What’s the General Contractor’s Responsibility for Site Coordination?

Being placed at the center of relations with the client, professionals, specialized subcontractors and material suppliers, the general contractor has the obvious responsibility of organizing and coordinating the construction site.  

This leading role is clearly stated in the Regulation respecting the professional qualification of contractors and owner-builders, which stipulates that “[a] general contractor’s licence is required of any contractor whose main activity consists in organizing, coordinating, carrying out or having carried out, in whole or in part, construction work (...)” (s. 4).

The general contractor’s obligation to coordinate is also reflected by the general obligation to cooperate that must govern the parties’ conduct. Under this obligation, the general contractor has a duty to cooperate with subcontractors and to coordinate them effectively. This not only benefits the client, but also allows the various parties involved to properly carry out their part of the work so as to ensure proper delivery of the work, as is expected from a construction project.

Consider the Limits of the Right to Subcontract

Notwithstanding the right to subcontract a significant portion of the work to be carried out, a subcontract cannot cover aspects such as the coordination, direction, management or supervision of the work: such tasks are the general contractor’s prerogative and cannot be outsourced, especially since it would likely be contrary to the rules of public policy for a general contractor to “lend” their license to a subcontractor by outsourcing their coordinating duty.

Furthermore, it must be remembered that subcontracting does not affect the general contractor’s liability to the client, as the general contractor is responsible for their subcontractors and for any mistakes made in the performance of their duties, as well as for any nonconformity in their portion of the work.  

Since this essential task of organizing and coordinating the work site is central to the general contractor’s mandate, one might think that mentioning it in the contracts between the general contractor and a client or a subcontractor is unnecessary. Yet, several standard contracts such as CCDC-2 2008 (Stipulated Price Contract) and CCDC-5B 2010 (Construction Management Contract - for Services and Construction), to name a few, state that the general contractor shall “ensure the coordination of the activities and work of other contractors and its own with the construction of the Work” (clause 3.2.2.1). The Standard Form CCA-1 (Stipulated Price Subcontract) also uses the same wording, stating that the general contractor shall “coordinate the activities and work of the other Subcontractors and its own with the Subcontract Work” (clause 3.1.2.1).

Have Effective Management Tools  

While the concepts of “organization” and “coordination” are not specifically defined in the legislation or even in the main standard contracts, it is clear that these concepts encompass the planning and scheduling of the work assigned to the subcontractors, the ordering of materials, the communication of information with the various parties involved, the handling and resolution of issues on the site, the development and monitoring of the schedule, etc.  

As for the schedule, case law acknowledges that it is an essential and fundamental tool for the general contractor to organize and coordinate the work site. In a litigation context, the planning and management of the schedule by the general contractor will be key to the assessment of their obligation to organize and coordinate the work site. As a matter of fact, unless the general contractor is able to recover delays in a timely manner and avoid overruns that could have financial repercussions on the client or subcontractors, a deficient or poorly applied schedule could potentially lead to the general contractor’s liability. In this case, the onus will be on the general contractor to prove that they were not the cause of the disorganization; it will be up to the general contractor to defend their organization and coordination of the site.

Therefore, the general contractor has the obligation to manage the execution of the work efficiently, whether by making sure that the specialized contractors are involved at the right time or that their tasks do not conflict with those to be carried out by themselves or by others. It is, among other things, in the contractor’s best interest to have enough workers on site to carry out this coordination. For example, the Québec Superior Court has already determined the need to hold weekly meetings with subcontractors to coordinate the work site and to regularly follow-up on the schedule.

The organization and coordination of a construction site can be complex without the proper planning and monitoring tools. Continuous training of site personnel is also essential.

Nevertheless, even if a general contractor has efficient management tools and methods, they cannot plead due diligence to avoid a fault resulting from an organizational or coordination error, since they have an obligation of result (as opposed to an obligation of means).

Consequently, in the event of a mishap on the site caused by deficient planning of the work schedule, the general contractor may be liable to the subcontractor who is the victim, especially for the waiting or unnecessary mobilization costs, even if the general contractor manages to prove that they have a generally efficient information system with their subcontractors.

Finally, the general contractor must remember that the organization and coordination of the work site are part of their role and that they cannot delegate the responsibility for it. They are bound by an obligation of result which, unless they can prove a third party’s fault, considerably limits their ability to absolve themselves of the damaging consequences of a coordination mistake. Obviously, these principles must be applied on a case-by-case basis, given that each construction site has its own particularities.

For any question pertaining to the general contractor’s obligation to organize and coordinate a construction site, our construction litigation team will be glad to assist you in achieving your business goals.