Due to my experience in construction, I am sometimes asked if I’ll manage a home building project. I have done it in the past, but find that it is a tough balancing act. I believe it’s important for a manager to oversee all the trades, coordinate their interaction, and be intimately involved and responsible for the progress and quality of the work. This I can do as a Contractor, but not so well as an Architect. It requires the cultivation of relationships with sub-trades established over years, as well as more time and presence on site than I am able to give to a particular project. Insurers also view quite differently the roles of Architect and Contractor, so the equation of risk-to-profit needs to make sense. For these reasons I leave construction management to the general contractor who is in a position to better serve a customer in this regard.
Where do I fit into the Builder/Manager picture? It depends on the job and the extent of services. For a simple job with a limited budget, I might prepare only a basic set of plans for permit and construction. From then on it’s up to the customer and contractor. For those projects I tend to get a call only when a problem arises, which is typically from the job site with work paused to figure something out. For more complex jobs and more extensive services, I visit the site often, communicate with the customer and contractor regularly, troubleshoot and provide ongoing refinement to the plans and details as the project progresses. I am often then involved with interior design, and assisting with material and fixture selection as well. From my perspective, either a Manager or Builder type of contractor can be fine to work with. In practice the line between the two is blurry, I make the distinction here only to point out the two essential skill sets that the role requires. The decision of who to hire is ultimately made by the customer after interviews, references, and costing has been provided.