Owner's Construction Manager cheat sheet

Design-Bid-Build: owner holds separate contracts with designer and builder; linear sequence extends duration and creates an adversarial interface between design and construction.

Design-Build: single entity holds design and construction risk; owner states performance criteria, and the entity warrants both design and means/methods.

CM at Risk: CM holds a GMP contract and subcontracts trades; owner retains design contract, and CM bears cost overrun risk above the GMP.

Agency CM: CM acts as owner's advisor without holding trade contracts or construction risk; used for schedule acceleration and constructability input.

Multiple Prime: owner contracts directly with several trade contractors; increases owner coordination load and can complicate performance guarantees.

Progressive Design-Build and CMAR are typically procured on best-value criteria rather than low bid, allowing evaluation of qualifications and approach.

Integrated Project Delivery: multi-party agreement aligns risk and reward; liability waivers among parties are common and require legal review.

Public-private partnerships transfer financing, design, construction, and operations to a concessionaire for a defined term.

Selection rule: match delivery method to owner capability, schedule pressure, design completeness, and tolerance for change-order risk.

Programming defines needs and performance requirements before design; it is not a design solution and should avoid prescriptive means.

Area benchmarks: gross building area equals net usable area divided by the net-to-gross efficiency ratio, typically 0.65 to 0.85 by building type.

Space program reconciliation: compare net assignable area, gross area, and site capacity; unresolved gaps become design-phase change drivers.

Life-cycle cost analysis discounts future operations, maintenance, and replacement costs to present value for option comparison.

Feasibility screening checks zoning, floor-area ratio, parking ratios, utility capacity, and entitlement timeline before design funding.

Risk register at planning stage records probability, impact, owner, and mitigation for each identified project risk.

Project charter fixes scope, budget, schedule, and success criteria, and is the baseline against which changes are measured.

Stakeholder analysis maps influence and interest; high-influence, high-interest parties need direct engagement in requirement setting.

Owner's project requirements document records measurable performance targets that later support commissioning verification.

Procurement route determines risk allocation: low-bid transfers least risk to owner only if documents are complete and unambiguous.

Qualification-based selection uses weighted criteria such as experience, key personnel, capacity, safety record, and past performance.

Best-value scoring typically separates technical score and price; a common formula divides technical score by price or uses a price-adjusted score.

Two-step procurement: request for qualifications shortlists firms, then request for proposals solicits technical and price submissions.

Bid protest exposure rises with ambiguous evaluation criteria; publish scoring weights and evaluation methodology in the solicitation.

Pre-bid conference and site visit clarify conditions; written addenda are the only binding clarifications to bidders.

Bid responsiveness checks submission of required forms, bonds, and acknowledgments of addenda; nonresponsive bids are rejected.

Contract type selection: lump sum for defined scope, unit price for quantity uncertainty, cost-plus for undefined scope, GMP with shared savings for collaborative delivery.

Bid leveling normalizes alternate prices, unit rates, and qualifications so competing proposals are compared on equal terms.

RFI process: contractor submits question, designer responds within a stated turnaround, and the response becomes contract documentation.

Submittal review cycles carry review stamps: approved, approved as noted, revise and resubmit, or rejected; resubmittals restart the clock.

Change order components: direct cost, subcontractor markup, general conditions markup, bond and insurance markup, and time extension where entitled.

Construction change directive orders work before price agreement; cost is later resolved by negotiated or force-account method.

Substantial completion starts warranty periods and liquidated damages stop; punch list items remain until final completion.

Schedule of values supports progress payment applications; retainage is withheld per contract percentage until specified milestones.

Safety responsibility: contractor controls means and methods and jobsite safety program; owner retains site-condition disclosure duties.

Claims documentation includes notice within contract time limits, contemporaneous records, schedule analysis, and cost substantiation.

Commissioning verifies systems meet the owner's project requirements before acceptance and occupancy.

Earned value: PV is planned value, EV is earned value, AC is actual cost; EV equals percent complete times budget at completion.

Cost variance equals EV minus AC; a negative value indicates cost overrun relative to work performed.

Schedule variance equals EV minus PV; it is expressed in cost units, not time units.

Cost performance index equals EV divided by AC; schedule performance index equals EV divided by PV; below 1.0 signals adverse performance.

Estimate at completion equals budget at completion divided by CPI when the current cost efficiency is expected to persist.

To-complete performance index equals (BAC minus EV) divided by (BAC minus AC); values above 1.0 require improved efficiency.

Critical path method identifies the longest path through the network; float equals late start minus early start for each activity.

Control thresholds define variance limits that trigger formal corrective action and reporting escalation to the owner.

Document control: version-controlled drawings, transmittal logs, and a single register for RFIs, submittals, and changes.

Cost estimate classes progress from order-of-magnitude to definitive; accuracy range narrows as design information increases.

Contingency covers identified and unidentified risk within the baseline; management reserve sits outside the approved baseline.

Escalation is applied to costs incurred in future years using published indices and the midpoint of expenditure timing.

Life-cycle cost equals initial cost plus present value of operations, maintenance, energy, and replacement minus residual value.

Schedule basis documents calendars, work hours, weather allowances, procurement lead times, and constraints assumed in the model.

Float ownership should be stated in the contract; owner-owned float protects against contractor time claims.

Liquidated damages must be a genuine pre-estimate of owner loss; penalties unrelated to loss are generally unenforceable.

Time impact analysis inserts a fragnet for the changed work into the accepted schedule to measure delay entitlement.

Cash flow forecasting aligns payment applications with the schedule of values and owner funding availability.

Owner's representative authority must be documented in writing, including limits on approving changes and authorizing extra work.

Separation of duties: the person approving a change should not be the person who originated or priced it.

Governance structure defines decision rights among board, executive sponsor, project director, and project manager.

Project management office standardizes templates, reporting formats, stage gates, and lessons-learned capture across projects.

Stage-gate approvals release funding incrementally; each gate requires defined deliverables before the next phase proceeds.

Owner staffing plan matches project phase: heavy during planning and procurement, lighter during construction with oversight focus.

Records retention policy covers contracts, change orders, as-builts, warranties, and commissioning records for the asset life.

Conflict-of-interest and gift policies apply to owner staff and consultants with procurement or approval authority.

Licensure rules prohibit offering or performing professional services outside the holder's licensed discipline and jurisdiction.

Contingency-fee arrangements for professional design services create a conflict between technical judgment and compensation.

Confidentiality obligations cover proprietary bid data, personnel information, and information received during procurement.

Fair procurement requires equal information to all bidders; undisclosed clarifications to one bidder create unfair advantage.

Partnering establishes shared goals, issue-resolution ladders, and escalation timelines before disputes arise.

Claims of error or omission should be evaluated on the standard of care for the profession, not on perfection of the outcome.

Gifts, hospitality, and outside employment must be disclosed and evaluated against the owner's written ethics policy.

Collaboration practices: co-located teams, shared information platforms, early trade involvement, and joint risk identification sessions.