Project Relationships

Project Relationships

There are a wide variety of parties that participate in large construction projects. Since human beings run projects, their personal and legal relationships influence the success of the project. The fine points of these legal and contractual relationships, along with the money flows that surge during a project, provide the bone and blood of California Construction Law.

Typical Parties

It is important to recognize the legal relationships among the parties. For the design of a project, the owner generally contracts with independent design professionals for the construction of a specific project or contracts to buy a completed project from a contractor/developer.

An architect is defined as one who is licensed to practice architecture in the State of California.  Anyone who offers or performs "professional services which require the skills of an architect in the planning of sites, and the design, in whole or in part, of buildings, or groups of buildings and structures" is engaging in the practice of architecture. The architect serves as an independent contractor preparing the plans and specifications for the project and often as the agent of the owner in construction-phase services. The designer "name" statutes also prohibit the use of the term architect, engineer or consulting engineer, among other specified terms, by an unlicensed person.

An engineer is one who possesses education, training, and experience in engineering services and has special knowledge in various areas, including design of public or private utilities. The three primary areas of specialty within the engineering sciences are civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. An engineer is usually retained by the architect as an independent contractor and is responsible for detailed calculations, drawings, and specification preparation.

A general contractor is an entity (individual, corporation, partnership, etc.) that constructs, alters, repairs, improves, moves, or demolishes any building, highway, or other structure. This definition applies to both subcontractors and specialty contractors.

A construction manager is typically described as one who acts as a construction overseer, managing the day-to-day on-site activities of the entire project. The construction manager generally does not perform actual construction services or provide any work with his or her own forces. The construction manager acts in the capacity of an agent of the owner and receives fees as his or her sole compensation. He or she negotiates contracts with the various contractors, schedules and coordinates their work so it will be in accordance with the project plans and specifications, and oversees cost management. In California, there is no strict requirement for a construction manager to be licensed as a general contractor, architect or engineer.