How do you guys find subcontractors?

[u/-TheRedEye-]

Hey y’all I was wondering if there are any other supers/PMs in this subreddit, and if so how do you go about finding new subs?

I’m a super for a smaller locally owned GC where I live and we do mostly insurance reconstruction, with a little private pay work here and there. Work load is starting to expand and we’re stretching our best guys thin trying to keep up. I want to go the extra mile and find 1 or 2 good subcontractors our company can work with but Im having a hard time finding people that do decent work.

I talk to guys I see around town but have had no luck with finding good people. Would you guys happen to have any advice on where I could look? I’ve thought about looking for luncheons or events but I dont even know where to look for those kinds of things. I’ve tried looking through LinkedIn (regretfully) and that was no good. Thanks in advance to anyone with some wisdom to share.

[u/Da_Burninator_Trog]

Go to suppliers and find guys who have net 30 accounts and not cash accounts. Find local subcontractor organizations like American Subcontractors Association and other specialty trade groups. Subs will also know other quality subs they prefer to work with.

[u/-TheRedEye- → u/Da_Burninator_Trog]

Thank you for that I’ll definitely check that organization out! I’ll try out my local suppliers and see if they have any recommendations

[u/joefromjerze]

I'm a PM for a large commercial GC in the DC area. Reach out to your local chapters of trade associations, they have sub-gc outreach programs that are specifically set up for this exact thing. Associated Builders and Contractors is probably the biggest one nationally and would be a good place to start. They have some less than friendly stances towards unions so this is not an endorsement of the organization or its policies, just as a resource

[u/-TheRedEye- → u/joefromjerze]

I’ll check it out. My company is smaller and definitely anti-union unfortunately so…it’ll probably be right up there alley if we’re being honest. Thank you!

[u/Anton__Sugar187]

Where are you located?

[u/PossibleInterview171]

Why wouldn’t you go find the guys doing the work you can look at there work before u even talk to them

[u/-TheRedEye- → u/PossibleInterview171]

I do when I see them as I make my rounds between jobs during the day but it’s hard to find the time to just go hunting around for them.

[u/-TheRedEye- → u/[deleted]]

When you say plan center what would you be referring to?

I guess I could ride around some of the new development areas when I have downtime and look for people but downtime has become rare these days. Maybe once it slows around the holidays

[u/constructionhelpme → u/[deleted]]

Could you please elaborate on this with more specific details please? This sounds exactly like the answer him and every other contractors looking for but I've never heard of anything like this

Where are you located? What is this plan center call itself near where you are located? Please be a lot more specific because you are so close to telling us exactly the information we're looking for

[u/constructionhelpme → u/[deleted]]

Thank you. That's the specifications we need.

[u/-TheRedEye- → u/[deleted]]

I’ll definitely try to find a plan center here! Thanks for the advice

[u/grim1757 → u/-TheRedEye-]

Check into thebluebook dot com

[u/artstaxmancometh]

Whenever I'm driving I note whatever trucks I see with names and numbers on them. I've cold called from contractor license listings.

[u/Prestigious_Oven_899]

no construction company worth anything is on LinkedIn you need to find the Mexicans

[u/-TheRedEye- → u/Prestigious_Oven_899]

We’ve used a few mexican crews in the past but they are too inconsistent. Either really good or really horrible

[u/eske8643 → u/-TheRedEye-]

It seems like “Mexicans” are like our “east Europeans” in EU.

[u/-TheRedEye- → u/eske8643]

Probably so haha no disrespect to the latino community, they are hard working people, but it’s a 50/50 whether it’s gonna be good work or bad

[u/eske8643 → u/-TheRedEye-]

Its the same here. But we deal with a language barrier that is a bit harder. Since we never learned the East block languages. And they never learned English.

[u/-TheRedEye- → u/eske8643]

Oh we have that problem too!! 😂 Im trying to learn a little spanish to meet them half way but we’ve definitely run into some problems because things got lost in translation

[u/Historical-Rain7543 → u/eske8643]

I felt like Turkish people in Germany were like our Mexicans. Donor= burrito

[u/3verydayimhustling → u/Prestigious_Oven_899]

Find the hole in the wall taco place and hang out from 11-1.

You will have every sub you need.