Join the club! We haven't seen ours GC for 3 months! Yes, that's right 3 months! He doesn't respond to our emails or phone messages. We found out he was a storm chaser after the contract was signed. He is still out of town.

We deal with his supervisor, who has been sympathetic but is overwhelmed and overworked, and is often out of town himself. We are in month 9 of a 6-8 month contract.

After the first 3 months we started paying the subs directly, as GC was not getting lien releases and was caught lying about having paid them. We have even had to find our own subs for some of the jobs.

Hopefully we'll be done by the end of the year!

Gee, DH and I were just talking about this today. Our GC comes out about once a week, and only because we call him. Talked to the guy who put our gas logs in today and he said that that GC's "should" be at the site at least once a day. That would be so nice. At a house they are building in our neighborhood, the super stays out there all day. I wish we would have gone with that GC.

Phew! Looks like I am not the only one! Thanks for your quick responses. Misery likes company! One thing I hate is actually having to find my own subs...that just seems, well, Wrong.

You can fire him! Your doing his job and you haven't given 'eem da boot? It's your money!

We have been blessed. Our GC provided a supervisor that is at the site every day. We have even ran into him when we go out on Week-ends. The GC is on site a minimum of once a week or anytime there is something to discuss.

We also met with each sub at the beginning of their phase to answer any questions instead of putting the GC in the middle. Of course the sup is there to hear the questions and answers.

i think we're pretty fortunate... ours is here daily. today he spent seven or eight hours on site. he has some other jobs going on, but ours is the the only build. other people in town are doing media rooms and other smaller upgrades.
he usually calls every night if i don't see him during the day. ok, i officially adore the man!

True, firing him is, or was, a possibility. Where we are close to being done, it really wouldn't be worth it. I can say that I won't ever put up with it again, however. It's amazing what I have learned in the last few months! Ugh. It is good, however, to hear that other GC's do what they are supposed to be doing!

Our GC was never there, it should be hint #1 that something isn't right, take all steps to protect yourself.
We finally fired our completely MIA, inept GC have many 1000's lost or stolen, shoddy, work, lying, etc. This is not a move the bank liked, but after paying him 1/2 of his huge fee we had had it. We now are of course dealing with his attorney. We have filed a formal complaint with the CCB & will easily be able to prove he was negligent on many fronts.
Not a route that is fun tot take, but the alternative is to sit & let him get away with this crap.

I can't say I would ever have a GC again ( if I was indeed crazy enough to build again), This has been awful. I will also say our 1st "reputable builder" stole 30, 000 from us & then filed bankruptcy.

I have a bad taste in my mouth for GC's right now. Don't want to offend anyone, but the truth in our state is that is a highly unregulated field & a dishonest GC can & often does get the best of a homeowner.
We did our due diligence by accepting a builder that the bank approved. Big mistake. I now know so much I didn't before. It's too late for us but believe me... my biggest advice for homeowners getting ready to build is RESEARCH YOUR GC.

These sound like nightmares!!! You are paying the GC a lot of money - stop doing his/her job!!

Very fortunate here, our GC is on site at least a couple times/week, more during certain portions of the build. He only build 4-5 custom homes per year, so remains very focused and is always available.