A guide to selecting and procuring the right Owner’s Representative (OR) for your project

When selecting an OR for your charter school facility project, there are two important aspects to consider: the technical steps required for OR selection and procurement, and whether the qualifications of the candidates match your project needs. 

The ideal candidate will be the representative or team that best aligns themselves to your mission and works to deliver your project on time and under budget while meeting or exceeding your quality standards and project goals. 

The first step in procuring your Owner’s Representative is to develop a Request For Proposal (RFP), the industry standard to solicit bids for your project. The RFP can be issued publicly or to shortlisted candidates only, depending on any requirements of your funding, grants, jurisdiction, or simply your own preference.  The proposals you receive in response to your RFP will help you assess and understand both the soft and the technical qualifications of each candidate. 

It is crucial that you select an OR who can respond to the technical complexities and economic risks typically associated with construction projects. There may also be creative project delivery methods that could serve your needs better than others while saving you money. Thus, you want to make sure that the proposals received in response to the RFP provide you with enough information to assess the candidates’ industry and market experience, project approach, communication style, team relatability, and all other aspects that are important to you.

Procurement Steps

Develop a Request For Proposal (RFP)

1. Develop an RFP that includes a project description, project schedule, and concept drawings, as available. Clearly state the information you are requesting from each candidate about their pricing and qualifications so that when you receive proposals, you can compare apples to apples.
2. Qualifications you might consider requesting in your RFP include: firm information, industry and market experience, relevant project experience of the firm, relevant project experience of the designated Point of Contact (POC), references for previous work, certifications, percentage of BIPOC/female/veteran representation
3. Define the scope of work so that pricing received from different candidates does not vary on the basis of assumptions. Examples of scope items you might request in the RFP include the following: 

• Assistance with planning and site selection 
• Assistance with financial closing 
• Program development
• Project delivery process development
• Creation and monitoring of project budget, schedule, and quality standards
• Team selection and procurement
• Permitting and community relations support
• Value engineering/Value management
• Project phasing development and logistical planning
• Management oversight design
• Sustainability management
• Construction management oversight
• Vendor management
• Furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) procurement
• Relocation management
• Oversight commissioning
• Project closeout and one-year warranty   

1. Include information and dates for scheduled site visits to help candidates better plan and understand the site and construction logistics. 
2. Provide an email address where candidates can ask you and your team follow-up questions about the RFP. For each question asked, ensure the answer is issued to all candidates who will submit proposals so that information equity can be maintained.  
3. Clearly state the proposal submission instructions and deadline and the selection criteria and timeline.

Receive and Evaluate Proposals

1. When reviewing proposals, consider creating a decision-making matrix to compare criteria that is important to you. Make note of any discrepancies between candidates, and ensure they have been clarified to allow you to compare the candidates effectively.
2. You may shortlist a few candidates and reject others based on the selection criteria that is most important to you. Selection criteria will depend on your own priorities but may include candidates’ costs and fees, relevant experience of firm or team members, and market expertise. 
3. In accordance with the timeline in the RFP, notify candidates that were shortlisted for interviews. You may consider providing some questions in advance for candidates to include in their presentations during the interview, as well as preparing some questions to ask impromptu during Q&A. 
4. You may notify candidates that were not offered interviews at this time, or choose to inform them after the interviews. 
5. Identify which team and board members will accompany you during the interviews. 
6. As you go through the interviews with shortlisted candidates, it may be helpful to use the decision-making matrix you created to record your comments and rate each candidate per the evaluation criteria you have identified. The interview is also a good time to assess the reliability of the leadership of the Owner’s Rep firm and the Point of Contact who will be engaging with you directly for your project. 

Select your OR

1. Following the interviews, consider meeting with your team to discuss and evaluate how each candidate measured up against your  selection criteria.
2. You might find yourself struggling to pick between two (or more) strong candidates. Conducting reference checks with candidates’ past projects can help you to learn more about each firm and make a decision. 
3. Based on the above steps, select the Owner’s Rep that you believe meets your criteria and will best manage your project. 
4. Inform the selected Owner’s Rep of your decision, and then inform the candidates who were not selected.
5. The candidates who were not selected may request a meeting with you to understand your decision and receive feedback for improvement. If you are comfortable doing so, the meeting provides important feedback for firms and is typically brief, sometimes as short as 15 minutes.  

Establishing Successful Communication Protocols with your OR

Once you have brought your OR on board, a communications management plan can help you establish communications protocols for your project. It is important for you to identify the key Point of Contact (POC) from your team who will engage with the Owner’s Representative on a regular basis. This plan includes communications protocols between all stakeholders, and at a minimum outlines the following:

• How important information will be communicated between the identified stakeholders from your team and the Owner’s Rep.
• Who from your team will attend which meetings 
• Your preferred mode and frequency of communication.  Typically, a weekly update call is scheduled between you and the OR to go over project budget, schedule, design or construction updates, community relations, and any other risks or concerns.
• What information is considered critical and will require your decisions and approval
• A timeline for  what decisions will need your approval and by when 

Since the Owner’s Rep will be more deeply involved than you in the project on a regular basis, they will make some decisions for you in the interest of the project budget and schedule. Maintaining trust in your Owner’s Representative and allowing them to exercise their expertise with supervision and check-ins will help the project’s overall success. 

Team Acquisition and Management by OR 

Your Owner’s Representative can help you procure the rest of your project team, including an architect, general contractor, or consultants. The sooner your core team of an architect, general contractor, and owner’s rep is on board, the earlier they can start working together towards the success of your project. Your Owner’s Rep will create the RFPs needed to acquire the rest of your project team and execute the selection process to help you pick the best suited candidate. The Owner’s Rep will also create a decision-making matrix for you to effectively compare the candidates, but the ultimate decision of which candidate will join the project team is yours. 

In summary, whether your charter school facility project is a new construction or renovation project, an Owner’s Representative will bring their technical and industry expertise to help you succeed.  An OR will get into the weeds, whether in the field or on paper, at every phase of your project to ensure success.  They will help you assemble the ideal team for your facility project and ensure that your project stays on schedule, within budget, and built per established design standards that meets or exceeded your expectations. Ultimately, this will mean that your students and community can enjoy each day to the fullest in their new school.