Is it wrong to Sub-Con work without consulting the customer?
Discussion
I havn't logged on for a while but decided this topic was interesting to me.
I worked for a large organization looking after 2 of their sites (kind of management role) They had 22 sites in total.
They had their sites maintained by one for those awful FM companies and my role involved reporting building issues to the FM company and making sure issues got sorted.
We had an issue with the hot water system and it was a simple fix (heater element failed). Big FM company subbed it out to a local plumber, who then subbed it out to an electrician he then decided to get his plumber mate involved.... this went on for weeks.
As a customer this infuriated me and my colleagues as we constantly had to explain to subbies what was wrong. I think by the time the job actually got finished 7 subbies of subbies were involved.... I made a recommendation to the organisation that a rule was put in place that work undertaken by the FM company MUST be completed by then and under no situation should a subbie be used unless the FM representative was onsite to oversee the works and ensure correct completion. (I appreciate your job isn't similar to my situation but felt from a customer point of view it was worth sharing)
So to answer your question you have no right to sub work out without first consulting your customer and you should ensure the subbie is fully briefed. The subbie should not contact the customer unless agreed. Don't forget the customer asked you and they may feel they trust you, they may not like your subbie. Its your reputation so ultimately up to you.
I worked for a large organization looking after 2 of their sites (kind of management role) They had 22 sites in total.
They had their sites maintained by one for those awful FM companies and my role involved reporting building issues to the FM company and making sure issues got sorted.
We had an issue with the hot water system and it was a simple fix (heater element failed). Big FM company subbed it out to a local plumber, who then subbed it out to an electrician he then decided to get his plumber mate involved.... this went on for weeks.
As a customer this infuriated me and my colleagues as we constantly had to explain to subbies what was wrong. I think by the time the job actually got finished 7 subbies of subbies were involved.... I made a recommendation to the organisation that a rule was put in place that work undertaken by the FM company MUST be completed by then and under no situation should a subbie be used unless the FM representative was onsite to oversee the works and ensure correct completion. (I appreciate your job isn't similar to my situation but felt from a customer point of view it was worth sharing)
So to answer your question you have no right to sub work out without first consulting your customer and you should ensure the subbie is fully briefed. The subbie should not contact the customer unless agreed. Don't forget the customer asked you and they may feel they trust you, they may not like your subbie. Its your reputation so ultimately up to you.
Edited by 996owner on Wednesday 14th November 17:04
OP how did she discover your business initially? Was it a word of mouth recommendation?
If I was looking for a local sparks and had been recommended John of "John Sparky Electrical Services" I'd get John Sparky round to quote and if he didn't say otherwise, I'd very much be expecting John Sparky to pitch up and do the work and would be a bit miffed if a subby turned up.
If I was looking for a local sparks and had been recommended John of "John Sparky Electrical Services" I'd get John Sparky round to quote and if he didn't say otherwise, I'd very much be expecting John Sparky to pitch up and do the work and would be a bit miffed if a subby turned up.
Who did she form the contract with, you or your business entity? Whether you have ‘entitlement’ to sub out depends on the contract you formed (it’s still a contract even if you just agreed verbally).
If the former then it sounds like you’ve formed a ‘personal services’ contract and if you didn’t, before agreement, notify her you might sub out or then she may well have grounds to view it as a breach of contract, particularly given that she says she chose you specifically, she’s introducing materiality.
That said, if the work had been carried out to the expected standard (legal definition), Your probably Ok.
Seems to me you just need to manage the situation with a view of protecting professional reputation and perhaps going forward ensure you advise you might sub contract before the client accepts your quote. Once they’ve accepted, your in a binding contract.
If the former then it sounds like you’ve formed a ‘personal services’ contract and if you didn’t, before agreement, notify her you might sub out or then she may well have grounds to view it as a breach of contract, particularly given that she says she chose you specifically, she’s introducing materiality.
That said, if the work had been carried out to the expected standard (legal definition), Your probably Ok.
Seems to me you just need to manage the situation with a view of protecting professional reputation and perhaps going forward ensure you advise you might sub contract before the client accepts your quote. Once they’ve accepted, your in a binding contract.
It wouldn't worry me if the work is subbed out but I would want to know upfront, it changes how you deal with the job.
Recently employed a building company for some refurb work, spoke to the head guy when quoting etc, his workers turn up to start, give me a business card, branded clothing. three quarters of the way through the job I start having issues. It's at this point I find out the main company subbed the work out, I have no problem with this but all my contact has been directly with the building foreman assuming he works for the main company rather than through the main company and no communication of the ongoing problems has been passed on. Turns out the sub contractor has shafted the main company and I'm stuck in the middle. If I had known that they were subcontractors all communication would be through the main company and made the problem easier to resolve.
I own a machining company, we sub out work when it's outside our machining capability or production capacity. if its' outside our capability we tell the customer it will be subbed out as it only takes a minute for them to look at our website and realise we cant make a 60mm part if the maximum our machines do is 20mm! If it's purely production capacity then we sometimes don't but it's slightly different in this situation as we have a part that we can check and sign off ourselves before sending to the customer whether we produced it or not and we would use our inspection criteria to check it.
I'd want to know who was doing the work, who I should be speaking to if there are any issues, what guaranty that the work will be to the same level as if you had done it yourself, you'll have to accept some customers will want only you and some wont care and adjust your lead times and prices accordingly if needs be.
Recently employed a building company for some refurb work, spoke to the head guy when quoting etc, his workers turn up to start, give me a business card, branded clothing. three quarters of the way through the job I start having issues. It's at this point I find out the main company subbed the work out, I have no problem with this but all my contact has been directly with the building foreman assuming he works for the main company rather than through the main company and no communication of the ongoing problems has been passed on. Turns out the sub contractor has shafted the main company and I'm stuck in the middle. If I had known that they were subcontractors all communication would be through the main company and made the problem easier to resolve.
I own a machining company, we sub out work when it's outside our machining capability or production capacity. if its' outside our capability we tell the customer it will be subbed out as it only takes a minute for them to look at our website and realise we cant make a 60mm part if the maximum our machines do is 20mm! If it's purely production capacity then we sometimes don't but it's slightly different in this situation as we have a part that we can check and sign off ourselves before sending to the customer whether we produced it or not and we would use our inspection criteria to check it.
I'd want to know who was doing the work, who I should be speaking to if there are any issues, what guaranty that the work will be to the same level as if you had done it yourself, you'll have to accept some customers will want only you and some wont care and adjust your lead times and prices accordingly if needs be.
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