Why We Use Trade Partners

Trade Partners vs. Subcontractors vs. In-House Staffing

There are a variety of options for operationally completing a construction project. Contractors either use subcontractors or have a large variety of in-house labor to utilize. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

At Deane Home Services we have opted to utilize our subcontractors. We actually refer to them as Trade Partners. It is essentially a semantical difference but one that we think is important to emphasize and helps to set us apart.

In our opinion, a subcontractor is anyone that you hire to complete a designated task on a project. Might be someone you called based upon an internet search or someone you met at a supply house. These aren’t necessarily bad tradespeople, but they are just unknown. Maybe over time they will become someone that you can rely on and have success with but consistent use of unknown tradespeople or always looking to find the best price can lead to challenges on the jobsite. Most of our trade partners are companies that we use consistently and have cultivated relationships with over a long period of time or have come to us through recommendations of others that have used these tradespeople for a period of time. I have done business with some of my trade partners since I initially began Deane Home Services in 2017 and others long before that while working for other contractors. Proper installation of systems and finishes is important, but trust in the staff that are coming and going from a client’s home is equally important.

To us, that is what differentiates a subcontractor from a Trade Partner. A subcontractor is someone randomly selected to work on a project while, in our opinion, a trade partner is someone that understands our process and our vision for interactions with clients and the end result of our projects. 

There are also other legal requirements for certain trade partners. Primarily electrical and plumbing. There are code compliance certifications that these trade partners must follow along with a hierarchy of oversight to ensure safe and reliable installations. An apprentice works under the supervision of a journeyman. For electrical contractors, the journeyman then has an administrator that they work under and oversees the entire operation of their business. Each of these tradesmen has to have a certain number of hours in the field along with a series of tests they must pass and also complete continuing education units to ensure knowledge of basics and advances in the industry.

I am often asked, “How many employees do you have?” At this point the answer is, “None.” Actually, the answer is that there are 3 of us. Myself (operations), Sheri (admin, financials and client interactions) and Kendyl (marketing and admin assistance). We rely on our Trade Partners for 95% of the on-site production. There are a handful of items that just don’t warrant having a Trade Partner doing: general clean up, miscellaneous pickup and punchlist items. 

In the past we had as many as 4 employees. Why did we switch away from having in-house staffing? There are a variety of reasons but primarily it was a financial decision. There are a variety of task on any project that need to be completed: installing cabinets, millwork, flooring, tile, etc. Each of these areas requires a little different set of skills and tools to complete them. My employees had the skills necessary to complete these individual tasks, but I find it much more financially prudent to have an installer that does these things day after day to complete them. Prior to beginning the project, the Trade Partner provides their proposal, I add these proposals together and that is the cost of the project. If it takes them longer or there are challenges, my rate is the same (barring unforeseen conditions which would then require a ‘change order of necessity’ to correct the existing condition). If I have a crew on-site and they take longer than the allotted time to complete a task, then Deane Home Services absorbs the additional expense to complete the project. Not just the employee’s hourly rate but also the overhead associated with that employee (insurance, vehicle, indirect admin costs, travel expenses for material acquisition, etc). Using Trade Partners minimizes the opportunity for cost overages and labor overruns.

Through our experience and discussions with our consultants, The Aspire Institute, we made the difficult decision to forego in-house labor and focus solely on Trade Partners. I think we have a great group of Trade Partners that we rely on and get the job done on time and within budget. At the end of the day, not having inhouse labor not only creates less stress and uncertainty for Deane Home Services, it allows us the opportunity to provide a better value for a quality product.