Consulting Project Management Service
Your Project. Your Money. You fully run your own construction project with our guidance every step of the way.
At INTRICATE we have recognized a gap in the market as we have listened to our valued clients over the years; a large number of homeowners would like to act as their own project managers, in an effort to significantly reduce construction related soft costs. As such, we have devised a system where essentially any homeowner can act as their own project manager, if they so choose, with our assistance as consultants, for a fraction of what it would normally cost to hire a PM (Project Manager) or GC (General Contractor).
Here are the sources of income for builders, that home owners either directly or indirectly, pay for:
1. Management Fee:
Most PM companies charge anywhere from 10% to 25% of the value of the budget for their services (usually the larger the construction budget, the more negotiating power the client has to lower the management fee). As your CPM (Consulting Project Manager) we charge a flat fee for everything you need to run your project efficiently and professionally; the result is that you save tens of thousands of dollars that you would normally spend with a PM or a GC.
2. Site Supervision & Labour:
One general misconception is that when a PM or a GC brings their own Site Supervisors and Laborers, for daily tasks above and beyond the scope of the trades’ work, they get paid through the management fee. Although these companies do bring their own site supervisors and laborers, they do charge extra for them. In their budget proposal, the PM companies charge for Division 1000 items; this is standard practice across the industry as these costs are essentially part of the work required to complete the task, although not directly part of your construction drawings. Division 1000 items include soft costs for site supervision, labor, site safety, portable toilet, printing, parking, snow removal, cleaning, deliveries, etc. What is not fully disclosed is that what is paid to the site supervisors and laborers is always less than what is accounted for in the budget; PM & GC companies charge a decent mark-up on site supervision and labor hourly rates, significantly increasing their profit margins beyond the agreed upon 10% to 25%. As your CPM we do not charge for site supervision or labour, as you pay directly to whomever you hire, and we guide them throughout the construction process.
3. Trades & Suppliers:
PM companies have preferred trades and suppliers that they routinely work with over the years and as such have established working relationships as well as a standard quality of finishes that becomes the PM’s “signature quality” over a period of time. These trades normally have agreed upon fees or discounts built into their quotations to reward the PM companies for their continued loyalty; the PM companies also fail to disclose these built-in fees to their clients – depending on the value of the contract, these fees can range between 2.5%-10% of the value of each contract. As you CPM, we only assist with creating Scope of Works, Scheduling, Schedule of Deliverables, contract reviews and negotiations, and Accounting on your behalf; we will not sign direct contracts with trades and suppliers, thereby eliminating any form of liability or conflict arising from 3rd party side deals.
4. Change Orders:
Another source of income for PM companies is the management fees they make on extras to the initial budget for upgrades on materials and design changes during construction. As the management fee is calculated based on a percentage of the overall budget, when the budget is increased during the course of construction, as it always does, the PM company also makes tremendous bonuses when you add to your project scope or choose a higher quality material. These are presented as Change Orders on monthly billings to clients; Change orders normally constitute over 15% of the final “As Built” cost. As your CPM, we do not concern ourselves with the size of your budget, or how many changes you make. We simply guide you through the process and show you how changes affect the schedule as well as the budget. We get paid a flat fee for providing you with consulting services to streamline and professionalize every aspect of your project for optimum efficiency and success.
With our CPM Service, you are sure to save 10%-15% of your overall budget from costs normally paid to PM companies. We are with you every step of the way from demolition until move-in; the only real difference is that you pay a lot less for the same results. We provide:
1. Step-by-step, customized instructions specific to the construction process of your project.
2. Practical, technical and back-end documentation & tools to manage every facet of your project.
3. Access to our database of over 2000 professional trades and suppliers for any budget or level of customization.
4. Access to site supervisors and laborers that you can employ to look after daily tasks on your project.
Your only job is to:
- Ensure on-time payments to site supervisor, laborers, trades and suppliers
- Follow our guidelines and complete weekly tasks as directed