Disagreeing with Donald Trump’s shot at subtrade price creep

Last week we quoted Donald Trump, in a speech to homebuilders in Miami recently, getting cheers when he said that often subtrades, once they get comfortable with a GC, start to inflate their prices. Kenneth Gilmet defended subcontractors.

“The homebuilders may have applauded over the cost of sub-contractors but in my experience they are directly responsible for cost increases, They use the sub-contractors as their bank, having unreasonable terms such as 90 days or more for payment. They also tend to be unorganized and have poor project management skills. A good homebuilder works in partnership with competent sub-trades to produce a good product that self promotes and builds clientele based upon quality. This is simply not the case for most homebuilders.”