M.Gluck Designs

A construction project, regardless of size and scope, can be a daunting undertaking. From concept to completion can take months – even years – and will require a seemingly endless number of decision to be made. Often, the owner of the finished project is either too busy to adequately monitor the progress of the project or lacks the knowledge and experience to effectively do so. When that is the case, an owner’s representative may be used by the owner. What exactly is the role of an owner’s representative though?

This is one of those rare situations where a term actually means exactly what it sounds like it should mean! An owner’s representative is someone who acts as a representative for the owner of a construction project. Do not confuse an owner’s representative with a project manager though. A project manager is more of a “hands-on” position whereas an owner’s rep. tends to stand back and oversee the project. In a large scale project, there may be several project managers all attempting to coordinate and work together on the project. In that case, the owner’s representative might be charged with keeping each project manager on task and assisting to ensure that all the various phases of the project are running smoothly and in concert with one another. The owner’ representative will also likely be called on to make important decisions if the owner is unavailable or has deferred entirely to the representative.

An owner’s representative may step in at any stage of a construction project. Some owner’s bring in a representative at the conceptual stage of a project while others wait until construction actually begins. Once a representative is brought in, however, the representative will act as a liaison between the broker, design team, landlords, contractors, and client vendors and the owner.