A deduction taken from a subcontractor's payment to recover costs the GC incurred due to the sub's failure to perform.
A back charge is a deduction made by one party from an amount owed to another party to recover costs incurred because of the second party's failure to perform their obligations. In construction, a GC may back charge a subcontractor for cleanup, safety corrections, rework, or coordination failures that the GC had to perform on the subcontractor's behalf. Back charges must be documented and typically require prior notice.
The GC issued a $4,200 back charge to the drywall subcontractor for housekeeping violations that the GC's laborers had to correct over three days.
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