March 23, 2012
3:22 pm
by: Marcus

Perfect subcontracting

Plaster sheets (drywall) being delivered by handThis plaster delivery is a perfect example of the subcontract system. These young blokes are going to set the world on fire through hard work and long hours. They get paid by the amount they get done not just by the time they put in.

On one of my current projects, which we call the  170dayHouse,  we recently had a plaster delivery. Plasterboard comes on the back of a truck and  this load weighed seven metric tonnes.   That is a lot of weight in anybody’s book.  The two young blokes who delivered it ran from the truck into the job and back again.  They are clearly being paid by the metre and they are  the perfect example of the sub contract system.

Plaster delivery of sheets up to 6metres longHow much would you expect to pay to get someone to move seven tonnes of plasterboard? The answer to that question is quite simple it’s around 50 cents a square metre. And seven tonnes of plaster is over 1000 m². Basically they will move that truckload of plaster for about $500.  If they get their skates on they can do 3 or 4 loads,  on a good day….

As a builder this is a good deal for me because plaster delivered anywhere in the metropolitan area costs the same amount. As long as I know the  meterage I can calculate the cost.  I will pay a little for a second storey pass up but mostly the cost is static. The cost to hang and stop that material is also based on a squre metre rate.

Plasterboard being stacked against a wallMy plastering contractor knows the cost of his material, the cost of his delivery, and the cost to hang and stop.  he will pay about $6 a metre to buy the board including the delivery that we’ve talked about above. He’ll then pay about $14 a metre to have the board hung, stopped and sanded ready to paint. It is a nearly perfect sub contracting system.

Plaster board (dry wall) stacked against wall after deliveryThe only hidden cost in all this is the cost on the backs of the two young blokes doing the delivery. You can’t do this  sort of work forever.   Realistically you can expect your back to be ruined by lifting these sorts of weights every day in about ten years. When it gets ruined, it stays ruined.

 

I’m always amazed by what people will  sacrifice to earn  their living.

 

 

 

Category(s): By Marcus, profile piece, technical matters
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  • EnergyVanguard

    When I was building a house in the States ten years ago, the 3 guys who delivered what you call plaster – we call it drywall – performed amazing feats of lifting. Well, actually 2 of the 3 did. The third wasn’t quite as fit. 

    I’d never built a house before, so I didn’t leave them a way to use the lift to get the drywall to the 2nd floor, so they had to carry it upstairs by hand. The amazing feat that 2 of them performed was carrying 2 sheets at a time up the stairs — by themselves. The dimensions were 1/2″ x 4′ x 12′, or 13 mm x 1.2 m x 3.7 m, and each load weighed nearly 75 kg.

    Yeah, you’re probably right, Marcus. I doubt any of them is still doing that today.

    • marcusttaylor

      Alison, we had one deliverer who would carry two, 20 foot long sheets on his own. He had to walk the path a few times first because the sheets bent so far that he couldn’t see where he was going! Subcontracting nirvana.