One of the services I have considered offering is help for contractors and customers to work together well. My intention is to help people start off with openness, clarity, friendliness and an intention to be a team that wants success for both “sides”.

There is so much adversarial stance related to construction!  Builder vs. property owners, builder vs. architects, engineers, etc., subcontractors vs. one another….and on and on.

I have been called in on existing disputes after things have gone bad between property owners and contractors and subcontractors, but I know the advisability of starting off with a foundation of cooperation and harmony before one board is cut or one nail driven.

Yesterday on Thanksgiving the attractiveness of this service was clarified.

My friend Dianne’s sister told me that she would love to have hired me before she paid a young carpenter to remodel a bathroom for her.  She was happy enough with the quality of his work, but he did not listen when she told him she wanted the bathroom to be white. He also re-installed the old door, and she expected a new one.

They did not have a written contract. I strongly recommend using contracts! To me, they should focus on the work to be done, written clearly, simply and in detail to state what is being done, perhaps what is not being done, estimates for the work, and payment schedule. I do not put any emphasis on penalty clauses and legal jargon. To me the latter can feed a distrustful and negative atmosphere, while clarifying in detail what the job is can only strengthen the basis of the working relationship and tremendously increase the odds of having a happy completion.

I told Dianne’s sister that for my part the carpenter should have asked her more questions and then put the agreed answers in writing.

Dianne’s sister said that to have had some knowledgeable person to help her and a contractor agree clearly on what was to be done, and to have that person also inspect the work. She said that especially a woman handling a project on her own is typically more in the dark as to how to approach a project, how to deal with a contractor, and how to know whether or not they are getting a quality job.