Labor Shortage Being Felt by Builders and Buyers

By LEW SICHELMAN

July 12, 1998 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

WASHINGTON —

If you’re having trouble getting your builder to come back and fix those sticky doors, loose floor tiles and other annoying little problems, you’re not alone. New-home buyers everywhere are experiencing the same thing.

Not because builders have decided all of a sudden to stop responding to their buyers’ pleas. Rather, they are simply unable to react as quickly to them as they once did. The culprit: labor; more precisely, the lack thereof.

The nation’s economic and housing expansion has driven the unemployment rate in the construction sector to its lowest level since 1970, and home buyers are paying the price--in more ways than one.

The labor shortage has already forced up construction costs and dragged out production schedules. And now, according to the National Assn. of Home Builders, it is starting to have an effect on the frequency and cost of customer-service “call-backs” and on builders’ response times.

“The extremely tight labor market inevitably has made call-backs a more serious issue,” says David Seiders, the home builders’ chief economist. “Many builders have implemented procedures to minimize the frequency and severity of call-backs, but they continue to be a nagging issue, particularly for the larger firms.”

Nearly nine out of 10 builders responding to a recent home builders’ association survey reported a lack of skilled labor. As a result, the average number of problems per customer has risen to four.

That may not seem like many, but 12 months ago the average for the entire decade was three, so the number of call-backs is up 25%. Worse, more than a third of the bigger builders are reporting at least six problems per house.

Most of the problems are minor, builders say. But the average cost to the builder is $332, up 7% from $309 last year and 17% from $283 in 1996. And for a third of the larger builders, the cost has risen to $500 or more. Only 12% of the smaller builders report costs that high.

Further, the average response time has reached nine days, up from eight in 1997 and six in 1996. And it now takes more than three weeks to react to some calls.

Builders everywhere, large and small, are coping with labor shortages as well as they can, and the question for home buyers is how to deal with the problem. Here are some suggestions:

* Be patient. “Don’t read into this that your builder doesn’t care,” advises Ken Klein, a builder and remodeler from Tulsa, Okla.

“In most cases, it’s not a question of intent. It’s not whether or not they want to make things right. They do. But most subs and suppliers worth anything are extremely busy, and we are dependent upon these people.”

Most builders require the subcontractors who did the original work to follow up on call-backs, so if they are having trouble finding quality workers in the first place, you know they will have difficulty getting subs to go back and make repairs.

Larger builders often send their own maintenance crews. Because the number of repairs is on the upswing, they, too, are having difficulty keeping up.

* Try to remain rational. If you start yelling at people and making threats--”If you’re not here in two days, I’m going to sue” is a familiar refrain--you’re going to wind up at the bottom of the list.

“It continues to amaze me,” says Carol Smith, a home builders’ customer-relations expert from Monument, Colo. “People throw their weight around to get attention, but it often goes the other way. People who are nice and bend over backward are the first to get service.

“Remember, construction people have feelings, too. Hey, it’s a good possibility the person who comes to fix the problem is not the person who created it. The attitude you display toward them will be returned in kind.”

Be realistic. Separate the emergencies from the non-emergencies.

Phone in the plumbing leaks and other rush problems. Also call in the nonemergency items that could become emergencies--missing roof shingles, for example--if they are not attended to right away.

But put the non-emergencies, such as a dry-wall glitch, down on paper and mail them to the builder at the proper time.

Smith suggests that you document everything, even if the builder is willing to take complaints over the phone. “Put it in writing, date it and sign it; it’s just good business,” she said. “You’ve done it that way throughout the entire home-buying process, so don’t stop now.”

Remember to include your full name, address and phone number. That may seem like a simple thing, but when she was a customer-service representative for a major builder, Smith once received a list of legitimate gripes signed “Judy.”

“I had 1,500 homeowners,” she recalled, “so all I could do was put the list under my paperweight and wait for her to get angry enough to call.”

In cataloging the problems, make sure you are as clear as you can possibly be. “Describe your problems as accurately as your knowledge of construction will allow,” said Smith, who now lectures builders on customer service. “If your builder doesn’t understand your complaint, it slows things down even more.”

It’s also important to make yourself available when the builder has someone free to tend to your problems. This is a tough one, especially if you and your spouse are both working. But perhaps you can ask a relative or a friend who has some time to meet the workerfor you.

Another idea is to form a repair brigade with your new neighbors. There’s always someone in the community who’s home and available, so maybe everyone can take turns covering for each other.

None of this is to say that you should leave yourself at the mercy of the builder. Though you should be a willing participant in the repair process and be ready to cut the builder some slack, Klein, the Oklahoma builder, says you should expect your contractor to respond within a reasonable period.

Once you and the builder agree to a repair schedule, you should hold him to it. You may have to prod him along. In fact, because some call-backs involve several trades and require two or three visits, it’s a good idea to call the builder when one sub is finished to tell him you’re ready for the next.

And if the builder says he’ll have everything done in three weeks but two weeks have gone by and no one has shown up, call just to make sure you haven’t fallen through the cracks.

But remember to keep your cool. Just keep in mind that in today’s tight labor market, good customer service is really a two-way street.

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Most Common Call-Back Items

Sheetrock, dry wall: 51%

Paint, caulking: 44%

Roof: 25%

Plumbing: 23%

Doors, windows: 19%

Grading: 18%

Floors, walls, ceilings: 12%

Heating, air conditioning: 12%

Foundation, basement: 9%