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Difficult conversations

Telling a trade their work has to come out

By Review.LivePublished 3 min readHow we write

An empty pail in the level 2 corridor gives it away: liquid waterproofing membrane, from a manufacturer not on the approved submittal. The retreat centre's showers are specified with a sheet membrane, flood-tested before tile. Six showers on this floor are already tiled over the liquid product, and none was tested.

Tiles have been removed from part of an empty room's wall.
Photo: Mathias Reding on Unsplash

Get a firm decision first, then tell the trade in person and in plain words, with the requirement and the evidence side by side; agree the next steps and confirm them in writing that day. A trade hears "it has to come out" as lost money and a verdict on its work. Softened news starts a stand-off: they argue their product is just as good, or wait for you to back down.

  1. Stop it spreading: no more of that work goes in until it is settled.
  2. Assemble the evidence: the specification, the approved submittal, photos, labels and delivery tickets. Check that nobody on your side approved the switch.
  3. Get the decision in writing from whoever the contract gives it to, often the consultant, and record it in a nonconformance report.
  4. Meet whoever can commit crews and money — the trade's owner or project manager — with the foreman, at the work.
  5. Say it in the first sentence, show the evidence, then listen: their reason may matter later.
  6. Agree the plan, not the bill — removal, protection, re-inspection, the test, dates — and confirm it in writing that day. Cost goes through the subcontract; see back charges.

At shower 203

  1. You:The tile in showers 201 to 206 has to come out. The membrane isn't the approved system, and none was flood-tested.
  2. Tile subcontractor:Our membrane's as good as theirs.
  3. You:Maybe, but it isn't what was approved. Here's the submittal, and here's your pail.
  4. Tile subcontractor:So who pays?
  5. You:That goes through the subcontract, in writing. Today I need a crew and a start date.

Common mistakes

  • Hinting, so the trade hopes it will pass.
  • Telling only the foreman, who can't commit a crew.
  • Arguing about who pays before the plan is agreed.

Action list

When work has to come out

  1. List every place with the same problem
  2. Photograph the labels beside the approved submittal
  3. Ask for the consultant's decision in writing today
  4. Book 30 minutes at the work with the trade's owner
  5. Write your first sentence: what comes out, and why

Check your understanding

The tile subcontractor's owner offers a ten-year warranty on his membrane if the tile can stay. Can you accept it?

Show the answer
Not on your own. Send the warranty offer to the authorized decision-maker and record the decision on the nonconformance report. Ask whether a hold is permitted; the offer itself does not suspend the existing removal direction.

Sources

  1. Construction general conditions, GC3.10 – Defective WorkFisheries and Oceans Canada · Canada, federal (one department's standard construction conditions, dated April 13, 2011; an example only — your own contract governs) · accessed
  2. FAR 52.246-12, Inspection of ConstructionU.S. General Services Administration (Acquisition.gov) · United States (federal fixed-price construction contracts; an example only — your own contract governs) · accessed

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