on your project before starting on the work at hand