Owner's Construction Representative and Project Management Services

We are accustomed to and it is our primary role to be an advisor to our Owners.  We are the Owner’s advocate from start to finish and regard our role seriously to represent the Owner in a fair and respectful manner.  We offer a full spectrum of Owner’s Representative services to the luxury home construction client in Naples, Florida.  Functioning as the project management consultant, we coordinate and manage your contractual relationships with designers, engineers, contractors, and vendors.

Please review our service catalogue below to gain a greater understanding of how we save you money when building your luxury estate home or remodeling your hi-rise condominium.

Project Photography & Websites

Most importantly – communication is essential to a successful construction project.  Especially if you live out of town or travel often.  A project specific website serves as a communication device for your construction project.  It can be used as a vital tool to relate information to anyone vested in your project. In addition to this attribute, a project website can provide a centralized location for all stakeholders to gather, present, and share valuable project information.

Design and Budget Development

Matching your dream  project to your pocket book is the first step.  Of the three parts of a project, the design and budget is often considered to be the most important.  Using our hands on experience and sharp cost mitigation experience, we can develop a budget that is both designable and buildable.  In addition, we ensure the budget can be managed, while at the same time extracting the maximum usage out of every dollar spent. We closely evaluate every item of the project and detect any deficiencies that are not cost effective.

Design Team Selection

Design team selection is equally as important as contractor selection.  The quality of your
design team selection will directly reflect the quality of the design documents.  Involving us before the design team is selected allows us to give our recommendation on the personnel which will communicate your vision through plans. Efficient design documents will help to nullify extra costs associated with design deficiencies.

Contract Development and Review

As a contract is the document that legally binds multiple  stakeholders of a construction project, it is not something to take lightly.  Precautions must be taken to protect the signing parties interests, and ensure they don’t start the project at a dis-advantage.  At Richards and Martin, we enable our strong negotiating skills and excellent document knowledge to form a contract which gives our clients the protections they deserve.

Constructability / Plan Review

The success of every construction projects depends on the quality of the design documents.  If a set of documents are incomplete or inaccurate, the advancement of the job could be in jeopardy.  Additionally, if the documents are deficient, the accuracy of bids will suffer.  We review the design documents for, and identify these deficiencies.  This saves countless dollars in possible change orders, which disrupt the balance of the budget.

Construction Estimating

At first glance, estimating appears to be analogous with  budgeting.  However, estimating serves a distinctly separate purpose.  In budgeting, you evaluate the maximum capital you want to devote to a project.  In estimating, actual costs are applied to a set of construction documents. We can provide detailed, real-world estimates for virtually any construction application.  This assists with awards with bids, as well as change order mitigation. As estimating is directly tied to the project’s budget, a precise estimation cannot be  disparaged.

Value Engineering

Maintaining functionality and quality while mitigation cost is paramount for any construction project. During value engineering we identify design elements that could be more “cost efficient”, without making any sacrifices that degrade the value of the final product.  Value engineering results in reclaimed capital for the project, which can be applied to many financial applications.  This process is most efficient before construction begins, but we never stop looking for possibilities through the duration of the project.

CPM Scheduling

Anyone can create a schedule.  However, we invoke a highly technical and dynamic process known as critical path management.  CPM is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a construction project.  This process compiles the
activities in an order which identifies the shortest possible path to project completion. Through this process, schedule delays can be successfully
mitigated.

Bid Management

Managing the bid process is a momentous step in the timeline of any project.  The success or
failure of a project can often rest upon contractor selection, and ensuring the entire scope of the design documents is covered. As the bid process is much more dynamic than just taking the low bid, our services at this stage are encouraged.

Procurement & Logistics

Schedule delays can often be attributed to building materials which do not arrive on the jobsite when needed.  Building luxury estates often requires rare materials from all over the world. Some of the materials needed to begin a task must be ordered months ahead of time and be scheduled to arrive on the jobsite at the perfect moment.  Richards and Martin oversees the procurement process, to mitigate any schedule delays related to materials.  This process is an integral part of our scheduling program, and must be implemented in conjunction.

Contract Administration

It is important to ensure that all stakeholders of the
construction project are living up to their expectations set before its start.  This service typically encompasses the entire construction timeline, as we diligently monitor and enforce contractual requirements.  Ensuring total invested capital is equal to the value of the project is a
fundamental expectation.

Pay Application Review

We review every payment application, ensuring you are only paying for work which is equal to the equity of the building. Only paying for goods you have received, or work that has been completed, seems like a basic concept in construction.  However, often payment requested is not equal to the current equity of the project.  Maintaining the balance between work completed and capital dispersed is integral in the financial health of your  project, as it leaves you with the least amount of risk possible.  

Quality Control

If work is not installed per the construction documents, or if the work is not at acceptable standards, swift action must be taken to remedy the problem.  Normally referred to as “QA/QC”, quality assurance and control is a requisite of any project.  Richards and Martin can manage the QA/QC process to avoid continuing with costly building mistakes.  This helps to mitigate any future issues with the building, as well as schedule delays.

Change Order Management

Ultimately, almost all projects will have change orders.  A change order is when a contract must perform work at an extra cost on the project which was not expected.  During pre-construction, Richards and Martin advises on a contingency for these change orders, which is a line item in the budget.  During construction, we studiously analyze each change order for more cost effective alternates, as well as ensure each cost is founded and honest.

Financial Forecasting

Having a clearer view of the possible financial risks to the project ahead of time can be very advantageous to all stakeholders involved. 
If a risk can be identified early enough, its effects can be minimized and possibly nullified.  We use our decades of experience and perceptive management practices to identify these risks ahead of time, allowing them to be addressed before they become a risk to the project.

Commissioning Oversight

Initializing the building’s systems (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, security, etc) is an important milestone in the construction project.  However, to receive the manufacturer’s standard warranties, certain steps must be followed.  During this important phase, we closely monitor the commissioning agent’s actions, and make certain that all details are closely followed to receive a functional building, with the warranties intact.

Fixtures, Furnishings, & Equipment

In a construction project, there are items required to make the building fully functional, which the general contractor does not provide. Examples of these items are, furniture, medical equipment, specialized equipment, and many other fixtures. Richards and Martin manages procurement and  negotiation of these items on behalf of the owner.  This service supplies the remaining pieces for the building to be occupied.

Close Out

Closing out a construction project is a daunting task.  Operation and maintenance manuals (O
& M’s) must be collected, punch lists finalized, and contracts must be closed out.  Richards and Martin can guide you every step of the way through this process. We collect and review O & M’s, and closely monitor the punch list operation.  Equally as important, we perform contract close-out functions, such as warranty work, ensuring the close-out documents are in order, and authorizing release of retention.