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Tips for Building Contractor Dealing Sibling Conflicts
By arlene | June 17, 2009
When contractor one sanguinely tells you that he is carrying out spouse’s orders to do something which sounds incredibly stupid, you blithely say, ‘Oh, alright.’ His timing is impeccable: you are worn out, distracted. Spouse is horrified. How could you be so naive, so gullible? Who is the boss around here?
It gets worse. In the background, I hear the one builder yelling, ‘Ou Gat, Ou Gat!’ I think he is referring to me and my absolute naivety. Turns out that that is his name. Most of them have learnt on the job from their father/uncle/brother/friend. It is every man for himself (there has not been one woman) and here a spade is a spade. It is not a place for euphemisms.
Tell the contractors that they get their instructions from one person. Establish who the Boss is and then stick to the pecking order. Constantly check with your spouse and make sure that what is being done is correct. It may sound easy but when you are both juggling work and building 24/7, you are not exactly engaging in meaningful discussions with each other. The sub-text here: relationships take strain. Let’s be honest.
Building is all about timing, as has been noted several times. You need to get your orders for next-day deliveries and make sure that there is a flow of materials onto the site. What hasn’t been discussed is the time frame of the entire operation. You don’t want to be racing to the finishing line, like we did, in the first weeks of December. Half this town shuts down from the first week of December. The other half … well, let’s not talk about the other half. Just make sure you avoid them. Orders are closed for blinds, kitchen tops, and so on. We made it, but too close for comfort.
‘Ag, shame,’ commiserated our friends, ‘you’re heading for Builders’ Holiday.’ As it happened, BH was not the problem. Builders in the formal industry accrue their leave so that they can take a paid holiday, which traditionally begins on the 16th. For those in the informal industry, this is not an issue: no work, no pay. With unemployment rates, there is no shortage of people to work. The problem is that suppliers are either shutting down or have simply run out of stock. It is frightening how much building industry material is imported. ‘Oh, sorry, we’re waiting for a container – be here next year,’ one hears all the time. Next year might be only two weeks away, but when you are building, time is money. And we wanted our house back.
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Topics: Contract, Job | 7 Comments »
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