Does your builder use the best tradespeople?

One of the biggest secrets in the industry is that the builders do not actually build new homes. Over the years the craftsmanship and expertise of the old world builder has evolved to become a manager of tradespeople and new construction technologies. A builder provides you their affiliation with certain subcontractors and their management of the process to produce your new home. I would compare it to manufacturing and having the expertise to assimilate all of the components.

In decades past it was the great carpenters or masons that acted as the builders because they understood how to build a solid, but character-filled, home when those disciplines where the majority of the construction process. As new technologies and financing products became available the business acumen of the builder has meant more to the process and transcended the industry in lieu of the craftsperson. In today’s residential construction most of the expertise on how to construct the home lies in the tradespeople that construct it.

Like any human endeavor, there are only 10 to 20 percent who can truly excel at what they do. The rest are average or below. The bell curve theory holds true for trade people as well. There are only a few per trade that can consistently be counted on to perform the best work in their discipline. However, there are very few builders who use the best in each discipline to construct their homes. The builders that use many of the best tradespeople do have a great reputation and have created a distinct character about their homes when you walk into them. The builder that does not use the best trade people usually feels it would be too expensive to do so or they feel their customers will accept average workmanship.

You need to ask the builder to use the best. You probably know who they are or can find out by talking with other tradespeople and vendors in the industry. Why would you research the builder and get references for them, but not the actual contractors putting the home together? No matter what your budget or the complexity of your project, you do not want to short cut on how it is built. Builders that will not use the subcontractors that you request are usually trying to either preserve a current relationship or ensure that their profit margin does not erode. Be open to their reasoning for why they use a certain contractor, but use common sense and trust your heart when agreeing to concede your demand for a specific craftsperson. You may pay more in the end but the home and process will fulfill your dreams.