An Owner’s Representative is a person that represents the Owner on a construction project. The Owner’s Representative also watches over and coordinates the design team, architect, contractor, subcontractors, and all other players comprising the construction team.

When Do I know if I need an Owner’s Representative?

This is a great question that is somewhat difficult to answer. Theoretically, an Owner should hire an Owner Rep any time the Owner feels that they do not have the time nor the expertise to oversee the details and complexities of any construction project. Most of the time, the Owner’s Representatives end up paying for themselves by way of saving the owner money on project expenses such as:

1- Aggressively question the contractor on additional expenditures such as Change Orders.

2 – Questioning the Design Team, including the Architect, on money-saving alternatives for the project.

3 – Getting into the details on the way the project is being executed as far as safety is concerned and keeping an eye on the project schedule to ensure that the contractor is going stay on track to finish in a timely manner.

4 – Representing the Owner during meetings when there are issues. All construction projects have issues and problems. Issues and problems usually translate to money expenditures of one sort or another. The Owner’s Representative protects and fights for the owner to ensure that the contractors and design professionals do not take advantage of the Owner.

The question really comes down to this: “Is this construction project complex enough and large enough to warrant the additional expenditure of hiring an Owner’s Representative?”.

The reality is that most small and medium-size projects that are several hundred thousand dollars can be handled by the Owner themselves if they have the time.  On the other hand, when a construction project is in the millions of dollars, the need for an Owner’s Representative increases significantly. The more expensive the job, the more the need for an Owner’s Rep.

What does an Owner’s Representative do for his/her money?

Let’s start by explaining something about all the players on a large construction project. The Architect is a licensed, registered professional that is hired to design a project and put plans together and to a certain extent assist the owner on some aspects of the job during construction. The Contractor is also a registered professional that is licensed to carry out the instructions on the plans and make them a reality. The relationship between a contractor and the Owner is adversarial in nature since the Contractor is typically under no obligation to protect the Owners’ interest.

The Owner’s Representative’s main duty is to protect the Owner’s interests against the Contractors, Subcontractors, Design Professionals, City Inspectors, etc. Therefore, it is imperative that the Owner’s Representative have an abundance of experience as it relates to construction, design, permitting, engineering, and implementation, and must be a well-rounded individual in all aspects of the industry.