What a GC should expect from the electrical sub on a tenant improvement

Superintendents tell us the same story: the electrical sub was fine, right up until the schedule got tight. Then the foreman was on another job, the submittals were late, and the rough inspection failed on something small. Here are the five things we think a GC should be able to expect, and ask for in the subcontract.

1. Submittals within five working days

Gear and fixtures drive the schedule. A sub who takes three weeks to submit has already cost you three weeks of lead time. Ask for a submittal date in the subcontract.

2. A foreman who carries the whole set

The E-sheets do not show the duct that is going where the panel was drawn. The foreman should lay out from the architectural and mechanical drawings and catch the conflict before it is framed around.

3. Inspections called the week the work is ready

Not when the foreman gets around to it. A rough inspection that slips a week slips drywall a week, and everything after it.

4. A written plan for anything in an occupied building

Shutdowns, after-hours work, noise. Building engineering should have it in writing a week ahead.

5. As-builts and panel directories at turnover

Not thirty days after. The owner should walk into a labeled panel the day they get the keys.

We track our first-pass inspection rate and publish it because a GC should be able to check. Ask your electrical sub for theirs.