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We are ready; The in-situ concrete job done, the concrete elements raised and we are prepared for the carpenter, the bricklayer, the plumber, the electrician, e.g. and all the problems.
A confession is that there was not much room to get around on; but in the weekly building meetings short after they all arrived, it stood bright for me, that all the subcontractor bosses did not respect my leadership.
They all knew each other, and they managed to jump from subcontract to subcontract under Monberg & Thorsen`s umbrella and every time they met under a new Monberg & Thorsen`s file number, they have to deal with a new young irritable engineer, who thought he should run the business.
According to them, should he be at home at his office in the headquarter; here should he be ready to sign those instalment request they sent in and more important; sign all extra work bill they sent in and >>in addition, they play golf with the executive board of M&T<<!
They obstructed the meetings when they were important. Key figures sometimes arrived 30 min after the beginning of our meeting, with preventing us from making qualified decisions.
They look more and more like a mafia group for me and I have to find a way to stop them.No planning is so proper, that it can survive a subcontractor who ordered the wrong windows and declare under a meeting, that the new would be at least 1-month delay.
I promised the carpenter boss that this would end up to be his problem. Rest of us will continue as scheduled if possible.
And then I arrived at a meeting with a view of this. It was "Somme 1918."
5 minutes into the meeting the Labor Inspectorate came. Someone in the room has phone them, and I never found out who. He approaches me of course, threatens me to close down the entire-site if we do not get control of the mess. He delivered a long list we should do, and he will come back to tomorrow for inspection. And all the faces around me; >>yes we got him; he is to blame for the mess. He is finished<<, and by the way, >>we play golf with the executive board of M&T<<!
And in my view, it was, >>Yes<<! That was the tool I have dreamed about, and it played into my hand. I ask him to follow me outside the meeting room. Look at him and said >>close the site<<! >>What<<? I repeat >>close the site<<; he began to be nervous. It was after all Denmarks biggest contractor company with all their lawyers in headquarter ready to come after him if he failed, >>please close the site and give me the paper<<, I repeat.
I went back to the meeting room and announced, that >>the Labor Inspectorate has closed the site, and I have ordered four of my men to begin to clear the mess by the list<< and further;>> that every hour they produced will be a bill to them, there around the table<<.
>>When I arrived again next week, to the next meeting, I will examiner the site and decide if I think it sufficiently cleaned up. If it is my judgment, I will phone the Labor Inspectorate and ask him to open the side. If my conclusion is the opposite, there will go a week more until the next scheduled meeting. And make no mistake. No delay in your subcontractor work will be accepted. Extra work caused by the carpenter's delay should be a bill to the carpenter directly. Otherwise, we will deduce his bill to us with the claim<<.
Half of them began to be nervous. The hardcore of them was laughing. >>He does not have authority to act as he does<<. The last statement was brought to a test two dates later.
I got a visitor to my office in headquarter. It was the carpenter boss. He began to boil over when some of his colleagues started to billing him for the delay.
He began immediately to threaten me and promised me that he would get me fired and repeat, >>that he was playing golf with the executive board<< which was placed up under roof in the same building that we were.
We were sitting below street level in my department. "From the bottom to top"! He continued that >> I was only a phone call from a termination<<.
Now! It was me who boil over for the first time. I took my phone and gave it to him and shouted in his faces >>dial the number now<<. >>Can you find one single person up under the roof which is willing to lay down my decision, you will be able to see me leave this building for good<<.
He tries. The message from the top was crystal clear.
>> You do exactly what you have been told to do by Andersen. Otherwise, you have had the last subcontract with Monberg&Thorsen Ltd<<.
Have I expected that? More or less. A leader will never discuss with his employees through a subcontractor whatsoever. Maybe I have supposed to be called in for an explanation afterwards, but it never happens.
No corruption in this building from the bottom to top, we trust you, Andersen.
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