What Is the Difference Between a Construction Manager and a General Contractor?

With a general contractor, you sign one contract. The general contractor hires the framers, plumbers, electricians and other trades, pays them and answers to you for the whole job. The Canadian Construction Documents Committee's CCDC 2 is the standard form for this type of contract at a single fixed price, or lump sum. Its cost plus form, CCDC 3, pays the contractor its actual costs plus a percentage or a fixed fee.

BC Housing's guide, Hiring a Builder in BC, says fixed-price contracts are usually used only for small, simple projects, with the quality standards well defined so the price can be predicted. It says cost-plus contracts are typically used for more complex projects, with a fee for managing the project that is often a percentage of the total cost.

With a construction manager, you hire a builder to run the project for you. BC Housing's guide describes it as an owner who hires a builder as a construction manager, on an hourly or other basis, to oversee all the trades directly, and it asks owners to make sure they understand the responsibilities and risks of this type of contract.

The standard Canadian form is CCDC 5A. In it, the work is done by trade contractors, and the construction manager acts as a limited agent of the owner: it gives advice and administers and oversees the contracts between the owner and the trades. A second form, CCDC 5B, has the construction manager advise during pre-construction and then perform the work itself, at actual cost plus a percentage or fixed fee, with options for a guaranteed maximum price or a switch to a fixed price.

The way we explain it to families: ask who pays if the job costs more than planned, who decides on changes, and who is in charge of safety on site.

A fixed price works when the drawings and every finish are decided before you sign, and the lot holds few surprises. In our experience, a multiplex or a custom home on an older Vancouver lot rarely starts that way: soil, drainage, City comments and your own finish choices change the work as it goes. BC Housing's guide also links cost plus to more complex projects.

At Costar, our process page says we agree a cost plus arrangement with each client, for transparency, and sign a written contract before construction starts. We assign a construction manager to each project, who coordinates the subcontractors, orders materials and checks completed work against the plans before the next stage starts. Whichever model you choose, have a construction lawyer read the contract before you sign, as BC Housing's guide recommends.