Effective Project Management

Section R Subcontracting

The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Preface to Dickens's Pickwick Papers

Reasons for subcontracting are as follows:

• The specialist nature of the work
• A weakness in one's own organization
• In order to share or reduce risks
• Productivity of the labour force
• Competitive advantage.

Subcontracting (see Part III, Section C Issuing an Enquiry) will be the responsibility of either engineering for specialist design services or construction for site work. Both situations require the project manager's (and maybe the client's) approval, and the following questions should be addressed.

1 Questions to Ask Before Subcontracting

1.1

Are you certain that the proposed work is outside the resources of the company?

1.2

Could the company hire temporary resources to plug the deficiencies?

1.3

Are there a sufficient number of competent subcontractors capable of performing the proposed work?

1.4

Will the company have adequate experienced personnel, both technical and commercial, to supervise or manage the subcontracted work?

1.5

What additional work will the company have to perform in order to support the subcontractor?

1.6

Will the proposed construction methodology be acceptable to the subcontractor?

1.7

Can the subcontractor carry out the work in accordance with ...