In a Construction Management (CM) contract, the Fee is established as a fixed amount or percentage. The CM works on a fixed fee or percentage fee basis with all of the construction savings being returned to the Owner. Beyond the fee, everything else is a ʺcost of the workʺ. As a result, the Construction Manager and the Owner share a common objective to get the best price, from the right contractor or supplier, for the cost of the work.

The role of the Construction Manager as a part of the preconstruction phase/design phase cannot be over‐emphasized. As such, the Construction Manager troubleshoots the design to prevent change orders and redesign.

Recognizing that the Construction Manager has participated throughout the design phases of the pre‐construction process, it is reasonable to assume that the Construction Manager should have a broader perspective of the potential issues that may arise during construction and which may ultimately requires changes to the work. As a result, for example the Construction Manager will be better prepared to address modifications to related to unknown conditions or the clients/architects request to make changes to the scope of the project. The owner’s participation allows for more flexibility to address issues, look at alternatives and evaluate best alternates working with the CM.