[zumvette]

Being a GC, I can tell you that with one yr experience you will not survive. Being the person that has to supervise and coordinate all the other trades is a heavy task, depending on your project level. Im not a home builder nor do I work in Vancouver but I have built in Alberta and BC and can say that most "journeyman" trades still need to be babysat. I do T.I.'s ranging from small retail stores to restaurants like 2 Original Joes, Bento and Sushi, and an Arby's (I wasnt the gc on the arbys, I was still working for someone but was the site super).Like stated earlier by Soundy, an inexperienced tradesman (also overworked) can miss things and makes things snowball. That missed conduit can cause a nightmare. Cost on your end, miss a turnover date, displeased client or all of the above.

Quite often I hear subtrades saying oh being a GC is easy. What most people dont see when they leave after their 8hrs is up is all the work that gets done when theres no one to bother me. Installing backing, laying out lighting locations, cleaning, wall layout, shop drawings approval, finishing details, etc..... the list is literally endless.

In all honesty if your desire is to be a GC and own your company put your head down and work for someone willing to train you. When the day ends stay around, ask questions, ask to take on more of a work load, and you will see the results. Trying to take on a large job at first is a recipe for disaster. There are a million things to learn and once you have learnt all of those someone will show you a different route to the same result and then there are a million more things to learn. I learn everyday and you having to be willing to learn and listen to ideas on how to do things but possess the ability and know how to say that wont work.

Now be honest, if I were to hand you a set of plans and specs and asked you to price a job could you? Could you look over the plans and guess what each trade should be worth? (<--haha)Do you know what the market is like now? Could you layout a job? Do you know how plumbing works? How electrical needs to routed? Can you do every job at a site? A general needs to be able to do all jobs just in case. You dont have to all star at everything but if someone were to bail could you finish the scope of work? Would you know where to look to find the answers for anything? If you finding yourself saying no to most of these then find someone willing to train you.

This isnt a knock againist you or anybody else but I wouldnt open shop and build a big dollar engine because I have built the motor in my quad.