Managing Your Commercial Construction Project

Managing Your Commercial Construction Project

Managing a commercial construction process is a complicated, time -consuming process. Sometimes it seems like the groups involved are in competition with each other, rather than working together. And chances are that you do not a qualified individual on staff to work with the human element of your project.

One possible solution is to use a Construction Monitoring Service, also known as an Owner's Rep. An Owner's Rep is contracted to handle all aspects of a capital improvement project represents your interests as though they were a member of your staff. The owner's rep is there to make sure the owner's best interests are included in each decision.

An Owner's Rep is typically hired by a company to act an "Owner's Representative" in the field to monitor the contractor's adherence to safety and project requirements.

The rep monitors the construction project, provides detailed site inspections and close communications with the contractor and workmen to give the owner assurance that their project is completed in reasonably close conformance to the plans and specifications (PS&E).
Benefits of Construction Monitoring

Most business do not have the resources or experience necessary to manage a construction project. Hiring an experienced owner's rep will make sure that the work is completed in a professional and verifiable manner. Some additional benefits of using an Owners Rep are:

On-site Construction Inspections - Review quality of construction and suggest appropriate improvements as needed.
Construction Schedules - Monitor scheduling and project management to assure that major milestones are complete.
Construction Meetings - Represent your interests in meetings with the general contractor and all other entities employed by you.
Manage Inspection Process - Building permit review and verification that all contractor are properly licensed and insured.
Pay Draw Reviews - Verify that work is completed according to your satisfaction before approving pay draws.

One of the advantages of hiring an owner's rep is that they provide you with experienced labor, tools, industry knowledge, and experience of capital projects without the expense of managing the project in-house. This means that an experienced person will make sure that the work is complete in a professional and verifiable manner. They also provide conflict and problem resolution when ever issues arise.

Hiring an owner's representative will allow you to focus on doing what you do best, running your business. It will provide you peace of mind knowing that your project will be managed in a timely and efficient manner. An experienced owner's representative will represent your interest only, not the interest of the design staff or contractors. They are your eyes and ears on the jobsite, ensuring you the quality you expect, completed on time and within budget.
Who Do Owner's Reps Interact With?

An owner's rep is part construction expert, part scheduler and part diplomat. Managing the human element of any project is often the most important and trying part of the job. The rep will work with the owner, engineers, contractors, architect, inspectors and union officials, just to name a few.

Each party has different reasons for being a part of the project and sometimes their interest conflicts with someone else. A trained owner's rep will find a way to get all parties working together to finish the job on time and within budget.

In the final analysis, it is often less expensive to hire a professional to monitor your next construction project. Projects are usually completed on time with less cost-overrun resulting in less stress on you and your staff.