General Contractor

Principled general contracting, focused on execution and outcomes

As a General Contractor, Carl A. Nelson & Company approaches your project with the same mindset that guides all of our work: Deliver Value. Build Trust. Repeat.

General Contracting is often the right fit when design is complete, scope is defined, and owners want disciplined execution with predictable outcomes — without changing delivery structure. We bring decades of field experience, technical expertise, and practical problem-solving to every project. For Owners, General Contracting with CANCO means predictable execution, disciplined field leadership, and a team that looks for opportunities to reduce risk and add value — even within a traditional delivery framework.

Since 1913, CANCO has delivered projects as a General Contractor across a wide range of construction market segments. We are licensed in more than 20 U.S. states, including Iowa and Illinois, and supported by experienced project managers, engineers, superintendents, and skilled tradespeople working as one integrated team.

Once selected, Carl A. Nelson & Company takes the completed design from the Owner’s consultants and brings it to life in the field. We self-perform significant portions of the work on many General Contracting projects, allowing for tighter control of quality, safety, schedule, and coordination.

General Contracting projects may also benefit from the capabilities of Nelson Plant Services, CANCO’s dedicated equipment, logistics, and support division. Nelson Plant Services is deployed separately from our core General Contracting operations, focusing primarily on smaller projects, repeat clients, and routine or specialized scopes where additional flexibility and responsiveness are beneficial.

When engaged, Nelson Plant Services provides specialized equipment, experienced operators, and material handling support that complement CANCO’s General Contracting work. This structure allows Owners to benefit from added execution capacity, improved site logistics, and targeted support without altering the primary project delivery approach.

Our workforce includes more than 75 skilled craftsmen, foremen, and jobsite supervisors with expertise spanning carpentry, welding, millwright work, concrete floors and foundations, site-cast tilt-up concrete and more construction types. All craftsmen maintain OSHA 10-hour certification, while field supervisors hold OSHA 30-hour certification. CANCO superintendents average more than 25 years of construction experience.

Adding value before and during construction

Even within a traditional General Contracting framework, CANCO looks for opportunities to add value early and continuously. Our team reviews construction documents with an experienced builder’s eye—identifying constructability concerns, coordination challenges, sequencing risks, and cost or schedule impacts before they become field issues.

Where beneficial to the project, we provide enhanced planning support such as schedule development, logistics planning, subcontractor coordination strategies, and constructability input that help Owners and design teams make informed decisions while options remain flexible.

On projects where the initial design does not include Building Information Modeling (BIM), and where 3D coordination or clash detection would support better outcomes, CANCO can provide those services at the Owner’s request through Nelson Design, Inc. Our successful use of 3D modeling on a General Contracting project for an industrial client was highlighted in the Summer 2020 edition of wibi, our industrial client newsletter .

Code review and technical coordination support are also available through Nelson Design, Inc., when requested by the Owner.

Throughout construction, our field leadership works closely with subcontractors, designers, and Owners to manage safety, quality, schedule, and cost—solving problems proactively and maintaining momentum in the field.

General Contracting fits within a broader set of delivery approaches that define when contractor input occurs and how decisions are made. For additional perspective, see Understanding construction project delivery methods .

General Contract project examples

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