Months pass as construction managers and general contractors haggle with owners or team up to criticize subs. And a prime contractor may propose a closeout payment at a fraction of the value of the work. Subcontractors' paperwork is often scrutinized for flaws and general contractors and construction managers may concoct back-charges without documentation, subs say. The process is a rotten one. Va. But by then many of the original players have moved on and memories fade.
Complexity often leads to trouble.
That is partly what made the change orders and project closeout difficult for the steel erection subcontractor on the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The planetarium had an unusual spherical structure and a several levels of pay review in a construction manager, a museum and a private funding source. McNulty finished its work in early 1999, according to sources familiar with the project, but more than a half million dollars went unpaid for 18 months. Michael Markham, a Phoenix-based paving and grading and sewer contractor, feels armed and capable of dealing with prime contractors that want to hold onto his money. It forces us to pay smaller subcontractors ourselves, although we haven't been paid, but it also makes us get much firmer in our position on extras.