I think if a sub is working honorably, then they will quality control their own stuff and if you have feedback then they will go and address it. Problem is they have a layer between the end user so the incentive to skip steps is a lot higher than if you are their primary income.
Thing is, if you want to build a brand, you're not going to do it with subs. They're wearing their own stuff, they are looking out for themselves, and you have less control over their schedules. If someone is your employee, you're going to have an easier time getting them to follow your systems. Some GCs would argue you can do that with subs but I'd argue it's harder.
My take - if you're just trying to make money and you can manage the subs well, your costs are fixed and you can make money that way. There's still recruiting involved like when you have employees and you definitely need more than one in a particular area but you can do it. If you're trying to build a company to sell one day, do not have your primary labor force as subs. It's my understanding it's way harder to assign a value to a business that doesn't have mostly W2 workers performing their primary business function. I'm also in California and they won't let you use subs unless they meet some really strict requirements.
