Top 10 things to changes in the Construction Industry

Let’s be honest, those of us who work in this industry know what we are up against. Those who hire us are fed up with all the BS. How did this go so wrong? Well for starters we do not have nearly enough skilled trades people on the field to manage the amount of work that needs to get done. When I say skilled I mean really skilled not the overnight contractor who needs to make some money and cashes in on a deal from that guy who drives around the Home Depot parking lot offering to sell DeWalt tools for pennies on the dollar. This is not an industry where you can just jump in and set up shop and expect everything will go smoothly. It takes years maybe even decades to perfect your skills and then several more to learn how to run a business and keep the sales coming in. The public looks at us as dim wits that can’t do anything right and for the most part they are correct. We need to make some serious changes and we need to make them now.

 So obviously I alone cannot come up with a solution to this problem and it may very well be at a point of no return, which would mean a complete reboot of the way this industry is run. I do not know but I do know what needs to be changed now, how these changes are implemented is another story.

1) contractors need to be regulated in some form or another. I know this opens up the door to all sorts of other issues but regulation would cut out a bunch of the fly by night guys that prey on well deserving clients. Regulation will ensure minimum pricing so low ball contractors will no longer be able to price well below standard operational requirements

2) general contractors need to have basic accounting and business training or pass some equivalency course to ensure they know how to handle a client’s money with care and professionalism and keep their business running so all jobs can be completed.

3) these review site are driving me crazy, everyone knows they are BS but they keep churning out fake reviews like their business depends on it. Oh wait, their business does depend on it. Review sites are becoming part of the problem and contractors and home/businesses owners no longer have control over quality reviews being posted.

4) The public needs to be educated that you get what you pay for. Stop blaming others for being cheap. If you get a quote that is too good to be true chances are it is. If you negotiate with your contractor do not expect everything will get done as planned. Materials and labour is basic math, then profit and overhead can vary but the numbers are the numbers. If you add things into your contract or reduce your overall contract price something will give.

5) Contractors need a review site for the general public. There are too many people out there ripping off contractors and getting away with it. This makes the situation worse for everyone.

6) Unions, I will leave it at that. Those who know, know.

7) General contractors who know what they are doing should not take part in this low bidding war unqualified contractors are fighting in. Do not let the pressure get to you, if you start reducing your prices you are letting the market know pricing is negotiable, you are literally destroying the industry you love and provides you with a living. Stay strong and price right, the underbidders will eventually fall off because they are not skilled and their prices are not sustainable.

8) Take on only as much work as you can handle. When you overload your company you end up hiring bad trades people and we all suffer from this. Clients will have to learn to wait and that will eventually increase pricing and cause the market to demand better quality service and products all around.

9) Stop using cheap products that are made who knows where and do not let your clients get trapped into purchasing garbage and expecting luxury. Purchasing cheap products take longer to install and requires more warranty work. Worst of all the clients are rarely happy with the look and feel of these cheaply made products. Do not compete with unskilled trades by cutting corners on product.

10) Do not let clients under value your services. It take skilled labourers and managers to produce quality work. Many people will pay tens of thousands of dollars for a door and then expect that it can be installed for a few hundred bucks. Respect yourself first and those around you will begin to respect you. Leave the bad clients to the bad trades they can pick each other off.

 The above ten points are only my opinion, there are many other things that need to change but I do not have the time nor the patience to list them all here in this blog. We seriously need to start looking at the big picture, this is not sustainable and it will crumble at some point. I do not want to see people getting hurt from shabby workmanship, our employees or our clients. As a qualified contractor you may have been called to jobs that where built incorrectly, some of these projects should have critically failed and collapsed but for some reason or another had not. These incidences are becoming more and more regular, it is only a matter of time before pure luck runs out and building start coming down.

 Skilled labour is not cheap and cheap labour is not skilled. This may seem like it all comes down to money and for the most part it does. Money gives us the freedom to explore and research better ways of doing thing. Money gives us the power to hire the right people for all aspect of our businesses. Money gives us choices to move around and develop in new areas. Without money things do not change and in many cases they get worse. Let’s not continue to make the same mistakes for years to come. Let’s put our foot down and start leading the way to a better future. It may hurt at first but the strong will endure and move forward when the time calls. I for one will no longer be competing with companies that cannot quote properly or want to dump the market with crazy low pricing. Also promising to turn a project around in an undoable time period does not help the industry either. I love the construction business and I plan on keeping it that way. If I continue to hassle over pricing I will grow to hate this industry as many people are starting to now.

 Let’s put our heads together and see if we can fix this before it’s too late. Construction is going to change one way or another, the question is do you want to be part of that change? We will always need buildings built and repaired. So who will be the leaders in this space depends on what we do today. The construction industry is behind the eight ball when it comes to advancement in technology and process systems. Even the materials we use to build have remained basically the same. There is a lot of room to grow in this industry but we seem to be stuck in this old school way of thinking and getting things done.

 In conclusion don’t let others devalue our industry and let’s make sure we do not allow others to come into our industry and create chaos for those of us that love what we do and want to make a good living doing it. Specialize in one or two aspect of our industry, I believe the way of the general contractor will eventually come to an end. Large management firms will take over this position and leave many out in the cold. Educate yourself and always keep up with new technology. Machines are getting more agile and software is much smarter, don’t be surprised if some basic skills are replaced by robots. If you have real experience on the field and running your own practices you have a valuable skill that will be needed to shape the future. Promote the trades to young people, there is good money here if you take the right steps in your career. Lastly, please stop competing against those who do not know what they are doing and charge accordingly when you are called to repair or redo the garbage work performed by these unqualified people. It’s time to be better, it’s time we make a change.

 Take Care and Love Life