It happens in different ways; sometimes there’s an unexpected delay in an ongoing project, which makes it overlap with the next one. Other times, a great opportunity comes by, and there’s not enough people to get it done. In both cases, because of the variability of the construction business, hiring more people on a payroll is not convenient because it increases expenses, requires time and effort in training, and also means they have to be paid just the same when the seasonal workload winds down.
Another option is searching for, and hiring an independent subcontractor. In general, these are single-crew teams, which means that, in the event they don’t show up, or if their work proves to be substandard, there’s no plan B. Also, there is the added task of making sure they follow the required safety standards in order to avoid penalties and liabilities.
From the subcontractor perspective, a single-crew team doesn’t have marketing, or sales people, so it often happens that when they’re performing a job, they don’t have time to look for the next one, so they’re found having idle weeks on a regular basis. It also happens that they may know the labor part, but generally aren’t experts on the business side, which may lead to problems along the road regarding the terms of the agreements.