Owner’s rep, construction manager, general contractor: who does what on a house

Three jobs, one house

A general contractor signs the construction contract with you, hires the trades, and owes you a finished building for the agreed price. If the framer walks off, that is the contractor’s problem to solve.

A construction manager means two different things. A construction manager “at risk” gives you a price and works much like a general contractor. A construction manager acting as your agent gives advice and coordination for a fee, while you sign with each trade yourself. Ask which one is being offered. The words on the proposal will not tell you.

An owner’s representative signs no construction contract at all. The representative works for you, reads the drawings, the bids and the bills, and tells you in writing what they say.

Who signs what

• General contractor: one contract with you, and the contractor’s own contracts with every trade.
• Construction manager as agent: a fee agreement with you. You sign with the plumber, the electrician and everyone else.
• Owner’s representative: a fee agreement with you. The builder’s contract stays between you and the builder.

Who carries the price

This is the question that matters. With a general contractor on a fixed sum, the contractor carries it: if the tile costs more to set than the bid allowed, the contract sum does not move unless you changed something. With a manager acting as your agent, you carry it. Each trade’s overrun arrives on your desk. With an owner’s representative, the builder still carries it, and the representative’s job is to make sure it stays there.

On our own projects the contract sum is fixed at preconstruction and moves only by a written change order you approve in advance. The wording is here.

California licenses the manager too

In California, a person who advises an owner-builder on a home improvement project and either oversees the bids or sets up the trades’ schedules and keeps oversight of the job is a contractor in the eyes of the law, and needs a contractor’s license. That has been the rule since 2013. So whichever title is on the card, look the license up before you sign. It takes two minutes at the state’s site.

Which one a house needs

Most houses need a general contractor and nothing more, provided the contractor fixes the price and reports in writing. That is how we work.

An owner’s representative earns the fee when you live elsewhere for part of the year, when the project is large, when the builder is already chosen and you want a second builder’s eyes on the bills, or when a job has gone quiet and nobody will say why.

Managing the trades yourself, with a manager as your agent, can save a contractor’s margin. It also makes you the builder, with the builder’s risks: every schedule gap between two trades is yours.

What to ask before you sign

• Whose contract will each trade be under?
• If a trade’s price rises, who pays?
• What is your license number, and what class?
• How is your fee set, and does any part of it come from anyone but me?
• How often will I hear from you, and in what form?

Related: what Matt does as an owner’s representative, how we manage the projects we build, and ten questions to ask any builder.

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