Osman Construction Co, LLC

I recently had the opportunity to work with Osman Construction on a commercial space remodel. During the bidding process I was impressed with the friendliness and attention to detail that they presented. Because of these things I chose Osman Construction for the job. I soon realized that Osman was not a construction company but they were a Jobber company. Everything that was done in the space was done by subcontractors. Now I understand that most construction companies use subcontractors to do jobs, but Osman struggled with accurate communication with these subcontractors on a regular basis. Their foreman on the site would show up early in the morning and open the doors for the subcontractors and was rarely around to answer any questions that arose throughout the day. There were many times when I would stop by and answer questions and then call the foreman about what needed to be done or what questions they were having. One of the days I was at the space I listed to a conversation that the foreman had with 2 subcontractors telling them that they needed to do jobs that they were not subcontracted for. The subcontractors told them that they do not feel comfortable doing those jobs, and the foreman said they don't have to be good they just need to get done. I had a conversation about the this with the owner and got the sense that it would be handled and the he would take care of it. I can not say that the situation was rectified but I can say that it was completed.
My biggest point of frustration with Osman came when installing the 12 doors in the space. The doors were installed improperly the first time and when questioned about it I was told that they were just fine. I continued to question them about them and finally the owner came out to look at them to see for himself what I was talking about. When he came out they removed the doors and reinstalled them. They were again installed incorrectly and when questioned about them I was told aesthetically they do not look pretty but they function correctly. At this time I was extremely frustrated with the construction abilities of Osman and started to reach out to the door manufacturer to get questions answered. When an appointment was sent with the manufacturer to come out and inspect the doors Osman came out to promptly and install the doors for a third time. Throughout this process I lost all confidence in any and all construction abilities that they might have had. When it came to installing handrails in the bathrooms they used drywall anchors because they did not put the backing in the right places. The trim could not be nailed in because there was nothing for it to be nailed to so it is put up with construction adhesive. This list of construction screw ups goes on for a long time and way too many to list
When it came down to the punch list at the end of the remodel the lack of care and attention to detail was astounding. I had to make it a daily task to walk around the space with post it notes to mark areas that needed attention and fixing. I also would write all of these in emails to the owner per his request. During the last month of the remodel I had made it clear to the owner that I had little to no faith in the skills of his foreman and that he needed to handle these situations. The owner continued to have his foreman on the job and rarely came into the remodel to check on the work that was being done even during many of the construction mishaps that went on.
In the end would I recommend Osman Construction? I have to answer this in two parts. Would I recommend the subcontractors that Osman Construction put together? Yes. Would I recommend Osman Construction? NO! The guys at Osman are some of the nicest guys that I have worked with but what I have learned is that nice does not equal skill.