What is a Contractor? Roles, Responsibilities & Everything to Know!

Many people have their dream projects that they want to bring out in the real world from their minds. For example, do you need to open your multi-storey commercial complex to start a lucrative business? Or, do you want to build your house? 

Whatever your desire, to build any type of construction-related idea from scratch, you need a contractor. 

In this article, we will first deal with the query, ‘What is a contractor?’ and then touch upon other aspects like their work, types of contractors, differences between the two major types of professionals in construction, and much more. 

So, if you are looking for a comprehensive discussion, you have already come to be part of it.

What is a Contractor, and What do They do?

A contractor is a professional worker in the construction industry who helps people build their dream structures or construction projects, like residential properties, commercial towers, schools, malls, etc. 

Such a professional carries out development projects as per their clients’ requirements and charges them for the same service. They complete projects, large or small, through active participation, quick resource arrangement with effective management, and frequent quality checks.

A contractor can be a single person or a company. Two major types of contractors are general contractors and subcontractors.     

Now, we have briefly dealt with “What is a contractor?” Next, let’s move on to what they generally do. 

The work, role, and responsibilities differ depending on the type of contractor. Some contractors are in charge of the entire process, aka general contractors. They are responsible for each segment of the project at hand. Thus, the work of such contracts includes a huge list of roles and responsibilities, as mentioned in detail below. 

However, if a contractor has been hired by another contractor just to complete a specific portion of the project, such as setting up the electricity wiring or plumbing, the work responsibilities become narrowed and limited. Such contractors are called subcontractors and hired to delegate specific tasks.     

Roles and Responsibilities of a Contractor 

Generally, a contractor has to do many things. Consider some major ones at a glance below.  

• Conducting meetings with clients. 
• Sorting out clients’ queries. 
• Educating clients seeking insights and information.
• Coming up with the best strategy to deal with each concerned project. 
• Planning a construction project.
• Figuring out the scope of modifications during the construction.
• Estimating tentative timeline and costs. 
• Arranging & managing all the resources required.
• Dealing with subcontractors. 
• Monitoring the project’s progress. 
• Ensuring compliance. 
• Conducting final quality checks, etc. 

Furthermore, a contractor’s work is managerial in nature. It is not limited to handling, carrying out, or completing essential construction work alone. The process involves a great deal of delegation, too. As a result, hiring the right subcontractors and dealing with related legal formalities become an inseparable part of the job. 

For that, the contractor reaches out to experts to complete certain tasks. Hiring professionals with specializations to handle various specific parts of a large construction project helps reduce time, cost, and inefficiencies.  

So, that is the shortest and best answer to ‘What is a contractor? And what do they do?’ Now, let’s look at the work of a contractor at each stage of the building process or construction.  

Explore the Contractor’s Work Stages

A contractor is an inevitable part when it comes to effective planning, management, supervision, and completion of a construction project. Therefore, all the roles and responsibilities of a contractor are divided into four categories below. These are the four primary stages a contractor goes through during the construction process. 

Planning

Planning is the first and crucial part of every project. Thus, the construction process also starts with making plans and figuring out the best strategies to achieve the most optimal outcomes. An experienced professional is already well-equipped with knowledge and real insights. So, it just doesn’t take them much time to get through the planning.  

Every building professional often starts with scheduling initial meetings with their clients. Other crucial activities are as follows.  

• Interacting with a client and understanding their needs and expectations. 
• Educating the client regarding areas where they are at a loss or not very knowledgeable about.
• Clarifying false expectations. 
• Providing clients with a timeline, materials, and cost-related estimations.  
• Reflecting on any modification needs that might arise during the construction process. 
• Factoring in health and safety compliance guidelines right from the beginning. 
• Discussing the means of communication with all the stakeholders in advance. 
• Creating a checklist of all the legal and regulatory needs to be fulfilled related to the project at hand. 

Finally, plans are discussed with all the stakeholders. If anyone has any objections or wants to make changes, the same are discussed and incorporated into the plans if appropriate and viable. The contractor has to be open to all the suggestions and amendments being made. Once adjustments are made and everyone is fine with the plans and details, the planning process ends, the contractor moves on to another task.  

Management 

The second stage includes the arrangement for all the resources, laborers, and man-power required to transform plans into reality by starting to build the project from scratch. Here, major tasks involve:

• Contacting the best material suppliers. 
• Purchasing the required materials within the constraints of the budget approved by the client. 
• Hiring the best laborers and subcontractors, ensuring they have the expertise required to complete specific aspects of a project with the least inefficiencies. 
• Ensuring the timely availability and flow of essential supplies, materials, machines, tools, and services for the smooth progress of the construction.
• Effectively handling unexpected things that have the potential to cause negative impacts and delays in the completion.
• Taking care of waste management to the minimal extent possible. 
• Keeping an authentic record of all the bills and expenses. 

Even at the second stage, when the construction has begun, communication is a crucial aspect. It is a key factor in receiving funds for construction management or getting expenses reimbursed at any point, especially on the completion of the project. 

Bonus Information: A construction project can be any type of building work, such as building a school, house, corporate towers, malls, fancy gardens, entertainment complexes, etc.  

Monitoring 

Third, there is the duty to ensure proper monitoring during the construction. This is also known as inspection, supervision, or quality checks. Making sure that everything is being carried out the supposed or planned way is a special part of the job that a contractor has to do.  

As laborers and other skilled professionals set off and start building the project, there is always a need for a supervisor to check the quality of work from time to time. It is a crucial task because it keeps shortcomings at bay. 

If there are any problems related to the work, the contractor must know about it, and get it fixed as soon as possible. 

In case the contractor doesn’t do quality checks from time to time, issues in any aspect of the construction might creep in and cause huge financial losses, hurdles, and challenges later. It will upset the client’s expectations. 

The client might find the final outcome unsatisfactory. So, conducting regular quality checks is another of a contractor’s wide array of roles and responsibilities.  

Safety & Legal Compliance 

Starting from ‘What is a contractor?’, we have now come all the way down to the compliance-related responsibilities of a contractor. Take a look at the table below. 

Type	Responsibilities
Safety Compliance	Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), i.e., providing and ensuring the right use of items, known as PPE, such as hard hats, gloves, steel-toed boots, safety glasses, etc. ***depending on the specific nature of work and hazards involved.
	Safety Training, i.e., all the workers and professionals must be well-trained to handle work-related hazardous tools and machines.
	Site Inspections, i.e., regular site checks to ensure timely handling of problematic issues and conditions on the site of work.
	Hazard Communication, i.e., workers are to be informed of potential hazards related to their work and how to handle them effectively.
	Equipment Safety, i.e., every piece of equipment necessary for construction must be in good condition and harmless in all senses, provided precautions are taken.
	Fall Protection, i.e., if required, things like scaffolding, guardrails, and safety nets must be well in place to ensure safety from falling accidents.
	Electrical Safety and Fire Safety, i.e., like the fall protection, such safety measures are also to be ensured through precautions, readiness of emergency systems, and protocol communication.
Legal Compliance	Labor Laws, i.e., all the provisions of the labor law applicable, must be complied with, such as minimum wage, proper work conditions, safety measures, etc.
	Environmental Regulations, i.e., during construction, nature and the environment must never be harmed in any way.
	Safety Standards, i.e., as discussed above, governmental bodies also issue guidelines for safety measures, and thus, those standards have to be followed as well.
	Permits and Licenses, i.e., various types of permissions like building permits, environment clearances, safety certifications, or trade licenses, etc., are to be obtained before any part of the construction begins.
	Other parts of Legal Compliance are Contractual Obligations, Incident Reporting, Documentation, and Record Keeping.

Types of Contractors 

Based on expertise and work responsibilities, there are many types of contractors. However, all of them can be subsumed under the following two categories. 

General Contractor 

A general contractor is responsible for managing the entire construction project.  He/she leads the development process from start to end. 

• They obtain all the required permits and licenses to start the construction.
• When needed, a general contractor also hires expert professionals to complete specific parts of the project during the process. 
• From time to time, it is also their responsibility to perform quality checks to see that everything is going well. 
• Finally, they make sure that the project is built into the structure the client has talked about and is expecting. 

The success of an entire building project lies on their shoulders. They are accountable for the complete management. A general contractor directly deals with a client.  

Subcontractor 

This is another type of construction contractor. Subcontractors hold expertise in particular fields, and they cater to specific parts of a project. Some examples of such specialized contractors are as follows. 

• Footing and Foundation 
• Electricians 
• Plumbers 
• HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning) Contractors
• Painting & Paper Hanging Contractors
• Carpenters 
• Flooring Contractors, etc. 

General contractors contact such subcontractors to delegate various smaller sections of the construction project. Their expertise helps save time, money, and resources, reducing inefficiencies and increasing work quality. 

What is the Difference Between a Contractor and a Subcontractor?

There is a huge difference between these two types of contractors. The following table tries to highlight the 6 prominent aspects of this difference. 

Aspects	General Contractor	Subcontractor
Relationship	Direct relationship with the client.	Direct relationship with the general contractor.
Contract Scope	Related to the overall project.	Only related to a particular aspect of the project, for example, electric wire set-up, plumbing, flooring, etc.
Responsibility	Responsible for the overall success of the project.	Only responsible for the successful completion of a delegated task.
Supervision	The sole person to ensure quality inspection from time to time.	Supervising only the assigned part of the construction project.
Lead or Direction	Direct the brain and the optimal use of resources.	Only for the assigned task.
Delegation	Hiring subcontractors as per the requirement and getting the job done as best as possible.	Further delegation down to other, more specialized contractors is possible, but rare.

The key difference is that a general contractor is responsible for the management of the entire project. However, subcontractors only concern themselves with specific parts of the same. 

Practical Tips to Find Competent Contractors

Are you learning about contractors like ‘What is a contractor?’ and ‘What do they do?’ because you need to hire one? If yes, the following tips might help you. 

1. Specify your needs. 

2. Specify a plan with architects and planners that you need to discuss with a contractor for construction.

3. Determine the type of contractor you require; most people need to contact a general contractor, and the rest is managed by them. 

4. Do your research well before hiring a contractor. 

5. Verify their licenses before supplying initial advances.

6. Make sure that a general contractor takes responsibility for obtaining permits and ensuring legal competence.

7. Make a plan below your budget, as final costs often tend to go up. It will help find a contractor that is ready to work within the specified financial limit. 

8. Consider their portfolio before making anything conclusive. 

9. Connect with friends and family members to get references to contractors that they might have already known. 

Finally, consider the last piece of advice. Don’t forget to compare prices, as many contractors might charge superficially higher than what is practically required. So, meet and discuss your project details with as many dealers as possible. It will offer you ample opportunities to find the best pick contractors as per your budget.  

Let’s Wind Up  

Make sure you don’t ignore any of the tips mentioned above. It will help you find the best general contractor for your construction project. So, now you must have understood, ‘What is a contractor?’ In short, this is a professional title for a person or a group of people who specialize in the field of construction and related work. 

Research well before making any final deals with anyone. It is important. Construction requires a large fund of money to meet expenses, and thus, one must be careful in the dealings! 

However, once you have come across the right contractor, everything will become a piece of cake. They will take charge while you sit back and rest at home.  

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