Contractors pay practices reviewed in new database

A new database offers profiles of general contractors that include information on how fast or slowly they pay subcontractors.

The free service offered by Levelset provides in-depth information on industry payment practices based on data from various sources. To date, Levelset has published more than 7,700 contractor profiles, including revealing the payment behaviors of the 300 biggest U.S. general contractors. It plans to publish another 10,000 profiles over the next three months.

“This platform gives the public access to the largest contractors in the USA and the fastest paying contractors state-by-state,” according to a Levelset news release. “Contractors and suppliers are stressed about cash. Both are scared about not getting a fair shake from the other.”

A recent national construction survey found that:

● 75% of contractors said they wished they had a better understanding of how owners and general contractors were paying others on their job and in their markets.

● 69% of contractors would be more comfortable sharing payment terms if they could do so anonymously.

“For the first time ever, subs and suppliers can see the payment risk and reviews associated with General Contractors and take measures to avoid bad outcomes,” the release says. Reviews are anonymous to the public but verified through an internal process to ensure validity. “This helps GCs compete for the best subs by showing how much subs love working for them,” Levelset says.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.