What's the converse of a subcontractor?
My understanding of contractors and clients is something like:
Party 1
|
V
Party 2
|
V
Party 3
Legend:
"->": "employs"
From the perspective of Party 1:
- Party 2 is a contractor
- Party 3 is a subcontractor
From the perspective of Party 2:
- Party 1 is a client
- Party 3 is a contractor
From the perspective of Party 3:
- Party 1 is a ???
- Party 2 is a client
What is Party 1 to Party 3? Is there an accepted word like "superclient" that Party 3 can use to refer to Party 1?
In the case of building work, Party 1 might be called the "property owner". In other contexts they might be called the "end customer".
Additionally, and again in a construction context, Party 2 is (at least in the US) called the "general contractor". Outside the construction field, they can be called the "primary contractor".