A CEO once drove two hours from Phoenix to Tucson to nearly punch me in the face.
Her crime? Her company got a “D” on our weekly trade partner grading sheet.
“Jason, what do I have to do to get my score up?”
“Clean your area. Show up to meetings on time. Submit your safety paperwork.”
She stared at me. “Why isn’t my foreman doing that?”
“I don’t know. Go ask him.”
She walked out, had the conversation, and her crew’s performance changed overnight.
That’s the power of contractor grading.
Here’s how it works on every project we run:
Every week, every trade partner gets graded on 13 NON-SUBJECTIVE metrics. No opinions. No “does the super like them.” Just data:
→ Keeping area clean score
→ Reminders to keep clean
→ Shut down to organize & clean
→ Lean ideas submitted
→ Rolling completion list items
→ Owns their Smartsheet schedule
→ On schedule / at risk / behind
→ In the Circle of Trust (h/t DPR)
→ Foremen safety audits
→ Previous trade not-complete issues
→ Materials in the accessways
→ Foremen & leadmen at huddles on time
A = 85–100% ✅
B = 70–84% 🟦
C = Below 70% ⚠️
The grades go out every Monday to EVERYONE — owners, designers, every trade CEO, every PM, every foreman.
The first time I rolled this out on a $100M research lab, half the trades were D’s and F’s.
Six weeks later? Mostly A’s and B’s. The lowest performer climbed to a C+.
Site got cleaner. Safer. More predictable.
I know what some of you are thinking: “Jason, that’s disrespectful.”
Quick gut check:
→ Would a Navy SEAL tell their instructor, “Don’t coach me when I’m failing”?
→ Would you trust a hospital that refused to track surgical outcomes?
No. So why do we accept it in construction?
You don’t build family by sympathy-voting bad behavior.
You build it by holding each other accountable — out loud, in the open, with real numbers.
Transparency. Accountability. Visual management. That’s lean. Full stop.
Run contractor grading for 6 weeks. Watch what happens.
You’ll stop being the nag. The scoreboard does the coaching for you.
Try it. Then come tell me what happened. 👇