General Contractor
The company holding the main contract with the project owner, responsible for delivering the finished project, usually by hiring and coordinating subcontractors who do the specialized work (electrical, plumbing, concrete, and so on).
Why it matters
The general contractor (GC) is the single point of accountability. If a subcontractor falls behind or does bad work, it's the GC's job to catch it and fix it. The owner typically has one contract, with the GC, not dozens of contracts with every trade.
On a real project
A hospital owner signs one contract with a general contractor to build a new wing. The GC then signs its own contracts with an electrical subcontractor, a plumbing subcontractor, and a dozen others, and coordinates all of their schedules.
Who this matters most to
A Project Manager and Superintendent typically work for the general contractor directly; it's their employer, not just a name on the org chart. An Owner's Representative sits on the opposite side of that relationship: hired specifically to watch the GC's performance on the owner's behalf, which only matters because the owner has exactly one contract, with the GC, to hold accountable.
Where this goes wrong
An electrical subcontractor falls badly behind schedule, but the general contractor doesn't catch it until the delay has already pushed back the drywall crew waiting behind them. Because the owner's contract is with the GC, not with each individual trade, it's the GC who owns that delay in the eyes of the contract, even though a subcontractor caused it. Staying on top of every trade's progress, not just the GC's own crews, is the job.
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