Proposal Letters VS Contracts - SUBCONTRACTORS PLEASE READ THIS!!

We see this happen a lot. Our clients and other subcontractors take the time to craft a well detailed proposal letter for a project, with well spelled out inclusions and exclusions. They are awarded a job and receive a contract. They sign it and then somewhere down the line during the job, they realize to their dismay that only some or none of the inclusions/exclusions made it into their contracts with the GC's. Here's the inside scoop on GC's. Good GC's will catch this up front and discuss it with you because they realize that your success means ensures the success of the project overall. They will make sure that your scope is well spelled out and will review all aspects with you. Unfortunately, not all GC's are that great, thorough and or honest. Some are in it to increase their profit margin at your expense and they do this by taking advantage of you signing without reading- your exclusions suddenly become inclusions.

Sometimes, with the larger GC's, the person typing up the contract is an administrative person and so the proposal letter and or scope gets lost in translation between the estimating, contracts and project management departments. It's an easy mistake to have happen.

How do you avoid this? Take the time to read your scopes on the contracts. I see too many subs sign away without one glance- they are happy to have the work after all. But this is where your profit can go away in an instant. Make sure that you spend the 5 or 30 minutes reviewing the contract with the GC's Contracts or Project Management departments. If an email agreement was made somewhere in the chain, insist that it be a part of the contract documents. The few minutes you take to ensure that your inclusions and exclusions from the proposal have been carried forth into the contract language can make or break the job, and possibly your business for you.