Home Building - Working for Your Subcontractors

From Terry (Cold Climate Construction):

Thanks for your book. I have a ton of more questions that I want to ask you but I think I'll read the book first as it will likely answer a lot of them.

I am going to ask you one more though. I am able to do some labor myself on my new house that Im self-contracting. For example, I was a flooring installer at one time and can do a lot of that myself, and my father will help with other items such as plumbing, etc.

What is the best way to approach sub-contractors with this idea? I helped build a church once, and remember the church staff saying that their general contractor was very generous in discounting the price of the project based on how many man hours he saved by having church staff do labor. I have heard from others that some contractors or sub-contractors do not want to share labor with the owner. Any advice?

Thanks!
Terry

Hi Terry,

You certainly can do your own flooring and your father could do the plumbing, and any other jobs that don't require a license, you two feel qualified for.

But, I don't believe any subcontracting firm will "hire" you for just one job (yours).

Subcontracting firms must be insured for liability and workman's comp.

At least here in the USA they must.

These insurance policies are not cheap and you would have to be added to the policies.

You can always ask them though.

As for your church project, thank God no one got hurt.

Your question is NOT covered in my book.

I've never even thought about it. It's a good question. 

Thanks,
Carl