Contractor

There are all kinds of different contractors. Frequently these people are called "independent contractors." to identify them as people that are not employees of the company they are doing work for.

In the context I'm using contractor here I'm referring to people or companies that build things. Usually, they're buildings, but they can range through a lot of other areas, like roads, infrastructure, landscaping, and so on.

There are a large variety of different kinds of contractors. There are general contractors that are licensed to do anything. Usually, they will specialize in either residential (home) construction or commercial construction. Others will focus on heavy construction like roads, bridges and very large commercial projects.

Then there are the specialty or subcontractors. These are people or companies that specialize in certain areas of construction. They specialize in things like: electrical, drywall, tile, plumbing, heating and cooling, concrete, landscaping and many others.

Usually, the general contractors will hire subcontractors for the various aspects of their projects because the specialty contractor can do a more cost effective job in their specialty.