| 4. Construction
administration. We recommend that our services to you
include that of being the owner's representative during
construction.
We are happy to work with the builder of your choice, or, if you like,
we can assist in helping you find a builder for your project. Although
we highly recommend it, we do not require that we provide construction
observation and construction administration.
It is to your advantage that we review the builder's contract and
payment schedule with you. It is to your advantage that we are the
Owner's Representative during construction. As such, we approve your
payments to the builder, approve changes, and consult with you and the
builder regarding any unforeseen conditions that are revealed during
construction.
Many of our clients prefer to leave us out of the construction phase and
deal with the builder themselves. Some of these clients have told us,
once the project was completed, that they regretted not keeping us on
for the construction phase. One client's builder did not follow our
plans and made changes whose ramifications he did not fully explain to
the owner. Towards the end of construction, the owner called me in
despair and asked me to "come fix it." It was too late to make anything
except superficial changes. The owner said he wished he had hired me for
the construction phase. "I needed an ally," he told me.
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