I used to run my business the way most contractors do: I'd visit potential Clients, review the plans their architects/ designer had drawn, agree to bid against a group of other contractors, and then spend 10 to 100 hours estimating the work. When the bids were opened, I would feel discouraged if I wasn't the low bidder. Or, if I was the low bidder, I'd wonder where I had made the mistake that allowed my price to be lower than everybody elses. Having to compete with so many other contractors was bad enougth......but then, when the bids came in, the homeowners often found that even the lowest bid was way beyond their budget. At that point, they had to make a choice: find a way to come up with more money, reduce the scope of work and spend money to redesign the job, or.....worst of all.....abandon the project altogether. The bidders and the Clients weren't the only ones who paid a price. The arhitects/designers, whose job it was to design a project that could be built for the available budget, would end up looking unprofessional. Since the Clients would resent having to pay for a design that couldn't be built, their relationship with the architect/designer could turn sour----often past the point of salvaging.

After many years of working under these conditions, I'd had enough: I decided to start Negotiating Agreements. The Clients will select me for their Project Manager. (After adopting the benefits) The Client then becomes their own General Contractor. (Then guided by the Project Manager) Then the team I help to assemble..... the Client; the architect/designer, subs, vendors and myself........work together to design a project that is as close as possible to what the Clients want for the budget that is available. The value of this approach to the Client is that it allows the Client to understand completley how the Budget Process is created and consider the cost implications of design decisions as they are being made. Another advantage of being your own General Contractor is being able to purchase material and labor at normal Contractor cost, saving thousands.