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CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
What Construction Management Actually Covers
Ask five contractors what construction management means and you’ll get five different answers. Some use it to mean they’re the general contractor. Others mean they’re an owner’s representative. Some mean they handle a project manager.
Here’s what it actually means in practice.
Construction management is the ongoing oversight of a construction project from preconstruction through closeout. A construction manager plans the project, coordinates the construction resources, manages the construction subcontractors, controls the budget, keeps the schedule, handles construction administration, and delivers the finished project to the owner.
In some projects, the construction manager serves as the general contractor. On other commercial or institutional projects, which are more often larger, the construction manager is hired separately from the general contractor and acts as the owner ‘s advocate during the build .
JSN Construction is a full service commercial construction contractor and construction manager. We don’t just build, we manage the entire process from the first permit submission to the final LADBS inspection.
Commercial Construction Contractors in Los Angeles: What to Look for
When you’re searching for commercial construction contractors in Los Angeles, the list of options is long. Here’s how to cut through it.
In California, licensed commercial construction contractors need a Class B General Building Contractor’s license from the California Contractors State License Board. You can check any license at cslb.ca.gov. If a contractor can’t give you their CSLB license number, stop talking to them.
Beyond the license, here’s what actually separates good commercial construction contractors from those that look good on paper:
LA project history. More specifically. “Working in Los Angeles means knowing LADBS, knowing seismic design requirements, knowing the permit timeline, and knowing the trades that work in this city. Having incredible credentials in another market does not mean they are ready for LA.
Verified subcontractor network. Ask who they use for electrical, mechanical and framing. Do you have relationships with licensed, insured trades? Or will they discover this after signing your contract?
Proactive practice in communication. Call their last three customers. Ask how many updates they got without asking. Question if budget problems were revealed early or late.
Clear change order process. Ask them directly what happens if there is a scope change. If the answer isn’t “we write it up, price it, and get your approval before work proceeds,” you’re going to have a budget problem.
California deposit law compliance. California law limits contractor deposits to 10 percent of the project value or $1,000, whichever is less. Any contractor asking for a large upfront payment before work begins is out of compliance and is a red flag.
The Construction Management Team: Who Does What
A well-run project has specific people in specific roles. When those roles overlap or go unfilled, things get dropped.
The Construction Project Coordinator
The construction project coordinator manages documentation and the flow of communication. They monitor submittals, manage the RFI log, distribute meeting minutes, update the project schedule, and make sure that the right information is provided to the right people at the right time.
This function is often ignored. The coordinator is the individual who is stopping all of it from getting lost on a project with 12 active sub-contractors, 40 open submittals and 20 outstanding RFIs. One of the best hires on any project over $500,000 is a good coordinator.
The Construction Subcontractors
Specialty trades are construction subcontractors, the electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, tile setters, drywall crews, glaziers, and every other trade that helps build the building. The construction manager is the one who finds, contracts, sequenced and is held accountable for scope and schedule.
Construction subcontractor management in Los Angeles requires more attention than most other markets. In Los Angeles, the skilled trades vacancy rate hovers around 15 percent. That translates to tighter availability, longer lead times to confirm crews, and a huge difference between having a reliable subcontractor relationship and starting from scratch with someone you found last week. JSN Construction has working relationships with vetted, licensed trades in all specialties.
The Performance Contractors
Not all subcontractors are equal. Performance contractors are the trades who consistently show up when scheduled, produce quality work, respond quickly to RFIs, and don’t generate unnecessary change orders. Building a roster of performance contractors takes time. It requires tracking past performance, paying fairly and on time, and giving good operators enough work to prioritize your projects.
We monitor the performance of each subcontractor on every project for JSN Construction. That data shapes who gets called first on the next one.
The Team Construction Approach
Good construction management is not about one person managing everyone else. This is a team building approach where the project manager, site superintendent, construction project coordinator and key subcontractors all know the project goals and communicate proactively with one another.
If the framing superintendent tells the project coordinator on Tuesday that the decking delivery is two days late, the project coordinator can notify the MEP coordination team and adjust the inspection schedule before Wednesday is an issue. That kind of communication only happens when you have a real team, when people know their role and trust each other enough to raise issues early.
Construction Administration: The Paperwork That Protects You
Construction administration is the process of managing all the documentation that ties the physical construction to the contractual, legal, and code requirements of the project. It’s not glamorous work. But the projects that finish without disputes, failed inspections, or certificate of occupancy delays are almost always the ones where construction administration was done carefully.
RFI Management
When something in the drawings or specifications is not clear or conflicts with site conditions, a subcontractor or field team will submit an RFI (request for information). Any open RFI is a delay. Rapidly direct RFIs to the design team, monitor the reply and verify the field team has what they need to move forward. The work of construction administration.
On a typical LA commercial project you will see between 60 to 120 RFI’s by the time the project closes. And managing them via email is asking for things to fall through the cracks. On most of our projects we use Procore project management software to track every RFI from submission through resolution.
Submittal Tracking
Submittals are documentation to verify that the materials and equipment a subcontractor intends to use comply with the drawings. Before a tile setter lays 2,000 square feet of tile, the tile product needs to be submitted and approved. Before the glazier installs the window system, the shop drawings need to go through the architect.
Late submittals are one of the most consistent causes of material delays on LA construction projects. The submittal log tracks every item, when it was submitted, who it’s with for review, and when approval is due. We track this from day one.
Change Order Management
Any change to the approved scope, schedule, or contract shall be made through a change order. On projects without active construction administration, change orders accumulate informally, through verbal agreements, texts, and informal emails, and emerge as disputes at the end of the project.
All change orders we process are in writing before work is performed. The construction project coordinator keeps the change order log, monitors the impact of each on cost and schedule, and makes sure the owner approves it before the work starts. We include a change order reconciliation in the budget variance summary in our monthly progress reports so there are no surprises.
LADBS Permit and Inspection Administration
In Los Angeles, construction administration is active management of the LADBS permit and inspection process. This includes monitoring inspection due dates, ensuring that work is ready prior to requesting inspections, scheduling the deputy inspector for projects requiring continuous special inspection, and responding to plan check corrections in a timely manner.
We’ve seen this enough to know what the cost of a slow correction response will be in schedule time. LADBS comments back and we get back to them within a few days.
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Construction Resources: What It Actually Takes to Build in LA
Construction resources is the name given to all the things that make up a project: labour, materials, equipment, subcontractors and time. Dealing with these effectively is the operational heart of construction management.
Labor Resources
The metro area has more than 158,000 construction workers, but the vacancy rate for skilled trades is about 15 percent. In practical terms this means that experienced framing crews, MEP technicians and finish trades workers are in demand and often booked weeks ahead of time. If the construction management team doesn’t check to make sure the crew is available before the project schedule is built, the result is gaps in the field.
We confirm subcontractor availability as buyout process before the start date and not the week before mobilization.
Material Resources and Procurement
This is where a lot of projects go wrong quietly – in material management. The long-lead items include custom windows, specialty HVAC equipment, structural steel fabrication and custom millwork, with lead times ranging from 8-20 weeks. In order for a custom curtain wall system to go in at week 18 in the construction schedule, the shop drawings need to be approved and the order placed around week 4.
Our construction project coordinator keeps a procurement tracking log in conjunction with the submittal log. They are not separate documents. They are connected.” Once the submittal is approved the purchase order is generated. Confirmation of Purchase Order establishes delivery date. The delivery date verifies the installation window in the schedule.
Equipment Resources
Equipment management is most relevant on ground-up construction projects with active excavation, concrete pours, or large material lifts. We coordinate equipment scheduling, cranes, concrete pumps, compactors, and lifts to align with inspection windows and crew availability. Equipment that sits unused on-site costs money. Equipment that isn’t scheduled when it’s needed costs more.
How JSN Construction Runs Construction Management in Los Angeles
We have refined this method through practical experience overseeing projects in LA, including West Hollywood commercial build-outs, multi-family upgrades in Burbank, ground-up residential in Studio City, and everything in between.
This is how our construction management process actually works.
Preconstruction Phase
Before any work begins, we run a preconstruction phase that covers scope definition, detailed budget development, schedule creation, permit strategy, subcontractor selection, and long-lead material identification. The preconstruction phase exists to eliminate avoidable surprises during construction.
Every project starts with a post-award kick off meeting with all team project manager, site superintendent, construction project coordinator, and key subcontractors to review scope, schedule, quality standards and communication expectations. Everybody knows the plan before the first crew comes.
Active Construction Phase
Our site supervisor is on site every working day of the construction. The construction project coordinator tracks submittals, RFIs and change orders in real-time. Owner monthly progress reports (and construction lender if applicable) including schedule status, budget variance, change order log and procurement tracker.
LADBS inspections are scheduled in advance. “We do our own walk-through pre-inspections before we call for any LADBS inspection, so we find and correct any issues before the inspector shows up.
Construction Closeout
Construction administration up to closeout covers the punch list, final LADBS inspections, creation of as-built drawings, gathering of warranty documents, and filing of permit records. All final inspections for all trades must be completed before the certificate of occupancy is issued.
A project is not finished until the owner has the certificate of occupancy, the warranty documentation and the as-built drawings. That’s the end of the line.
Construction Manager Cost in Los Angeles
The fees for construction management in Los Angeles will vary depending on the structure of the service.
As a percent of construction cost: Most construction managers charge 5 to 15 percent of the total construction cost for full construction management services. For a commercial project of $2 million that’s $100,000 to $300,000. The fee covers preconstruction services, active project management, construction administration and closeout.
Flat fee: Some projects are delivered on a negotiated flat fee basis, typically for projects with a well-defined scope and low risk of scope expansion.
Built into the general contractor contract: If JSN Construction is the general contractor, as well as construction manager, the management function is built into the overall contract. This is the most frequently used structure for our Los Angeles projects.
Owner’s Representative: For those owners who have a general contractor but want independent oversight and advocacy, a typical fee for an owner’s representative is 2 to 5 percent of the construction cost.
Construction management fees are self-funded on most projects. Projects with active management always have fewer change orders, fewer schedule delays and fewer inspection failures than projects under active management. The cost of these issues is often many times greater than the management fee.
Let's Talk About Your Project.
Projects in Los Angeles don’t run well by accident. They run well because someone is actively managing the schedule, the subcontractors, the budget, and the documentation every day from start to finish.
JSN Construction provides complete construction management services across Los Angeles for commercial, residential, and multi-family projects. We handle everything from preconstruction planning through the certificate of occupancy managing the commercial construction contractors, construction subcontractors, construction resources, and construction administration that keep your project moving.
Planning a commercial build-out in West Hollywood, a multi-family development in Burbank, a ground-up custom home in Pasadena, or a mixed-use project anywhere in LA County? We want to hear about it.
For your free estimate, call JSN Construction today. We’ll take a look at your scope, your timeline and where you are today and give you a straight answer on what construction management really looks like for your project.
📞818-925-0053 🌐 JSN Construction 📍Los Angeles, CA and Surrounding Areas Commercial Residential Multi-Family