Who is the subcontractor?

• A. A subcontractor is a party in contract directly with the owner to perform all or part of the work.
• B. One or multiple entities in contact with the contractor to perform all or part of the work; the subcontractor may also have a subcontractor known as the sub-subcontractor.
• C. A subcontractor is the architect's aide.
• D. A subcontractor is the owner’s representative.

Answer: (B)

In this contract framework, a subcontractor is the entity that contracts with the contractor to perform all or part of the work. They are not typically in direct contract with the owner; the contractor handles that primary relationship and may hire subcontractors to handle portions of the work. Those subcontractors may, in turn, hire their own subcontractors (sub-subcontractors) as needed. The other options misplace the role: being directly contracted with the owner describes the owner’s direct contractor, not a subcontractor; an architect’s aide and the owner’s representative are different roles altogether.