General contractors for residential and commercial contracting needs
Locating and identifying general contractors near me is a normal quarry when considering a major new construction or renovation project. Locating and selecting the right prime contractor is essential in successfully managing the business and quality control of construction from start to finish.
General contractors by their very definition are skilled at facilitating the operational expertise of general contracting labor, material, and equipment to execute any construction project. The challenge that many people have with this quarry is sorting through and understanding the many different types of professional general contractors that exist.
Although general contracting by definition involves the day-to-day prime management of a variety of responsibilities to perform a construction project, the actual type of construction dictates the actual kind of general contractor to fit your needs.
Understanding the construction industry market and industry segments will offer you greater insight to expedite your search for the proper general contractor. For a deeper dive into a general contractor’s responsibilities please visit general contractor’s role.
Determining the kind of general contractor near me for your project begins with a simple understanding of the construction industry markets. These market segments are classified as residential construction, commercial construction, and industrial construction.
Inside each of these market segments are classifications for construction service subsections. The largest of these two subsections are a) new construction and b) remodeling/renovations. For an additional source on this topic please visit different types of general contractors.
We will examine in detail the different types of general contracting companies that provide general contractor services.
Residential General Contractors
Residential general contractors provide general contracting services to people with residential homes. This type of dwelling normally includes single-family houses, townhomes, condos, and apartments.
These general contracting companies that offer general contractor services are trained to work with home construction materials and common home construction practices. A residential general contractor offers new home construction services or/and operates as a home remodeling contractor.
New Home Construction
New home construction is a segment of the housing industry that has many subsections. New home construction can be categorized into 3 subsections; production home building, semi-custom home building, and custom home building.
These types of general contractors near me are also known as home builders. Home builders operate just like general contractors by hiring subcontracts to perform the trade services and maintaining responsibility for project financials, administrative tasks, and construction management affairs.
- Production Home Builders – are traditionally known as tract builders and are large regional or national home construction companies. They build volumes of houses from a small variety of standard house plans. They normally do not offer to allow changes to their home plans.
- Semi-Custom Home Builders – are normally medium to large construction companies that operate very much like production home builders. They offer standard off-the-shelf house plans but will allow customers to make changes to these plans at a price.
- Custom Home Builders – are ordinarily small to mid-size construction contractors that operate more like traditional general contracting companies. The actual house builders are normally the owners who will directly manage the financial and construction activities. They may have staff to assist with supporting roles such as administrative tasks, design/selections, and some construction supervision responsibilities
Home Remodeling Contractors
Home remodeling contractors are also general contractors that hire subcontractors directly to perform the trade work of remodeling or renovating houses. They orchestrate the home remodel process while being responsible for financial, administrative, and construction management responsibilities.
- Home Remodelers – are typically small companies that can operate as either a general contractors or some will operate as self-performing contractors on items such as carpentry and painting, while subcontracting the licensed trade work to subcontractors.
- Home Addition Contractors – operate much like home remodelers but have the special skill of expanding the envelope of the primary building. In the case of a home addition, the remodeling contractor actually builds a separate structure while attaching it to the primary house structure.
- Kitchen Remodelers– a kitchen remodeler is a renovation contractor that focuses on kitchen remodeling. They may offer products such as cabinetry and services such as the design and installation of the cabinetry.
- Bathroom Remodelers – a kitchen remodeler is a renovation contractor that specializes in bathroom remodeling. They may have plumbing fixture products as well as stone and manmade tile products.
Commercial General Contractors
Commercial general contractors fundamentally function and operate like residential general contractors but also have some distinctive differences. These differences begin with commercial construction, which is dramatically different in the building practices and construction codes.
The primary variations are associated with general public use. Due to the public access to commercial buildings, the building codes for public access and assembly focus on life safety and handicap accessibility. Life safety is governed by national and local fire protection codes. These codes would require entry and exit restrictions as well as fire suppression.
In addition, public buildings are required to comply with ADA compliances. ADA compliances are defined by the federal government and are designed to protect the interest of people with disabilities.
They address items such as access to buildings, restrooms, and the ability to enter and exit through doorways. Whereas private residential construction is not required to comply with these types of restrictions.
Commercial Construction
New commercial construction typically involves architects, a variety of engineers, and a large number of skilled trades and material vendors to execute a project.
The process begins with an architectural firm preparing preliminary plans of a building to the general specifications of the owners.
As the design process develops, civil engineers will begin to prepare the site plans. These involve items such as cutting & fill the building site, driving & parking spaces, drainage & retainage stormwater.
The architects will also hire MEP contractors to design and calculate the needs for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing needs of the building.
At some point during design, the architect or owners will bring on a commercial general contractor to evaluate the constructability of the building and develop the construction cost, among other tasks.
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- Commercial Contractors -offer a variety of skills and responsibilities to the leadership of a commercial construction project. Depending on the preferences of the owners and architect firm, the commercial general contractor may be introduced to the project as early as the design stage or at the end of the design, when the plans are awaiting a bid.
During the bid stage of early project development, the general contracting companies will solicit bids from a pool of contractors with the goal of developing a competitive bid for the owner or architect.
When one of the commercial contractors is awarded the proposal they will finalize contracts, and schedules and begin to assemble the construction team to begin.
Although the planning and preparation of a commercial construction project are essential to execute, a building contractor’s talents are on display when managing the day-to-day operations of a project.
The ability to maintain a tight schedule, control construction costs,s and complete the job safely are goals that they will be judged by.
Commercial Remodeling
Commercial remodeling requires similar skills for new commercial construction but requires the commercial remodeling contractor to have an added layer of experience.
This is due to the number of unknown hidden problems that may occur during the project. Commercial remodeling often demands that the existing building structure be modified.
That can be as simple as moving waste lines for a commode relocation or as complex as a change of use strengthening to the structure due to living load requirements.
The more complex the structural modification requirements, the greater the need for a highly skilled and trained commercial remodeling contractor.
- Commercial Remodeling Contractors – provide similar leadership to a commercial remodeling project as commercial contractors but must assess and prepare for the risk of unknown conditions that may arise during the construction process.
Although the construction schedule is also important to any major construction project, it becomes critical when renovating a business that will continue to operate during the commercial renovation or has temporarily suspended operations until completion.
Conducting a commercial renovation while a business is operating is very challenging for both the business and the remodeling contractor.
In order for the project to be conducted without greatly interrupting the business’s operations, the construction is required to phase the remodeling to predetermined areas, to allow the business to operate in a smaller temporary space.
As the renovations progress the business operations move into the completed space so the remodeling can continue. These types of commercial renovations require an experienced remodeling contractor before and during the remodeling activities.
Design Build Contractors
Design-build contractors are specialty general contractors near me offering both design and construction services as a one-stop shop service.
These general contracting companies can operate as either residential general contractors or commercial general contractors. Design build contractors can also perform new construction or remodel contractor services.
The distinction in their services separating them from traditional general contractors is that they offer construction design services.
To dive deeper into this topic, follow design build approach.
Conclusion
So, when you are searching for general contractors near me, you will now have a better understanding of the different types of general contractor companies to fit your needs.
Once you have identified a short list of viable building contractors near me to vet, you want to prepare a infographic of qualifying questions and circumstances to review with them. Finding the right general contractors near me is much like finding a doctor or attorney.
You will need to trust them and their advice throughout your project. To learn more about the best general contractors in Houston please visit www.marwoodconstruction.com
