Christen Alice R.

Calibo
BS Architecture V
Specialization 3
GENERAL CONTRACOR VS. CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
General Contractor
The General Contractor is usually an individual or company that manages the day-to-day activities at the
jobsite. They are the lead entity in charge of actually building the building. They have their own
employees who serve as project manager or foreman with laborers who self-perform on projects or utilize
a variety of specialty subcontractors. Generally in large commercial projects, various subcontractors
complete 80-90% of the work. The General Contractor serves as the project manager coordinating the
work of the subcontractors and serving as the liaison in communicating with the owner or architect on
project activities.
While some General Contractors are awarded projects based on previous work or relationships with an
owner or architect, General Contractors have to submit a competitive proposal for consideration. The
General Contractors invited to bid are presented with completed plans and specifications from the
architect from which they will base their proposals. The General Contractor then collects proposals from
various subcontractors (usually selecting the lowest price bids to keep their overall bid proposal to the
owner competitive) and then includes any additional markup and overhead costs in their bid submission.
After reviewing all the submitted proposals from several General Contractors, the owner usually awards
the project based on price and quality.
The General Contractor is fully motivated to keep the entire project within budget. When the overall costs
of the completed project come under the bid price, the General Contractor benefits and gets to keep those
unused funds as profit. However, any cost overruns require asking the owner for more funds or changing
project scope. This happens more frequently as the General Contractor was not involved in the pre-
construction phase to assist in providing more accurate estimates.
 
Construction Manager
The Construction Manager is a more collaborative partner with the owner of projects. There is usually not
competitive bid in the selection of a Construction Manager, and their selection is generally based on
qualifications and experience versus lowest price. Construction Managers typically paid on a fee-based
pricing (flat, per hour or percentage of project costs), so there is no competition for profits like with a
General Contractor.
Either an individual or an organization, the Construction Manager is brought on at the very beginning of
the project providing input on the design and working directly with subcontractors to provide more
realistic costs and timeframes. With the involvement of the subcontractors in the design phase, this
provides adjustments to be made during the pre-construction process versus costly change orders in the
construction phase. The Construction Manager then provides onsite supervision of the subcontractors in
the same capacity as a General Contractor but enjoys a more direct and collaborative relationship with the
owner.