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4 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Construction Management Company

Jan 8, 2019 11:02:00 AM / by Ryan Savage

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Choosing a construction management company is an important decision. Here are four questions to help you find the construction management company that’s best for you.

 

What kind of resources and experience do you have serving as the construction manager on projects similar to mine?

In construction, reputation is everything. Ask for their recent experience, samples of work, products like cost opinions and progress reports, and contacts at some of their completed projects. It’s best to choose a construction management company with experience in your particular project type.

Talk to some of the company’s former clients about their experience during the building process. Unlike a general contractor, a construction management company approaches a project as your advocate. Keep in mind that no two projects are exactly alike. A construction management company will approach an occupied school or hospital project differently than a ground-up office or retail project, for example. Make sure you speak to references who can help you understand how the construction management company will handle your project. The construction company should be large enough to have the necessary internal resources (estimating, project management, project supervision, quality, safety) and relationships with the subcontractor community to complete the project on budget and on schedule and to meet quality and safety requirements.

 

Who will be working on my construction project?

Construction management companies are only as good as the people they hire and train to oversee their projects. Ask about the company’s culture and about their team’s education, experience, skills, and references. The pre-construction process can sometimes be lengthy and unpredictable. It is not uncommon for the project manager or jobsite superintendent initially proposed by the construction management company to be assigned to another project. This makes it even more important to select a firm with a superior reputation and depth of resources.

Even so, you should ask that the team a construction management company brings in for the initial interview and preliminary meetings consist of the people they expect to work on your project. This allows you to properly vet potential candidates. Trust your instincts; if you are not comfortable and confident in the team during an interview, it’s probably a good indication of how the project will go.

 

How involved will I need to be in this project?

The construction management company will handle the majority of the work involved with completing your project, but there will be some aspects of the process in which you or your team will need to be involved. Find out what decisions, input, and information you will need to provide throughout the project. Compare the services provided by various construction management companies, and decide which services are most important to you. Understanding the services provided by the CM up front will help you determine how much time you’ll need to invest at what stages during construction.

 

What kind of communication should I expect with your team?

Expect (and demand) regular, open, and transparent communication from your construction manager on how the project is going and what they will be doing to address project-related issues. Construction projects are fraught with little challenges throughout the process; the difference between construction managers and general contractors is how they handle these challenges and the impact on the project’s budget and schedule. With consistent, open lines of communication, you shouldn’t have any surprises at the completion of your project.

If you still have questions, contact Holland for a better understanding of the construction management process. For more than 30 years, Holland has led the construction management industry with unwavering integrity. We’ll go the extra mile to make sure you are completely satisfied with your project.

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Topics: Construction Process

Ryan Savage

Written by Ryan Savage

Project Executive, Holland Construction Services