Question:
I find the business end of construction a lot more interesting then the
actual building. anyone share that thought......
Answer:
Just the opposite, actually. I started off the career working on very large
scale commercial projects in NYC. I started off as a field super and worked my
way up to project manager. After a certain point I was stuck in the office and
wouldn't even walk the job site (a block away) for a couple weeks at a shot.
At that point it becomes like any other business. Pushing paper wasn't what
I'd signed on for.
I suppose if the projects are cookie cutter or someone feels that they've seen
it all before, then it would seem boring to them.
There are many types of people...some enjoy the
manipulations required to run a building project.. a few are
honest about it, many just enjoy forcing other people to
squirm or watch as they bleed to death because of what one is
able to force them to do. Ive been around guys who bragged
about how many contractors they have bankrupted.
I myself detest that side of the construction business
although I was and remain world class at that aspect, even
against the most ruthless odds... usually morons from some
corporations middle management. I have nailed the toughest
and most corrupt of that batch to the wall repeatedly even as
they held all the cards (they thought they did anyway)... I
hated every second of it.
Thier pervasive mistake is arrogance and lying... the lying
leaves them wide open, these are not used to people taking
detailed notes and time stamped photo's and distributing
memo's to all present (that makes these culpable, with
witnesses you see, and if the meeting includes material
statements actually *changes the terms of the contract on the
fly,..legally...and it will hold up in court... few of these
morons know that...they think thier lies and fake promises and
misrepresentations dont mean anything... they do not realize
that with those words they are establishing a binding legal
record.)
Ive never set out to bankrupt anyone though, and have gone way
out of my way to help those that were in trouble. And that
has usually worked out well, except for those that thought
kindness was a sign of weakness... those suffered of course.
It was like having some 3 year old kid come at you with an
Uzi submachine gun... great weapon, but wielded poorly... you
would be forced to take the little bastard out...I never felt
good about that.
It was like 'Oh no, here comes annother moron wishing me to
be his executioner'. They never learn.
Each moron came in fresh..arrogant.. eye wateringly
clueless...and vicious.... mistaking arrogance and viciousness
for survival skills. ...and always mistaking my
forthrightness and honesty for weakness.
The actuality is that if one is entirely forthright and
honest, and keeps every sylable and whisper documented, from
even *before the contract is signed (demonstrates intent, and
deceptions)... the overview, and the view of the endemic
corruption becomes so crystal clear that one remains
undefeatable (if he issues at least a memo a day to document
the mess, with cc's to make everyone culpable*).... later,
when the shit hits the fan, the attorneys have a field day
screwing these folks to the wall (because of the thorough
documentation)...as you go out for sushi.
*Memo's... I write very very casual chatty
ones...friendly... open...casual...nice..but never ever
failing to mention the exact date and time, location even to
the very spot, the weather, and every issue discussed, and
each memo refering to at least one, usually a series of
previous memo's... that way.. in court, their attorney is
unable to extract just one memo out of context, and spin it to
support some bogus notion.
If big money is involved I hire a notary to mail the cc's
to managment and keep them compiled then bound and notarized
if the mess looks like it might have to go the attorneys...
Usually, my documentation is so devastatingly accurate and
complete and damning, that once the opposition attorneys see
it, they advice their client to just pay the bill and cease
with their barrage of crap.
On larger jobs its smart to hire an independent college kid to
come in every day and transcribe all the notes to a journal,
and log all the telephone conversations to the journal...(he
makes a perfect disinterested third party witness).
Currently and for the last 7 years, I work alone about 90% of
the time...with the hand tools.. autocad.. and whatever. I
collect a cash front end deposit, progress payments, I still
keep memo's on any job over $10,000 or so at the first sign of
duplicity...and photographs (Ive had jerks working for clients
trash my world class work to thier bosses trying apparently to
prove thier worth to the company.... thats common... I wait
about 2 weeks, until the general manager or secretaries start
looking down thier nose at me, then I submit my final project
report to the top management complete with very detailed
photo's put onto AutoCAD with notes and arrows detailing the
world class work along with my killer warranty papers).
Good going Rico... I could tell you were both discerning
and accomplished.... could you elaborate on exactly why you
left the corporate construction management fiasco... that
would be good information for a few just starting off in this
business.
The retail fit out is the worst. If a generalization can be made, it
would be that the middle managers in charge of construction for chain
stores all seem to have gone to the same school of shoddy/sharp business
practice in search of the last dime, and I learned to my sorrow that the
strong paper trail as Phil describes is a necessity in that situation.
I did a consultant's gig with a major university located in Cambridge,
MA. What a fascinating lesson in torturing the real world to fit a
SureTrak projection.
