ᐅ Changing the Construction Manager: What Should Be Considered?

Hello everyone,

We are building our house with a planning office/construction manager, similar to working with an architect. We haven’t really started yet, and there have already been some negative events. Perhaps we are being a bit too critical. We also understand to some extent that the construction manager follows a fixed routine, but some things simply don’t meet our expectations.

Now the question is whether we can change the construction manager and what consequences we should expect. So far, we have been paying according to progress (50% payment, building permit/planning permission, etc.), and the next milestone would be construction management. Since not much has been done in this phase yet, this would be the ideal time. The question is what we need to consider or be aware of, or can this be done without problems if the new construction manager takes over the plans without issue.

We do not want to change just yet, but we want to know our options to make a better-informed decision.

Oh man...

What exactly happened to properly assess the situation? What does the contract say about terminations?

Contract? There isn’t one. We have an estimate, and then it got started. For example, once the plans were finished, an invoice was issued, then another when the building permit / planning permission application was submitted, and so on. So far, everything is going well. Overall, it fits our needs and we don’t necessarily want to switch, since you never know how the new company will be. So for now, we are just checking the options.

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but one trade was significantly over the estimate. He said he was still looking for alternatives, but time passed and nothing happened. We even got recommendations through acquaintances, but they only got contacted after repeated follow-ups, and then their schedules were full. Now that a decision finally needs to be made, I searched myself and at this late stage, it isn’t easy. Nevertheless, we did receive an offer within our budget. We wanted to clarify whether to award the contract, because time is pressing, but I couldn’t reach the site manager and now he is on vacation.

We feel like there is a lot going on right now and some things are being overlooked. We constantly have to follow up. If this costs us time and money, it’s frustrating. Often, there is a reactive rather than proactive approach, and we have already heard phrases like: “Now it’s too late.” We also have to negotiate a lot when we want to deviate from the usual process. Phrases like “This is how we’ve always done it and it works” come up frequently. Especially in areas where I am knowledgeable and know that some measures are unnecessary or not optimal, it naturally makes me suspect that similar attitudes apply to other trades as well. Our feeling (!) tells us that there is caution and a “never change a running system” mentality here. For example, if the roof has always been built a certain way, why change it now? For one trade, I am 100% sure that some things are not necessary for us. Yet, they still want to carry them out. It doesn’t harm, and the site manager is on the safe side because if something is missing, it could cause problems. So just do it.