Every big project has two layers: the general contractor who runs the job, and the subcontractors — electricians, plumbers, tile setters — who do most of the physical work. Understanding the split tells you where your money goes and when you can safely skip a layer.
The general contractor owns the schedule, pulls permits under their license, hires and pays the subs, coordinates inspections, and is contractually the single throat to choke when anything goes wrong. For that they charge 10–20% of the project — on a $60,000 remodel, $6,000–$12,000.
Subcontractors are licensed specialists who bid their slice: rough plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall, tile, paint. They answer to the GC, not to you — which is efficient until you try to change something mid-job. Change requests must flow through the GC or you create two versions of the truth on-site.
If your project involves one or two trades in sequence — say flooring then paint — hiring subs directly saves the GC markup, and platforms like ConstructHelp make finding vetted trades easy. Three or more overlapping trades, structural work, or anything permitted-and-inspected is where self-managing costs more in mistakes than the GC fee would have been.
If a GC collects your payment but stiffs the subs, unpaid subs can lien YOUR home. Protection: collect lien waivers with every payment. If you hire subs directly, you pay each one and get waivers yourself. Milestone escrow adds another layer — funds release only when work is approved.
Post your project once — verified, insured local pros send you free competing quotes, and escrow protects every payment.
Get 3 Free QuotesYes on paper — you save the GC’s 10–20%. It pays off only when you can schedule trades correctly, handle permits, and absorb the coordination time. Sequencing mistakes erase the savings fast.