Not every project needs an Owner’s Rep. Here are four questions to find out if yours does.
Not every project needs an Owner’s Representative. Some organizations have deeply experienced in-house teams. Some projects are simple enough that the risk profile doesn’t justify the fee.
But in thirty years of project management, we’ve watched a pattern repeat itself. A capable, well-intentioned organization underestimates the complexity of a major capital project and overestimates the bandwidth of its existing team to manage it. By the time the gap becomes visible, the schedule has slipped, the contingency is dwindling, the internal team is exhausted, and the board is asking questions nobody prepared good answers for.
Four questions worth sitting with honestly:
- Has anyone on your staff managed a project of this size and type before — not observed one, not been adjacent to one, but managed one from feasibility through certificate of occupancy?
- Does your team have the time? A major capital project demands hundreds of management hours in addition to normal day-to-day tasks.
- Do you know what you don’t know? Change orders, lien waivers, pay application reviews, commissioning, low voltage coordination?
- What does a six-month schedule slip cost your organization? Who is accountable if things go wrong?
Problems caught early are manageable. Caught late, they’re crises.
If any of those questions gave you pause, it’s worth a conversation.
Call Pandion Development Management.
