Construction Management
Once construction starts, the owner's leverage comes from documentation and attention. We supply both.
Our construction managers verify what is actually installed, evaluate every change request against the contract documents, hold the contractor to the accepted schedule, and put a written position in your hands every month.
Someone on your side, in the field, every week
Construction management is not inspection and it is not general contracting. It is the discipline of protecting an owner's cost, schedule, and quality position while a contractor builds the work. We do it for developers, public agencies, industrial owners, and institutions that do not maintain a permanent construction staff.
Cost control
We review every pay application against installed quantities rather than against a percentage estimate. We evaluate change requests for entitlement first, then quantity, then price, then time impact, and we do not recommend approval until all four are established. We maintain a running cost to complete forecast so you always know where the project lands, not just where it has been.
Schedule enforcement
The baseline schedule is a contract document, and we treat it that way. We review the contractor's monthly updates for logic changes, unexplained float consumption, and out of sequence work. When the completion date is threatened, we require a recovery plan and we analyze whether the delay is excusable, compensable, or the contractor's own.
Document control
Submittals, RFIs, change requests, daily reports, correspondence, and photographic records all live in one tracked system with a responsible party and a due date. This sounds unglamorous. It is also the single most reliable predictor of whether an owner prevails in a dispute two years later.
Quality and agency coordination
We coordinate special inspection and testing, track deficiency correction, manage agency inspections and sign-offs, and verify that the work conforms to the approved plans. On public works we work within the agency's inspection framework rather than duplicating it.
Reporting owners can actually use
Each month you receive a written activity and evaluation report covering cost against budget, schedule against baseline, quantities installed, pending and approved changes, open issues with owners and due dates, safety and quality observations, and a candid assessment of trajectory. It is written to be put in front of a board, a lender, or a partner without editing.
Every change request gets measured against the contract documents before it becomes a change order. That single habit is worth more than any software.
Construction phase scope
- Preconstruction meeting and mobilization oversight
- Baseline schedule review and acceptance
- Submittal and RFI tracking and turnaround management
- Daily and weekly field observation reports
- Installed quantity verification
- Pay application review and recommendation
- Change order entitlement, pricing, and time analysis
- Schedule update review and critical path narrative
- Special inspection and testing coordination
- Agency inspection and sign-off management
- Safety and quality observation logging
- Monthly written activity and evaluation report
- Punch list management and verification
- Closeout, warranty turnover, and lien release tracking
What you receive
Every engagement is scoped in writing before it begins, so you know exactly what is being produced and when.
Monthly activity report
Cost, schedule, changes, quantities, open issues, and a written assessment of where the project is heading. Delivered on a fixed date each month.
Verified pay applications
Progress payments reviewed against installed quantities and contract unit prices, with a written recommendation and any exceptions noted.
Change order analysis
Entitlement determination, independent pricing check, and time impact evaluation for every change request before it reaches you.
Schedule review memoranda
Monthly critical path narrative identifying float consumption, logic changes, and any threat to the contract completion date.
Field documentation record
Daily reports, photographs, correspondence, and issue logs maintained in a single organized record for the life of the project.
Closeout package
Punch list verification, final quantity reconciliation, warranties, as built confirmation, lien releases, and agency acceptance documentation.
Questions owners ask about this service
What is the difference between construction management and inspection?
An inspector verifies that work conforms to plans and codes. A construction manager does that and also manages cost, schedule, contracts, changes, procurement, and reporting on the owner's behalf. Many projects need both, and on public works we frequently coordinate the inspection function as part of our CM scope.
Do you hold the trade contracts?
Usually not. On most engagements we act as construction manager as agent, meaning the owner holds the contracts and we manage them. When an owner wants us to carry construction risk directly, we can contract the work under our California A license as a general engineering contractor.
Can you take over a project that has already started?
Yes, and we do it often. We begin with an independent assessment of current cost position, installed quantities, schedule status, and open change exposure. Within a few weeks you will have an accurate picture of where the project actually stands, which is frequently different from where it was reported to stand.
How many people will be on our project?
It depends on construction value, duration, complexity, and how many trades are working concurrently. We staff to the actual demands of the work rather than to a formula, and we tell you in writing who is assigned, at what level of effort, and what it costs.
How do you charge for construction management?
Typically a monthly fee based on assigned staff and level of effort, agreed before mobilization. Some clients prefer a percentage of construction value or a fixed fee for a defined duration. We are flexible on structure and specific about scope.
Talk to us about Construction Management
Send us the project details and we will tell you what a defensible scope of work looks like and what it would cost. Initial consultations carry no fee.
Send us the project
Tell us the site, the scope, and the deadline. Initial consultations carry no fee and no obligation.