Contractor

A general contractor is a group or individual that contracts with another organization or individual (the owner) for the construction, renovation or demolition of a building, road or other structure. A general contractor is defined as such if it is the signatory as the builder of the prime construction contract for the project.

A general contractor usually is responsible for the supplying of all material, labor, equipment, (engineering vehicles and tools) and services necessary for the construction of the project. To do this it is common for the general contractor to subcontract part of the work to other persons and companies that specialize in these types of work. These are called subcontractors.

General contractors conducting work for government agencies are typically referred to as prime contractors. The responsibilities of a prime contractors working under a contract are essentially identical to those outlined above. In many cases, prime contractors will delegate portions of the contract work to subcontractors.

In the United Kingdom and certain former British Commonwealth countries the term 'general contractor' was gradually superseded by 'main contractor' during the early twentieth century. This followed the practice of major professional, trade and consumer organisations issuing standard forms of contract for undertaking the variety of construction works spanning the whole spectrum of the industry. It was and is usual for the term main contractor to be used and defined in all these contract documents, and as a result the term general contractor became an anachronism

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