Check what happened in the first hour
Check the agreed start time, latest confirmation, and conditions the crew needed before coming to site. Look for a message you missed. Confirm whether the owner, estimator, and foreman received the same information.
Check the site before calling the event a no-show. Verify access, preceding work, material readiness, and any approval required for this package. Record what you can observe. A locked site needs a different response from a crew missing a confirmed start at a ready site.
Call the assigned foreman, then the company contact who accepted the job. Ask where the crew is, whether it is coming, and when you will receive a firm update. State the site conditions and the start confirmation you have on record.
Use this factual message template:
The agreed start for [package] is [date and time]. The crew is not on site, and [readiness condition] is complete. Please confirm whether you can start, which crew is assigned, and when we can expect your next update. [Following activity] depends on this work.
Avoid sending an angry group message before you know the cause. Have one person handle the calls about getting work moving again. Save the contact attempts and replies in the job record.
Secure the site and protect unfinished work
Walk the absent crew’s work areas. Identify openings, unfinished protection, unstable materials, or other conditions requiring attention. Have the responsible site professional decide what to secure and what work to stop.
Do not give technical work to another crew just because it is on site. Confirm competence, authority, scope, and safety arrangements before assigning work. Keep any temporary protection distinct from permanent installation and from the missing firm’s obligations.
For envelope work, ask which interfaces remain incomplete. PNNL’s roof-to-wall flashing guide describes coordinating roofing and wall work to maintain the drainage plane. If that interface is exposed, obtain the appropriate protection and inspection decision rather than assuming a finished roof means the wall is protected.
Photograph existing conditions before another firm changes them. Record materials on site, completed areas, and work awaiting approval. Keep ownership and permitted use of materials under the agreement. Ask your construction attorney when possession or replacement work creates a dispute.
Notify affected trades, suppliers, and the owner
List the starts, deliveries, and inspections the missing work affects. Contact those parties before they travel, dispatch, or cover an incomplete area. Tell them what happened and when you will make the next decision.
Scroll to read all columns.
| Party | Information to provide | Decision to request |
|---|---|---|
| Following trade | What preceding work remains and which areas are available | Whether its start must change or an independent area can proceed |
| Supplier or dispatcher | Whether the site can receive the planned delivery | Whether to hold, redirect, or confirm delivery under its terms |
| Inspection authority | Actual readiness for the requested inspection | How to change the request through the approved process |
| Owner or homeowner | The work affected and the next confirmed update | Any access or occupancy change requiring agreement |
| Your project team | Facts, responsibilities, and unresolved questions | One person to coordinate the restart and an updated work sequence |
Check the inspection authority’s rules before promising cancellation. Raleigh’s residential inspection page says field staff cannot cancel on the inspection day and describes a fee for same-day cancellation or rescheduling. Use the applicable local process; do not assume a call to the inspector changes the booking.
Tell people what is known and what is pending. If the crew has not supplied a recovery time, say that. Avoid replacing an unconfirmed start with another unconfirmed promise.
Choose between a revised start and a replacement
Ask the original sub for a plan to get the work moving. Ask which crew will come, when it can start, what it will do first, and what you must have ready. Check that plan against the delayed work and your project obligations.
Check the proposed replacement crew’s commitments before accepting a recovery date.
If the revised start is workable, confirm it in writing with the responsible contact. Update the following trades and material appointments. Decide when to reconfirm readiness so another misunderstanding does not reach the field.
If replacement is necessary, review the subcontract’s notice and termination provisions with the responsible professional. Do not assume a missed start automatically permits charging another firm’s entire price to the incumbent. Handle contract decisions separately from securing the site and restarting work.
Set a deadline for your own decision based on the project need. Tell the sub when you must decide whether to change the plan. Record the outcome and who received notice, without inventing a universal grace period.
Give a replacement the actual remaining package
Call the screened backup first. Send the current drawings, site photos, work completed, unresolved conditions, and inspections. Ask whether the replacement must inspect the installed work before pricing what remains.
Ask it to separate assessment, corrections, completion, and temporary protection. Agree who checks and accepts the existing work and who decides what repairs it needs. Identify whether materials can be used and who checks them.
If the bench is empty, use your peers, supplier contacts, and company searches. Procore Construction Network offers trade and location searches for finding companies. Confirm that each candidate takes the residential package and can assess the partial work.
Match the replacement’s contracting entity to applicable licensing evidence. The NC GC board FAQ distinguishes the licensed entity from its qualifier. Resolve any mismatch with the relevant board before treating the candidate as cleared.
Run required credential and insurance checks before award. Request current evidence from the producer or insurer. In North Carolina, a COI does not enlarge the referenced policy. Have your licensed agent address the replacement package’s requirements.
Do not skip scope review because the candidate can visit quickly. Agreeing to visit the site does not mean the sub has accepted the installation. Get a written proposal, resolve exclusions, and confirm the crew before announcing a new start.
Decide whether to use the original sub again
After the site is stable, review the event with the firm. Ask what went wrong, when it could have warned you, and what it will do differently next time. Compare that account with your messages and site record.
Consider severity, repeated events, communication, and recovery performance. Set your own acceptance conditions. A corrected readiness mistake calls for a different action from repeated missed commitments with no useful response.
Record the facts in your trade list: the agreed date, actual arrival or cancellation, reason reported, notice received, and corrective action. Separate the firm’s statement from your observation. Avoid labels that imply misconduct you have not established.
If you place the firm on hold, record what must happen before another award. If the relationship ends, preserve the job and contract records. Use the backup bench process to find a backup for that trade before your next project.
Confirm the start the day before
Use a day-before call to check the plan while you can still change dispatch and following work. Bayfair includes following agreed timelines and scope in its trade-partner criteria. The routine below is a recommended way to make that agreement specific. It does not guarantee attendance.
Ask the company contact to confirm the date, arrival window, assigned crew, field lead, and any condition still preventing mobilization. Check the same plan with the field lead. Have your superintendent confirm access, preceding work, drawings, materials, and the areas released for work.
Send one written recap to those contacts:
Please confirm [crew and field lead] for [package and site] at [arrival window] tomorrow. [Readiness items] are complete; [open item] remains with [owner and decision time]. Tell [superintendent/contact] before dispatch if anything changes.
Save the reply, sender, time, and unresolved conditions in the job record. A sent message or unanswered voicemail is not confirmation. If the company and field lead give different answers, resolve them before releasing dependent work.
If confirmation is missing by your chosen decision time, escalate to the person who controls the crew assignment. Tell the superintendent and affected trades that the start remains unconfirmed. Review a screened backup’s options and any inspection change under the contract and local process. Do not announce a replacement until it accepts the scope and start.
Raleigh’s inspection procedure restricts same-day cancellation and rescheduling. Include inspection readiness in the previous day’s review. Use the review to catch an unconfirmed crew or missing site condition before the start. This review does not establish a reduction in no-shows.
Use the subcontractor search process to place this check within the wider candidate search.
Where Cercha fits
Cercha’s Search, portfolios, builder endorsements, and Messages offer another route to a potential replacement contact. Confirm the member’s current crew availability and the remaining scope directly. Keep site recovery, contracts, and inspection decisions in your project process. Ask about the beta.