I come from a commercial construction background. I started at the bottom and worked my way up to run entire companies. My experience and observations on this website show me that the problems plaguing P&P are similar to what plagues construction.
1. Not getting paid in a timely manner - It is a simple fact of life that the lowest tier subcontractors finance the project. Most General Contractors make you sign contracts that provide that you only get paid if they get paid, not necessarily when they get paid. How many times have we heard, “We are just a little behind right now, your check will be sent soon.” But if we get a little behind we get penalized.
2. The price you get paid is not the same as the price that was agreed upon - When they do get paid they want to discuss your invoice and the amount you are going to get, after they have already approved it. How about this one, “The invoiced amount was changed to cover only 30 CY because I just could not see 40 CY yards of debris in the pictures.”
3. There is always some new guy who has no clue about what the cost of doing business is willing to do it cheaper - The current rate for illegal immigrate workers in drywall in Central Florida is $60 per day cash for a 14 hour work day. How do I compete with this when I pay WC & CGL insurance, State and Federal unemployment insurance, employer Social Security contribution and a fair wage to my employees. The same goes for the guy who thinks $15 to cut grass is good money. There is no way he has the proper insurance.
4. Insane project schedules that have absolutely no foundation in reality – the house has been empty and abandoned with no maintenance of any kind done for 3 years and I only have 3 days to to cut down and haul off the forest of shrubs, grass and trees, haul off the 20 CY of debris left in the yard and the 25 CY of debris left in the house and then scrub and polish it up like a shiny new penny. Really... who came up with this? I want to meet this numb skull.
5. Communications, or lack thereof – Your contact is never reachable by phone and takes at least three days to return calls or emails. Then they want to know why you did not accomplish the job correctly or ask for guidance. When I was the Operations Manager at one of the companies I ran, it was policy that you could, and would, be fired for not answering your phone or returning calls quickly. We had no communication problems. People found ways to answer phones and return calls.
6. Respect, or a lack thereof – Nobody likes to be talked down to. I have worked for coordinators that did exactly that. I recall asking for a couple of more days to complete a trash out because we found some issues when we got into it and was told that I would not get more time. If it was not done in the 3 days allotted a second vendor would be sent out to supplement my crew and I would be charged for it, so unless I wanted this to happen I needed to buy another truck and dump trailer and hire more people that day.
7. Knowledge of what the job entails – Teach the people that we have to deal with what the job on our end entails. This is no cushy office job with A/C and a break room. When is rains we get wet. When it is cold out we freeze. When it is hot out we sweat. We go into abandoned buildings that have any number of unknown safety and health hazards. We clean up garbage, rotting food, feces, mold and any other manner of filth that is left behind for nothing near what the effort and risk is worth and we do a damn fine job of it too.
This is what I have experienced. For the last 16 years I have had the scratch and claw and fight for every penny I have made and I have decided I am not going to do that anymore. I enjoy what I do, but I now limit myself to grass cuts and maids. The rest is simply not worth it to me.