GENERAL CONTRACTING

A general contractor is the contractor with main responsibility for the construction, improvement, or renovation project under contract, and is the party signing the prime construction contract for the project. The general contractor is the person or entity who hires all of the subcontractors and suppliers for a project. It is an individual, partnership, corporation, or other business entity that is capable of performing construction work as a contractor with overall responsibility for the satisfactory completion of a project using its own forces to perform or supervise part of the work.

DESIGN+BUILD

The owner manages only one contract with a design-build contractor. The designer and contractor work together from the beginning, as a team, providing unified project recommendations to fit the owner's schedule and budget. Any changes are addressed by the entire team, leading to collaborative problem-solving and innovation, not excuses or blame-shifting. While single-source contracting is the fundamental difference between design-build and the old ways, equally important is the culture of collaboration inherent in design-build.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

Professional advisory services provided to the owner of a construction project with regard to virtually any aspect of the project, including financing, time and cost consequences of design and construction decisions, scheduling, contract negotiations and awards, purchase of critical materials and long-lead items, budgets, and monitoring performance of design and construction teams. Can be done on a stand-alone basis (agency CM) or in conjunction with the actual construction of the project (CM at risk).