The General Contractor - Subcontractor Relationship: towards Building a Balanced Approach

Abstract

Subcontracting is a common practice in the construction industry. It offers several benefits to the project itself as well as the project parties. Despite its advantages, the subcontracting practices have also negatively affected the working relationship between the main contractor and the subcontractor. Such practices are well addressed in the literature review which also described the nature of the relationship between the two parties and paved the road for an unbalanced and onesided type relation. This research aims at validating this hypothesis through offering a critical analysis of the literature to highlight the instances where an unbalanced relationship exists. The study will also investigate whether disputes related to subcontract emanate as a result of this relationship. To further support this argument, extensive examination of case law reviews involving main contractor – subcontractor related disputes is conducted to filter out those where an unbalanced relation depicts itself. To this end, the subcontracting practices that should be revisited are highlighted, and better practices are proposed to improve this relationship, and ultimately mitigate disputes.