California does not use the same paperwork as anywhere else.

Every state has paperwork. California has its own

The same job built the same way is a different stack of documents depending on where it stands. The parts that most often cost contractors money in this state:

• Title 24 window and glazing performance. U-factor and SHGC are checked against this climate zone, not against whatever the catalogue sheet was written for. Two units with no rating on file is not the same as two units passing.
• Bedroom egress. Clear opening, not unit size. A slider gives up half its width, a hung unit half its height — so a 58½ × 79½ slider gives you a 29¼ inch clear width — inside the 20-inch minimum, though a narrower unit would not be. Clear opening is what gets measured, and it is worth knowing before the order goes out rather than after.
• Safety glazing. Glass within 24 inches of a door edge has to be tempered. It is a two-minute check on the measurement and an expensive one after the fact.
• Lien waivers on California forms. Conditional and unconditional, on the right form, at the right moment in the payment cycle. California has its own rules about these, and the wrong form is worse than no form.
• Workers’ comp class 8810 for office and clerical work — the classification that applies to the desk side of your business, not the field side.

What that looks like on a real job

On one window job we checked 13 openings against the code before anything was ordered:

• Eleven came back rated and passing — U-factor and SHGC within Title 24 for that climate zone.
• Two had no rating on file. Reported separately from a failure, because “no failures” is a different claim when two were never rated.
• Two units sat within 24 inches of a door edge and were both specified tempered.
• One bedroom egress came up short by an inch and a half — widen the unit or change the operation, and either way that conversation happens before the order, not after.
• One opening on the order had no vendor quote behind it at all. Twelve of thirteen appeared on the estimate; one appeared on none.

That is arithmetic, not opinion. It is also the part of the job a general assistant cannot do, because it is not administrative work — it is knowing the trade and the state at the same time.

Being here matters for more than forms

Every project manager we have is based in California and works U.S. business hours. No time-zone lag, no call centre, no outsourcing, and no waiting until tomorrow morning to hear about a problem that happened this afternoon.

You also get somebody who can read a window schedule, tell a nominal size from a clear opening, and know that rolling a crew before the power is back burns the whole day. Those are judgement calls. They are the ones that come back to you when nobody on the desk can make them.

Every trade, not just general contractors

Roofers, electricians, plumbers, framers, concrete, drywall, HVAC, flooring, painters, remodelers and general contractors. Residential and commercial. The schedule, the subs, the paperwork and the phone take the same shape in all of them — the details do not, and the details are where the money is.

Questions contractors ask

Do you only work in certain parts of California?

No. We work with contractors across the state. The job is run remotely and in your time zone, so where you are in California does not change how this works.

Are your project managers actually in California?

Yes. Every project manager here is based in California, works U.S. business hours, and speaks English as a first language. There is no call centre, no time-zone lag, and nothing about this is outsourced.

Do you know California’s Title 24 requirements?

The window and glazing side of them, yes — U-factor and SHGC checked against the climate zone rather than against a catalogue sheet. On one real job we checked 13 openings on measurement; eleven came back rated and passing, and two had no rating on file at all. Those two get reported separately from a failure, because “no failures” is a different claim when two were never rated.

What about bedroom egress?

It is one of the most common things that fails after installation, which is the expensive moment to find out. Clear opening is not unit size: a slider gives up half its width and a hung unit gives up half its height. A 58 ½ by 79 ½ slider gives you a 29 ¼ inch clear width, which clears the 20-inch minimum — but a narrower unit would not, and that is the difference between ordering the right window and finding out after it is installed.

Do you handle California lien waivers?

Yes — conditional and unconditional waivers requested from every sub and supplier with each payment application, tracked against the payment schedule, and chased before disbursement rather than three weeks into closeout. California has its own forms and its own rules about them, and using the wrong one is worse than not having one.

Do you work with my trade?

Every trade. Roofers, electricians, plumbers, framers, concrete, drywall, HVAC, flooring, painters, remodelers and general contractors. Residential and commercial. The paperwork takes the same shape across all of them; the details do not, which is why the person running it should know the work.

Do you work for homeowners, or only contractors?

Contractors hire us. Their customers are the second people we answer to — the homeowner or owner whose money and whose opinion decide whether you work again. That is the difference between this and hiring an assistant, who would only answer to you.

Do you handle permits and inspections?

We track them — applications, inspection milestones, what has to be signed off before a crew rolls, and what expires. Nobody rolls to a site that is not ready is a commitment, not a slogan. What we do not do is sign off on work; that is the inspector’s job and yours.

Related: how we get your draws out, and the honest difference between an assistant and a project manager.