Contractor Oversight and Work Control

Successful project control includes understanding and anticipating organizational issues that may occur with contractors and subcontractors. Once the contractor relationship is formalized, it is then communicated to all affected personnel on the site. 

Contractors and subcontractors are typically required by contract to be responsible for their own workers and should provide a level of oversight to meet all specifications. The primary contractor who is responsible for the worksite typically establishes the minimum requirements, controls access to the worksite, and verifies that subcontractors fulfill their health and safety duties and responsibilities. Wlien these specifications are defined, all contractors and subcontractors should meet or exceed these requirements, as appropriate. This could be based on the nature of the assigned tasks and associated hazards [2]. 

The responsibilities of contractors and subcontractors have been the subject of much debate. Therefore, it has become more commonplace for clients, who may have in-house personnel and resources adequate to perform cleanups, to hire subcontractors. These subcontractors could include all of those mentioned in the previous example, along with an oversight contractor. All of these subcontractors could bill the client directly for services or could bill the oversight contractor. Typically, 

Let s discuss an example For time and material, or not to exceed jobs, some clients prefer to hire a general or main contractor for environmental remediation projects, and allow the contractors freedom in the performance of the work. In this case, the main environmental remediation contractor might hire subcontractors such as earth movers, haulers, reclaimers, drillers, or construction companies to perform different phases of a job. The main contractor organizes the work. Most of the work is performed by subcontractors. Once the job is completed, the client will get one invoice. 

There are also disadvantages to this type of relationship. It can be costly to the client as mentioned above. An unscrupulous or irresponsible contractor may try to take advantage of the unsophisticated client. The unsophisticated client might accept responsibility that a sophisticated or experienced client might not accept. Legal action may take place. 

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