The board meeting was advancing at its usual pace when, with little warning, a motion was heard, brief discussion followed, a vote was called for, and, before the dust had settled, a project — the construction of a long-awaited special park facility — was born.

No one with authority, especially you, expected this project to rise to such a high priority so quickly. Was it needed? Yes! Had it had been hoped for? Most certainly! But, now? Why the urgency, the impatience? While your mind is grasping for new and somewhat illusive perspectives, you hear your instructions from the Board: "Have everything planned and ready to go by the next monthly meeting!"

Has this ever happened to you? If not, it will. Within a park manager's normal professional arena sudden changes, adverse weather, insect infestations, fire and so on, are inevitable occurrances. But ... building construction? How expert are you in this field? Where do you begin? Can all of the people and pieces be assembled in time? Who are these people anyway? What pieces are we talking about? The questions are endless and we are reminded of the bewildering dilemma that has confronted mankind for decades, "which comes first . . . the chicken or the egg?" Or, in words attuned to the specific situation, "is it the people or the pieces that come first?" We shall resolve this issue now, if not biologically, then at least philosophically. The chicken comes first ... or in this case the people.

To understand our reasoning for placing the chicken into this position of prominence, one must first grasp the essence of what a building is. A building is an assemblage of pieces . . . wood, metal, concrete and plastic, that are nailed, screwed, welded and chemically bonded together for the purpose of creating a safe and comfortable shelter in which people can live and work. The key subject here is people. People not only use buildings, they also build them.

". . . An owner's representative is an individual who represents your park district's interests during the planning, design and construction of [a] new facility. He or she is made responsible for answering the myriads of project-related questions that the bankers, attorneys, bureaucratic officials, accountants, architects, contractors and staff will continually ask."

Therefore, in the beginning stages of a construction project, do not concentrate your physical efforts or thoughts on what your building will "look" like. Will it have shutters on the windows, or should the color of the trim match your eyes? It's fun, we know, to think about such things. But remember, you have until your next board meeting to develop a plan of intended accomplishment. The fact that a sloped roof is more leak resistant and aesthetically pleasing than a flat roof will be discussed at a later, more appropriate, time.

Having put the pieces of the building to bed for a while, let us now center our attention on people. In saying people, we do not mean those who will occupy the facility. Their input into the success of this project is second to none. However, their opinions cannot be your initial concern once the green light has been given. What you must first concentrate your attention on is the selection of an owner's representative, someone who is a "people", too.

"And who is an owner's representative?" He/she is an individual who represents your park district's interests during the planning, design and construction of the new facility. He or she is made responsible for answering the myriads of project-related questions that the bankers, attorneys, bureaucratic officials, accountants, architects, contractors and staff will continually ask. He/she, by virtue of this position, should be an informed construction expert with experience in all phases of building project development. He/she should be an excellent communicator. Most importantly, he or she must be able to focus the separate talents and opinions of the many into a cooperative effort that will finally result in the successful completion of a facility that meets the needs of the people it serves.

As a park administrator, your selection of an owner's representative is singularly the most important decision you will make on this project. Following is a listing of individuals most frequently selected to act as owner's representatives, along with a few evident and not so evident pros and cons:

You — The District Manager
Unless of course your hobby is the study and field practice of the construction industry's means and methods then, pray tell, are you qualified? You know parks, but do you know when and if an architect is required? Do you know how they charge and if

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Who You Gonna Call? (Continued) ————————————————

you are being charged too much? Do you know when to believe a contractor and when not to? Can you review a set of schematic drawings, preliminary drawings, final drawings, even written specifications and catch the majority of inconsistencies, misinterpretations, unconscious and conscious deletions? Can you estimate construction costs? Do you know good quality construction from bad? If you can answer yes to each of the above questions, then, hey, go for it! Simply plan to inform your board at its next public meeting that you will be taking a year or two sabatical from your regular managerial duties to devote major segments of your time to the new project. That should rock them back in their board chairs!

Staff Member
The same rules that applied to you also control whether or not a staff member can be assigned the project duties. If he or she can fulfill this assignment, then again, we ask the question, "Who is minding his/her store?" YOU?

Your Attorney
Certainly attorneys play an important part in the play, but how are they at construction stage sets? [Author's Note (De Vore): I once worked with an owner's representative who was an attorney. Towards the end of the design phase, I submitted to him, for his review, the technical specifications, wherein all the pieces (i.e. products such as doors, door hardware, concrete mix designs, bathroom partitions, etc.), were described and defined verbally. Two weeks later he sent to me his revised and edited copy of the specifications. He had spent eighty hours of review time at a cost of roughly $4,000 to his client, the owner, to rewrite each sentence in the specifications as a complete sentence rather than abbreviate the statements of direction. Not only was the document now 600 instead of 200 pages, but in many instances he had inadvertantly altered intent and meaning. His interpretations were subsequently discarded.]

Don't use your attorney as your owner's representative on matters of constructions. Use him as your legal advisor.

Your Accountant
Nice guy, I'm sure, and again a player, but not a director. NO!

A Contractor
Let's not dwell on this fellow for too long. He builds buildings, he does not design them. His expertise is directed toward labor, material, equipment, the weather and their resulting effects on his profit and loss statement. Hopefully, he is accomplished at what he does but that, in and of itself, does not qualify him to be your owner's representative.

"At the risk of offending the good guys, we offer this warning: Do not hire a fox to manage the chicken coop. . . . Every fox, sooner or later, gets hungry. If chickens are all that's around, then chickens he'll eat."

A contractor representing your interests means that he commissions, directs and pays for the architect. He also prices the job, determines his own level of billing, and is the sole judge of his company's workmanship. There are many qualified contractors who will provide buildings suited to the owner's needs, at affordable prices, and at a reasonable profit margin. But for every good there is a compensating evil and the risk of stumbling upon an unethical contractor is directly proportional to your knowledge of the construction industry.

At the risk of offending the good guys, we offer this warning: Do not hire a fox to manage the chicken coop. Not every fox eats chicken. Some have grown to prefer vegetables and fruits. But every fox, sooner or later, gets hungry. If chickens are all that's around, then chickens he'll eat. It's a natural law.

The Architect
This individual is a trained design professional. He/she assists owners, such as yourself, in developing a building needs assessment. From this comes a program. The plan, an outgrowth of the program, is converted into descriptive drawings and written specifications which can then be used to bid and build your building.

The architect usually works on a percentage of construction cost fee basis. For their money, he/she agrees to adequately represent your interests, and prepare all of the contract documents. But can they do both without an observable conflict of interest? What is their purpose, or product, if you will? Is it the preparation of drawings and specifications, or is it their representation of your interests? Do you have on your side of the aisle a person responsible for monitoring the architect's performance? When the architect calls with a question, who speaks to them? If the architect chooses not to call, thereby saving time and increasing their profit, then who gains? Who loses?

Most architects are ethical practitioners of their profession. They can, and frequently do, perform admirably as both designers and owner representatives. There are other architects, however, (thankfully in the minority) that leave the owner short-changed. Who are they? How can you protect yourself from them?

The Project/Construction Manger
This person comes with a variety of titles. Some call themselves project managers, others refer to themselves as construction managers. There is that small contingency in the market who prefer to be identified as owner representatives or project overseers. These individuals should be experienced in all phases of the construction process, from concept to completion. If this is the case, they are eminently qualified to fulfill your "owner representative" needs, assuming their function excludes architectural services

and field construction activities. After all, you are paying for an independent point of view — with no other agendas on or under the table — only YOUR best interests from start to finish.

One regretable fact is, however, that there are considerably fewer project/construction managers on the block than there are, for instance, architects. And, as referenced above, those that are available may well be associated with a local architectural firm or construction company. You must, while interviewing this individual, question their past activities and associations. In other words, verify that no conflicts of interests exist.

A second consideration is this: all project/construction managers come from one side of the track or the other. Either they trained with an architect or a contractor. Few have taken tutelage under both. Usually there is a favored perspective. Therefore, in hiring this individual, you must assess their nature — their ability to be objective, to be aware of alternate perspectives, to comprise varying viewpoints. These are strengths that they must noticeably exhibit. If these qualities don't exist, don't consider the candidate another moment.

Well, here you are at the end of this article with, perhaps, still no clear answer as to who should represent your interests. It was not our intent to provide you with the answer, so much as it was to explain the process. You must decide for yourself, on the basis of your abilities, attitudes and awarenesses, who should represent your park district. The availability of some of the individuals described above is a factor, but setting that consideration aside for a moment, the most important aspect of building buildings is your unbiased understanding of the people, or person, needed to complete the project on time, in budget, with a minimum of interruption to your normal program activities. Call this person the owner's representative and pick him or her carefully.

So, who you gonna call?

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Eric B. DeVore is the owner of Eric DeVore Construction Consultants, Inc., in Decatur, and Preston W. Schellbach is Executive Director of the Macon County Conservation District.