What to Do When the Job Goes Wrong

Something will go wrong on each job. It's inevitable in custom remodeling. Almost equally inevitable is our tendency to seek someone to blame when things do go wrong. When something goes wrong and you decide to really blast somebody because of what they have done—which is really easy to do in construction—you get to be right for 60 seconds, but it can cost you hours of remorse. In addition, the other side of being right is that it creates somebody else who has to be wrong.

Blaming always creates problems on a construction site. If it was a bank transaction or a clothing purchase, the consequences of blaming would be minimal. The responsible party would fix the transaction and both parties would go on. Custom renovation is not so simple.

The Cancer of Home Improvement
In construction, when you blast somebody, the reality is that they are still going to be on your job. What you've done now is dressed down the very person you are relying on to do top quality work. Making them wrong when they still have a job to do doesn't benefit you as a homeowner. If you react strongly to a mistake made during your project, you're forced to live with the feelings your reaction causes. Word can spread. Tensions can begin to mount. It can become a form of job cancer. But there is a better way.

When you find a mistake, first find out why it happened. You are entitled to an immediate explanation. If there wasn't a specific reason to deviate from the blueprints—like a building code requirement—and you're not happy with what was done, let the contractor know you want the matter fixed according to the original plans and specifications. Mistakes happen and contractors are human like everyone else. A good contractor will acknowledge his or her mistake and correct it.

Keep Communication Open
Don't stop there, though. To head off additional mistakes that could happen later in the job, ask, "What can we do differently next time so that we don't have this kind of problem again?" If you approach the situation this way, cooperatively and non-threateningly, you not only sidestep the dangerous blame reflex, you reinforce your good relationship with your contractor. You also demonstrate a commitment to improving the construction process. Assessing what happened rather than assigning blame fosters project loyalty, protects job morale, and lets everyone on site know you're a team player.