Incentivise builders to speed up?

[kryten22uk]

In my extension build at the moment, the work seems to be good quality (albeit I'm not qualified to really know), but they dont exactly motor along. Sometimes there are 3 or 4 workers, and sometimes the contractor only sends along a single worker. It's not as if there isnt enough work to be done.

I was thinking that in my next phase of building work, I would try to incentivise the speed of the work, in the contract somehow. But then I thought that any speed incentive would work as a disadvantage to me, as it might tempt them to cut corners that they wouldn't have done otherwise.

So, is it possible to incentivise builders to work faster, without the pitfalls, and if so, how?

[kryten22uk]

There is a start and end date, and a programme. They are on target (just about), and I pay them in stages, as advised by the architect. So I'm not unhappy. I'm just wondering if for my next project, how I can get builders to be more full-on in their original timetabling, and not take things easy. I'd be less concerned if they were falling behind an ambitious schedule, if I saw that there was much work being put it. But seeing the work able along on the current project, its a shame that theres not more effort to advance the timescales.

[kryten22uk]

dazwalsh said:

They dont need full meals but the odd cuppa and a custard cream will do wonders for their morale.

Our builders get furnished with plenty cups of tea/coffee, and biscuits/kitkats etc as the missus is home much of the time. On one of the rare occasions when I worked from home, I went out with a plate of biscuits in the afternoon and they were sat on their truck getting out Tupperware boxes of fruit and carrot sticks. I almost laughed at the contra-stereotype.