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For a major historical renovation I would absolutely go with a construction manager who manages the general contractor.There are a few great reasons for this, none can be guaranteed, but if you hire a good manager you should be able to count on them to control a number of potentially project stalling events:Your phone call or email will always be answered. Many general contractors are too busy dealing with their complicated businesses and or the multitude of projects they are simultaneously working on. If there is a time-sensitive phone call, you will be thanking yourself for the decision when the manager answers 24/7.The construction manager will fully understand the project's paper work. You probably don't want to waste your own time making sure your GC has the right bonding, insurance, credit lines...etc. A good manager will fill in these blanks, as well as make sure the city/town you are in has the proper documentation for the project (including making sure all inspections are properly scheduled and chaperoned.)If hired early the construction manager will help you with your bids. How else can you be sure you are getting a good price for the quality you are expecting. The manager has most likely been involved in several similar projects in the past and will have a good eye for how the estimate comes together.If hired even earlier, can work with the architect. Many architects who work on historical renovations are deeply involved in the project which is good. However, many of those architects do not fully take the project budget in their designs. A manager can look over drafts to make sure there are not glaringly over budget elements from either labor hours or materials. This will help you solicit better bids.An extra layer of quality control. Many important stages of a renovation are not inspected by the city/town. Something that can possibly be ignored on a simple commercial build-out cannot be taken for granted during historic renovations. No one wants shoddy flashing that ruins the plaster work of a perfectly restored historic foyer, just because the roofer only had one set of eyes on his work.The manager can handle all the Keys. This may sound silly to many people who have not done large renovations, but the keys for all the doors and access points can be a real headache. Many GC's only have the owner to go to when someone loses a key or the plumber is two hours early and needs to get in or a hundred other events that involve accessing the building(s).Meetings and walk-throughs can be difficult to "schedule" with a GC. Most GCs just want to be left alone while they do "their work" and if you work 8-5 you may find it difficult to properly go over the ongoing project, which is key if you (the owner) are not construction savvy.Cons:Cost. The cost can vary depending on the manager and project size. If hired early they will probably be able to save ($ and headaches) more than their total fee.Friction. The addition of a construction project manager may also cause friction with the GC, most of which are their own bosses and unless the two have a good relationship, it could cause problems.If you have the time, and desire to do the research and learn the headache of construction management or if you hire a top-notch ($) general contractor with historical restoration experience and great references you could in theory not run into too many problems.

Hello Anna,Thank you for requesting me to answer your question. Let me say, that Scott Nelson provided you with a good response.However, I would like to add the following:(1) You could request from a local AGC (Associated General Contractors) Chapter to post your project details. Most cities in the United States have a AGC. You can go to the National AGC website Chapters | Associated General Contractors to locate Chapters. Not sure, if a chapter may request that you should become a Member before being allowed to post. But, there is nothing wrong in just asking if they are willing to do so without becoming a Member. Just make sure that you have all of the details of your project in a RFP (Request for Proposal) format.(2) Please keep in mind all G.C.’s (General Contractors) are NOT alike. Some have specific specialties (like medical facilities, mult-family, highways, government contracting, etc.) Also, you will definitely would want them to provide: A Capability Statement, Bonding Capacity, 2–3 References, Safety Record, Most Recent Jobs, and Construction License.(3) Another way of seeking out G.C.’s is to drive around your city and see what construction is going on and who the contractor is. Make inquiries about the general contractor(s) and then call the G.C. directly. Have a list of questions already prepared to ask of them.(4) It is always best to have a minimum of 2 contractors to bid on your project(s). This will give you an indication on price comparisons. But, make sure you go line by line item to see and review the comparisons versus just looking only at the Total Estimate number.Hopefully, the information above will be helpful to you.

Picture a construction site for a major project.Hard helmets. Steel toed boots. Pickup trucks.Loaded with contractors battling to squeak out a profit, cutting corners wherever they can.Now imagine a stretch limousine rolling up just prior to the kickoff meeting for this project.Who is in it?We’ll get to that.This particular project was led by Turner Construction who had several contracts to build out AT&T data centers in the late 90’s.I was a sales rep hoping to convince the lead project manager to use General Electric for the power system installation, a big job involving equipment and substantial engineering. Just our startup and installation would cost Turner $300,000.I was 23 years old and just starting my career in sales. Desperate for a big order, I was happy to take his abuse and there was plenty of it.This is pretty standard for a large construction company. They bid on large deals knowing the margins will be thin. Once they secure a contract from an end user, they go to work beating up their subcontractors for lower prices.He has a past with General Electric and feels strongly that our bloated organization results in higher costs than the market warrants.He is mostly correct.By 2000, General Electric was still pricing as if they had a talent advantage and our field engineering rates were routinely 50% higher than competitors.Our talent advantage was nowhere near that premium.On large jobs like this, we did have one advantage which was size. Locally, we had more resources than just about anyone so we could typically finish a job on time. Executing on time is critical to a large general contractor, who might have performance targets in their contract.I assure him that his past experience with GE is not indicative of the amazing local team that I represent. I emphasize the size of our local team and introduce him to our local operations manager.We both assure him that we have scrubbed this proposal for every inefficiency. We will be Spartan-like in our workmanship and efficiency.Two of his local supervisors are not helping. They want to choose our competitor and are not shy in telling their boss about it.“Don’t listen to this. They always say these things. GE can’t manage cost. It’s not in their DNA.”Fortunately, this project manager is very concerned with on-time delivery and we win out, in spite of a higher cost. I am bullish that we will win the remaining contracts after we do a great job on this first deal.As it happens, we closed several more big deals with other customers shortly after this victory. This was great for our office but the timing made execution difficult.In essence, we didn’t have enough resources to fulfill the jobs locally, which is what I counted on when I sold them. Our operations team went looking for support elsewhere, trying to find qualified engineers with availability.I was assured that we would have enough resources and trusted the operations team to come through. On the day of the project kickoff, all of the pertinent vendors were onsite.My customer contact was leading the kickoff meeting and his boss was there to make sure it got off to a good start. This meeting was to focus on the importance of cost and deadlines.Our lead engineer would be coming in from Florida and his flight was cancelled the night before due to storms. We made sure to get him on the first flight so he would make it with time to spare.As the meeting was about to kick off, nearly 30 people congregated outside of the trailer where we would have the meeting. I was sweating it out as I waited for our Florida engineer to arrive, hoping he would make it on time.In rolls the limousine, shiny and white. For a second, I think the CEO of Turner Construction or AT&T might be making a surprise appearance.You never see a limo on a job site like this.I saw it in slow motion. My engineer opened the door and popped out as if nothing was out of the ordinary.Every other contractor who had cut their proposals to razor-thin profit margins stared in disbelief. I wanted to dig a hole and bury my head in it.Spartan-like efficiency, indeed.My customer’s gaze is fire and brimstone. Directly behind, his manager is giving him the same look while his supervisors are wearing smirks that scream “I told you so!”“What are you doing?”, I whisper to my oblivious teammate.“Oh this? I met him at the airport and he offered me the same rate as a taxi. The line for a taxi was long so it just made sense.”“Did you stop to think about the optics of pulling into a job site in a stretch limousine?!?”He shrugs.Most of our engineers were great at GE but this was the exact engineer that our customer was concerned with in the first place. He had 35 years with the company and remembered an era when the company could charge anything because of our talent gap.Those days were over.And so were mine with Turner Construction.I made my customer look ridiculous in front of his boss and subordinates.The project manager makes a big show of the situation in the kick-off meeting. He is embarrassed because he beat all of the other vendors up on cost and our ostentatious arrival makes it seem like he took it easy on us.In front of everyone, he announces that this will be the last contract that GE gets of their remaining data centers. Those were deals I was counting on to make my quota, worked months to secure and lost in the time it takes to say “Town Car”.It wasn’t all bad though. He did offer some career advice.“Find another job kid. This isn’t for you.”Ice cold.As with most embarrassing failures, I wouldn’t benefit from this defeat for a few months. It stung and I wanted someone to blame. I started off mad at my customer. Then, I was mad at the Florida engineer. Next, the operations manager who brought him in.It wasn’t until the next project that I realized how much more control I had. I attended every internal meeting on resources and made sure to explicitly detail the hot buttons of my customer. I added details that were not in the contract and contacted the engineers who were assigned to the job.I was not going to play the victim card.I owned each contract through execution. I left nothing to chance.It taught me that I needed to take responsibility for follow-up on the projects that I sold. Regardless of whose fault a customer service issue was, it was my business and income that would suffer.I learned to “trust, but verify” and thankfully, didn’t take my customer up on his “career advice”.That engineer and his sweet ride from the airport did me a favor that day.