Is this guy psychotic?

[Stelth]

OK, I think I may have mentioned in the past that I'm a construction trade contractor. I have a very small business, normally having between 1 and 4 employees. The most I've ever had is 7. I am able to do light commercial work with a crew this size, and I've been moving more toward commercial work in the last few years.

My current "main" project is shell work for a strip mall, i.e., the building is being built, but the interior work for the tenants will be left to them.

The general contractor is also a relatively small outfit, that does one job at a time, as far as I can tell. The problem I'm running into is that, as experienced as these guys are, they are incapable of supplying a schedule to the subs, and both the owner of the company and his superintendent are on the job, and there is no coordination between them. Not only that, but the superintendent seems to be laying traps for people, so that he can shout at them.

The superintendent, S____, gave me some information at the beginning of the job, regarding the dimensions of the building as represented on the plans, and certain things indicated on the plans that he thought would be unnecessary for me to do. Unfortunately, I followed his advice, and he made a big show of telling me how unprofessional I was by doing things the way I had done them, and that he would never tell anyone to do things that way. I caught on, and when I got some further advice from him on not doing a particular thing that was indicated on the plans, I did it anyway, and everything worked out. It has become obvious that this is some sort of game he plays. On another occasion, he told me that we would be unable to work in a particular section of the building for a couple of days, since it was being spray painted. I asked him if we could start some work on the next section. No, he said, that area won't be ready for you yet. Fine, I sent my guys off to other places, and sat down to do some paperwork. He called me on the first day I didn't show up, saying that if I knew anything at all about commercial construction, I would be there working on the section of the building that I had asked him about. And, of course, he uses all manner of insulting language and drops f-bombs all over the place. The owner is no help, as he has his own uh, idiosyncracies, and tends to defend S____.

I actually began to doubt myself somewhat, and talked to some of the other subcontractors. They've had similar experiences, so it's not just me.

I'm starting to think that the guy's a little nuts. He's not just on a power trip, he actively tries to get people to make mistakes, so that he can tell them what a bunch of stupid schlubs they are. You absolutely can't trust anything he tells you without witnesses present.

 

[spasm3]

Sounds like a conversation needs to happen with the general contractor.

 

[yonyon]

I know of two people who are like this. The next time he tells you to do something that's wrong, immediately start shouting and telling him why you can't do that and use a lot of profanity. If he takes issue with this hold your ground and continue to argue until he backs down. If it goes on for a while, act hysterical and start spouting nonsensical extreme exaggerations. Don't forget that if he gets his way, the unions will elect communists to run the country and then where will we be? Eventually he'll have a chance to play the part of being the cool rational one and let you have it your way. Offer to buy him lunch. That should buy you close to a week before he does it again.

 

[fdcg27]

You sometimes run into this type of power-tripping fool.
You have just done so.
Is the guy psychotic?
No, he's what used to be called a sociopath, and would now be called a psychopath.
He really doesn't think he's doing anything wrong, since he is a pathological liar and doesn't recognize you or anyone else as a real human being.
I'd have a talk with the general contractor, and I'd communicate with this guy only through emails.
That would make it hard for him to deny what he said to your face.

 

[hattaresguy]

First question, how bad do you need the job and do they pay their bills?

If you don't need the money tell them to stuff it and leave.

If they pay their bills and you need the money suck it up.

I run job sites like this every day in my company; depending on what's going on I may have 4-5 job sites going with every kind of sub contractor you can name. I'd never in a million years disrespect one of them like that GC is doing to you, and if a GC that worked for me did that he would be fired on the spot. I hire good guys, pay them, respect them, and expect good work and timely scheduling in return.

So its really up to you, at this point on putting up with their [censored].

BTW what trade do you work in?

 

[JHZR2]

It sounds to me that the OP has never had any of the basis of work plan or what would be done in writing.

I'd make the case to the crazy guy that given the disagreements and disconnects that have occurred, that everything is going to be agreed upon in person the day or week before being worked upon, signed by both parties with notes regarding the execution reviewed immediately before the start of work.

Id tack on an additional man hour of labor each week and have a paper trail.

 

[mechtech2]

When he next talks to you, tell him to stop a minute and get your cell phone out to record what he says.
Tell him to his face that he changes his mind, and this time you won't be fooled.
Even if there is no recorder device on the phone, he won't know.

 

[JimPghPA]

I once worked for an engineering company that was owned by three people who all had equal shares of ownership.

One of them was the person who invented the main item the company was based on, and he would stay in his office near the front of the building and be in phone contact with potential customers all day. Weeks would go by and you would never see him.

The other two over saw the engineers, draftsmen, parts ordering, construction, testing, and shipping.

One day the 1/3 owner who stayed in the front office came back and asked how long would it take to do a specific type of job for a specific customer. My boss (another of the 1/3 owners) tells him that that job would be two weeks work for all of the engineering staff. Two weeks later that 1/3 owner from the front office comes back and asks if that specific job was finished and ready to ship. My boss replied no, you only asked how long that job would take, you did not tell us to start work on that job.

There was also a time when that person in the front office over stepped his position and issued a job number for a quote, and we ended up with two companies with two different jobs, both with the same job number.

Also when you are dealing with someone who is not fitting into the standard way people behave, sometimes that person is using some kind of drug be it alcohol or narcotics, and while they may not be using that drug on the job, they are going through withdraw while they are on the job, and therefore are in a very disagreeable mood, and no mater who you are, or how well you perform, they are looking to get into some kind of a disagreement with anyone around them.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It does sound like you need to cover your assets, and have some kind of documentation for anything that person sets you up to do that is outside of what one would consider normal.

 

[Trajan]

Camcorders are your friend.

 

[morris]

get him to put EVERNYTHINK in wrighting.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: morris
get him to put EVERYTHING in writing.



^ This.


He's an idiot; no sense escalating everything.

 

[Stelth]

Thanks, guys. I wasn't really looking for advice, although most of the advice offered here seems good. I really wanted to know what you thought of this guy. I've gotten used to a certain amount of head games from general contractors and/or superintendents, but this guy has taken it to a whole new level. We're getting close to the end, and while I won't be doing any work for this contractor in the future, I do intend to finish this one.

 

[bigmike]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Y
Is the guy psychotic?
No, he's what used to be called a sociopath, and would now be called a psychopath.


This. I run into it every so often. Sociopaths rarely know they are one.

 

[Tempest]

Unfortunately, this personality type seems quite common in the construction trades. I don't typically deal with them myself, but PM's usually have plenty of stories to tell and it often results in more work for us.

Get everything in writing as has been said above.

This guy is probably just on a power trip that his position allows him to be on.

 

[rjundi]

Sounds like the typical construction outfits I have worked with in the past that eventually go belly up. I was a resident engineer for many public projects.

The professionals hire educated or highly experienced folks to run the jobs. Not yahoo's.

The important thing really as a sub(feel bad for guys) are you getting paid? Or is that another set of head games.