If you’re planning new construction for your business this year, you may want to hire an owner’s representative to protect your interests. Your owner’s rep will be your right hand in keeping your project(s) on budget, on schedule, and at the quality you expect.
Be aware, however, that not all owner’s reps are the same. Here are 4 important questions to ask before hiring your owner’s rep.
1. Do You Have Expertise in These Areas?
Anyone who advertises themselves as an owner’s rep will tell you that they have construction expertise. However, there is a vast difference between someone who has managed a couple of small residential or commercial projects and someone who has managed multiple large commercial projects.
To find out where your potential owner’s rep falls on the spectrum, ask them to describe their expertise in these six areas:
- The construction process. Your owner’s rep should be able to effortlessly navigate and coordinate the process from design to bid to build, and that means they need to know how each stage of the construction process works.
- The administrative process. To properly administer a project in today’s construction environment, your owner’s rep will be managing a great deal of paperwork on your behalf. They need to understand contracts, change orders, RFIs, submittals, and how the bidding process works.
- The specific type of construction. Different types of facilities require vastly different types of expertise. For instance, hospitals, laboratories, and restaurants are unique and much more complex than office buildings and apartments. Your owner’s rep should know the ins and outs of the specific type of project you plan to construct.
- Up to date construction costs. Today, construction materials and labor costs change on a near-daily basis. To be effective in managing your project’s cost, your owner’s rep should be actively engaged in the construction industry and have access to large amounts of real-project cost data, keeping their finger on the pulse of current costs.
- Value engineering. Construction costs can often be reduced by choosing different materials or construction techniques to accomplish the same end result. Ask your owner’s rep for specific examples of value engineering efforts they have provided to past clients, so they can help ensure your project is completed in an efficient and cost-effective manner, without sacrificing quality.
- Moisture intrusion. One of the biggest problems we see on construction sites is moisture intrusion due to poor planning or incorrect installation. In fact, the construction process itself typically introduces large amounts of water into the work area, which can result in mold growth within the building before the construction activities are even complete. A good owner’s rep should be able to spot warning signs before they become a costly moisture intrusion problem, which can also lead to a mold problem.
Look for an owner’s rep who not only says “yes” to all six categories, but can talk in detail and with confidence about them. They should also be able to cite recent examples of their experience in each area of expertise.
2. Do They Have the Resources to Manage the Job?
On a small project, your owner’s rep may not need to have an entire firm behind them to do the job well. On larger projects, or when you’re constructing multiple facilities at the same time, you want your owner’s rep to have offices located across a substantial geographic footprint and with plenty of resources in each office to be able to be on each site regularly, and to get on-site quickly when issues arise. If your owner’s rep has to incur significant time and money just to get to your site, you can be sure that their site visits will be infrequent, and often not at appropriate times to best observe the construction activities.
3. Do They Use a Standard Contract?
The AIA and the NES both offer standard owner’s rep contracts. An industry standard contract is almost always preferable to a custom contract, as they are drafted by industry attorneys, designed to be fair to all parties, and have been court tested. That having been said, even a standard contract should lay out in detail what services are included.
4. What Services Are Included?
Owner’s rep services can range from a brief document review and an occasional site visit to a full service, hands-on, daily project management role. Ask prospective reps what services they include, and then make sure the contract specifies the services in detail. A few items to include in the contract include:
- How many site visits will be conducted
- Which documents are managed by whom
- How many contract reviews will be done
- Who will be responsible for managing the submittal review process
- How quickly will the owner’s rep manage and distribute RFIs, to minimize delays
- Who is responsible for delays caused by missed communications
- How is the change order process managed to minimize potential additional costs and time
Your owner’s rep will be largely responsible for the success of your construction process. Make sure you hire someone you can trust to handle the job. We’d love to talk with you today about our owner’s rep services. Contact us now.
