Every investor preparing a production facility, a warehouse, or an agro-industrial complex arrives at the same question: do I contract the designer, the steel structure supplier, the foundation company, and the installers separately, or do I entrust everything to a single contractor? The second option is called general contracting, and in recent years it has become the preferred model for medium and large industrial construction.

What General Contracting Actually Is

The general contractor is the company that signs a single contract with the client for delivering the project and takes responsibility for the final result. It may perform part of the work with its own crews and may hire subcontractors for specialty work, but toward the investor it alone is accountable: for schedule, cost, quality, and conformity with the design.

In the extended version, often called “turnkey,” the contractor also takes on the design, obtaining technical approvals, procurement, construction, commissioning, and support during acceptance. The client receives a building ready for operation, not a set of contracts to coordinate.

Main Advantages for the Investor

A Single Point of Responsibility

When the work is split among several contractors, every problem turns into a discussion about “whose fault it is.” The foundation doesn't match the anchor bolt plan? The sandwich panels arrived before the structure? Under general contracting, such mismatches are the contractor's problem, not the investor's.

A More Predictable Budget

The contract is usually based on a detailed cost estimate or a lump-sum price for a defined scope of work. The risk of discovering “forgotten” costs at the interface between two contractors drops considerably. Changes arise only when the client changes the requirements or when unforeseen conditions occur, and these are handled through clear change orders.

Shorter Timelines

A contractor that controls the entire chain can overlap the stages: while the foundations are being poured, the steel structure is already being fabricated in the shop, and the roofing and cladding have been ordered. This parallel planning can shorten the overall project duration by several weeks or even months, depending on complexity.

Less Internal Bureaucracy

The investor no longer needs an in-house team to coordinate the site on a daily basis. A technical representative or a site supervisor who monitors quality and approves progress statements is enough.

What a Good General Contracting Agreement Should Include

  • A clearly defined scope – the design documentation, technical specifications, and the limits of supply (what is and is not included in the price).
  • The construction schedule with intermediate milestones and handover dates.
  • Payment terms – advance payment, payments based on monthly progress statements or by stage, retainage.
  • The change procedure – how additional work is requested, assessed, and approved.
  • Warranties – the warranty period for the work and for equipment, as well as remediation obligations.
  • Penalties and responsibilities that are balanced for both parties.

When General Contracting Is Not the Best Choice

For small, simple jobs – a canopy or a roof repair, for example – a direct contract with a specialized contractor may be more economical. Likewise, if the investor already has an experienced technical team and wants to negotiate each work package separately, it can opt for in-house project management. However, for a complete industrial building, with foundations, structure, roofing and cladding, and building systems, the advantages of a single responsible party usually outweigh the apparent savings from fragmentation.

Rule of thumb: the more interfaces between trades a project has, the greater the value of a general contractor who manages them all.

How to Choose a General Contractor

Check its portfolio of similar completed projects, its in-house production capacity, and its equipment fleet. A contractor that fabricates its own steel structures and has its own cranes and transport depends less on third parties and has better control over schedules. Ask for references from previous clients and, if possible, visit a site where work is in progress.

S.A. COLASS has been operating since 1995 as a general contractor for industrial and agro-industrial construction, with in-house design, its own steel structure fabrication shop, and its own equipment fleet.

Planning an industrial building or a warehouse? Contact the Colass team at +373 78 30 40 40 or visit us at 8 Uzinelor St., Chișinău, to discuss your project and get a general contracting proposal.