Thinking about starting a construction project? You’ve got your design team and contractor lined up—but are you ready for everything else that comes with it? Many owners are surprised by how much time and responsibility still falls on their shoulders, even with the right team in place. This is where an owner representative fits in, acting as an extension of the owner’s staff and taking charge of these tasks to make sure they get done without causing delays or increasing project cost.

Setting Up Fire & Security Monitoring

Whether this is your fire alarm monitoring or your security system monitoring, the property owner is responsible for engaging in these contracts directly. Your fire alarm contractor does not set the system to automatically notify the fire department when your alarms go off. The building owner must get that set up under a separate contract and verify the call plan for emergencies.

Coordinating Utility Connections

If you have existing utility service lines in the way of planned construction, neither your designer nor contractor will be able to call your provider and get information on what it will take to move, or even what it would cost. The same applies to new services like phone, internet, or water and sewer—these are all owner responsibilities and typically fall outside the construction budget. Problems often arise when owners aren’t made aware of these responsibilities during the schematic design phase, or even before construction begins. For anyone who has ever dealt with an internet service provider, it’s even more difficult in commercial construction! It often takes months to get utility providers scheduled to bring new service to a new building, and if you wait for the construction phase you are already behind.

Establishing Service Contracts

Whether you need to set up regular service for your elevator or your HVAC system, service contracts are an important part of extending the life of your investment. Building owners are responsible for reaching out to service providers, getting quotes, and setting up contracts. Make sure you have a good understanding of when your initial warranty and maintenance period is up so you stay ahead of extending services for your equipment.

Securing Your New Address & Mail Services

If you are moving into a new building, do you need a new address? Who updates the post office? What about your Google listing? How do you get your new mailbox?  There are a lot of tasks and follow-up needed to get these done. You also might be surprised how hard it is to get a new mailbox set up at a property. If you don’t have staff to devote to these tasks, you risk fumbling this transition and possibly delaying your opening.

Furnishing and Outfitting Your Building

Typically, furniture and other specialty furnishings are not included in the contract to design or manage. Building owners can pay anywhere from 5-10% of project costs for a firm to design the furniture layout. Without giving away too many tricks of our trade, TBG utilizes project partners and relationships to save our clients the extra design costs and consider the management and coordination of this piece covered within our service fee. Some other furnishings considered the owner’s responsibility include TVs, appliances, low voltage equipment, soap dispensers, and even garbage bins.

Managing Keying and Access Control

If you haven’t attended a keying meeting, count your blessings! These meetings can be very long, but the owner must be actively engaged. If not, this can risk project delays, costly reordering of door hardware, or even causing door frames to be redone. The contractor will provide temporary construction cores until the owner’s locksmith, or security vendor, installs the permanent cores aligning with the keying schedule. This ensures security is maintained and there aren’t any loose keys left with tradespeople. If you don’t have maintenance staff, or even if you do, having knowledgeable partners to help guide you through this process is invaluable. Especially if that means you get to skip these meetings entirely.

These are just a few examples of things owners are responsible for. Imagine having to stay on top of these items while still having to handle your everyday tasks. And does not even touch on builder’s risk policies, low voltage coordination, or tracking soft costs.

Are you ready to take the stress out of your next construction project? Let TBG handle the details so you can stay focused on your business. Contact us today to learn how we can support your success.