Typical contracting company formats:

Solo Handyman: One person who may or may not be a general contractor.

• Pros: Very direct personal communication, usually only does small projects and repairs, often the least expensive

• Cons: May have limited technical and management skills, only small repairs and projects, easily overbooked.

Individual Contractor: A general contractor with one or two helpers or carpenters.

• Pros: More direct project involvement from the contractor, good quality control, easier project influence by client, more effective problem solving.

• Cons: May need to wait longer to start your project, more easily overbooked causing delays, may be specialized in certain projects.

Small company: A general contractor, project manager, a few carpenters and administrative support.

• Pros: Generally good quality control and client communication, varied expertise, can shift workers to help meet deadlines

• Cons: More layers may hinder communication, overhead can increase budget, accountability and quality could slip

Large company: One or multiple general contractors, project managers, several construction crews and administrative support.

• Pros: Can handle large scale projects, varied expertise, can reallocate staff to meet project requirements or take on your project right away.

• Cons: Your Influence and communication may suffer, overhead and support staff dramatically increases costs, project may get lost or handed off to several people in the company endangering important details, your project may become unimportant or be staffed with less skilled workers, problem solving is indirect or arduous, accountability and quality can suffer, .

Design-build company: Any of the above variations plus the company has design expertise and manages both design AND construction of your project.

• Pros: Design and construction inform each other creating more stable budgets and predictable timelines, design build promotes predictable execution, the designer and builder are the same company thus minimizing delays and miscommunications, enables more effective and timely problem solving, easier to meet client expectations.

• Cons: Over budget designing can be used to upsell you. Contractors who are also trained designers are very rare. Some contractors may sell themselves as designers but lack experience. If the designer and contractor are different people details and efficiency can suffer.

Stay tuned for Part 2 in July 2025: You can’t get what you want unless you know what you want!

Do you have questions and want to discuss this topic or another design-build related topic? We look forward to seeing and serving you when you're ready to explore making your dream project a reality!