$200 / HR · NET 30
SOMEBODY
OWNS THE DATE.
You hire the builder. I run the owner's side of the job: the schedule, the draws, the change orders, and the closeout. Hourly, so my fee does not grow when your project does.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- RATE
- $200.00 / hr, flat
- INCREMENT
- 0.25 hr (quarter hour)
- TERMS
- Net 30
- FIRST RESPONSE
- Inside one business day
THE PROBLEM
THE CONTRACTOR IS RUNNING THE JOB
AND REPORTING ON THE JOB.
When the schedule slips, you hear about it from the person the slip belongs to. When a change order lands, you are asked to price a condition by the only person in the room who knows whether it is real. On a project of any size that is not a reporting structure, it is a hope.
WHAT YOU GET
ON THE INVOICE.
- A written scope you own, and bid leveling against it
- Contract review before you sign: scope, schedule, retainage, change-order language, warranty
- A baseline schedule built on the dates that actually gate the job: permit, rough-in, inspection, close-in
- Site visits on an agreed cadence with a written field report each time
- Pay-application and draw review against work in place, not work invoiced
- Change-order review: what is a genuine condition, what is a re-bid of something already priced
- Submittal and lead-time tracking so nothing on site waits on a delivery
- Punch list, warranties, closeout documents, and final lien releases collected before the last check leaves
HOW THE ENGAGEMENT RUNS
How the engagement runs
Scope the role
How many site visits a month, who I talk to, what I can decide on your behalf and what comes back to you. Written down before we start.
Baseline it
Schedule, budget, and scope in one document everyone works from, including the contractor.
Run it
Field reports on the cadence we set. Bad news the day it happens, not at the next meeting.
Close it
Punch, warranties, releases, and a final accounting of every dollar and every change.
WHAT IT COSTS
$200 / HR
Flat, plus expenses. Hourly on purpose: a percentage-of-cost fee pays your representative more when your project costs more. Mine does not move. You get an estimate of hours each month and an invoice that shows the work, a date, a line, and a sentence, not a lump sum.
WHAT THIS IS NOT
NOT
INCLUDED.
The exclusions matter as much as the scope. Anything on this list is either a different hire or a different contract, and you should hear that before you pay for an hour of it.
- Building the work. I represent you to the contractor. If we build it, that is a separate contract and you should have someone else checking me.
- Design or engineering. I coordinate the architect and the engineer, I do not replace either.
- Signing contracts or spending money in your name. Authority stays with you unless you grant it in writing.
- Guaranteeing another contractor's work. Their warranty is theirs. My job is making sure you actually have it in writing.
- Being on site every day. This is owner's representation, not superintendence. If you need a super, that is a different hire and I will tell you.
QUESTIONS
STRAIGHT ANSWERS.
- How is this different from hiring you to build it?
- Different side of the table and a different way of getting paid. As your representative I am hourly and I have no stake in what the job costs. As your builder I am on a contract price, and then you should get someone else to check me.
- How many site visits?
- Set it in the engagement letter. On an active remodel, weekly is typical. On a slow commercial fit-out, every other week is often plenty. You can change the cadence any month.
- What if my contractor will not work with a rep?
- That is information. Good builders like a decision-maker who reads drawings and pays on time. The ones who push back are usually protecting something.
- Can you take over a job that has already gone sideways?
- Yes. Send the contract, the last three invoices, and photos. The first hours go to finding out what you have already paid for.
- How big does a project have to be?
- Big enough that the hours are worth it to you. On a single bathroom they usually are not, and I will say so. Somewhere north of a whole-floor renovation it starts paying for itself on the change orders alone.
OTHER SHEETS
Other consulting sheets
Tell me what you are looking at.
First response inside one business day. Nothing bills until we have agreed there is an engagement and you have seen the estimated hours.
Rather talk it through? Call or text (804) 720-1286.