The PM, the Cleaner and the Day With No Water (How Builders Screw Subbies Down)
A cleaner drove from Brisbane to the Gold Coast for a handover clean, and the builder hadn't arranged water on site. Our fault. He asked to be paid for the wasted day. The project manager's answer: "no, cop it." I was the CA who had to deliver that message. This is what subbies are up against, and what a builder-side PM or CA should take from it.
Transcript
I worked with a builder once. I was CA for a commercial fit-out company. Now, I'm not going to say any names. I don't want to throw anyone under the bus, this project manager screwed down the subbie right before my eyes. And I was still very young at the time. I think it was like my first or second year in construction. I didn't like what was going on.
I didn't quite understand it from the perspective of the builder trying to make the most margin as possible. But now that I've seen it and I've gained enough experience in the industry, I can now look at it and see that it was objectively wrong for the project manager to do despite objective being making more money his company. Here's what happened. Was a cleaner on a project. We had a Gold Coast project we're based in Brisbane.
We had a cleaner based in Brisbane. We asked him, we gave him the contract to be the cleaner, end of build, clean, that type of cleaner the handover clean to go down to Gold Coast do that. Here's the thing. To handover day or clean day that we had as per the program. Gold built Brisbane cleaner drives down to Gold Coast, we didn't have water ready for him.
So the couldn't clean anything because there was no water ready on site. I don't know why, but that just happened to be the scenario. So he had to drive back and he wasted a full day of driving to Gold Coast, finding a park, getting on site, bringing one of his boys down in the car with him too. And he couldn't clean in the end because there was no water prepared for him.
So it was our fault. The project manager hadn't arranged for that So then the Gold Coast cleaner, the Brisbane cleaner, had to drive back up from Gold Coast up to Brisbane. Then later emailed the project manager and myself saying, hey, going to need to be paid for this because we rocked up to site and we couldn't do our job. So like have to compensate us for this.
Project manager that I was working with at the time turned around and said, no, we're not paying you for that. Go down there the next day. Water will be ready. Do it then. We'll pay you the normal price. Like it is what it is. Cop it. Just no, no empathy, no nothing. Just like shut up and do your job. Though we were in the wrong for not having it prepared.
And this is a very common issue for subcontractors when the build is fucked up because it's hard for the builder to think everything through and make sure everything's ready, if they're under the pump, things will be forgotten. Know I make sure that I always, that my subbies are ready with access, or I at least ask them that they need so that they can do their job. And so that there's no issues like that.
In reality, should have been liable to pay them. But in end, the project manager just strong arms them. And he actually pushed it onto me. He's like, Matt, just negotiate with them. Tell them, nah, do it for this amount. Them maybe a little bit, but not enough to cover the full amount that they're asking for the compensation. I felt like shit. Cause I had to massage this cleaner and say like, I'm sorry, mate, the project manager is not letting me pay you.
Like I fucking love you as a subbie. You do great work, but I cannot pay you just because the PM cares more about making a buck than shit, unfortunate situation. These are the types I'm telling you the story because I want you to know what you're up against. These are the types of builders and project managers are up against. That is why it is so common in this industry for the subbie to get screwed down because unfortunately some people care more about money they do about strong subcontractor relationships.
Yes, I understand companies are here, construction businesses are here to make money, you can always meet in the middle and find something that works. So if you're a builder side, PM or CA watching us, please keep that in mind. Remember to look after your subbies because a, it comes back full circle, whether you treat them well or not. B some human there's plenty more to it, but could go off on a tangent.
Let's just leave it at that. I'll finish the video here. If you're a subcontractor, thank you for watching. I build free tools for Australian subbies I'm sick of them seeing, I'm sick of seeing them get screwed down. Drop me a subscribe, follow along, get in touch with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, wherever it happens to be. I look forward to chatting with you. All the best.
General information about Australian subcontracts, not legal advice. Get advice on your own contract and facts.