What it costs to get the desk off the owner.
You are running the jobs and you are running the desk, and something has to give. Usually it is your evenings. The real question is not whether fixing it costs something — it is what each way of fixing it costs you, and two of the three ways have a number attached.
Three ways to cover the desk, and what each one costs you
There are only three. Two of them have a number attached, and the one that does not is the one that quietly costs the most.
| The way | What it costs | What that looks like |
|---|---|---|
| You keep doing it | No line item anywhere | Nights and weekends, quotes at nine, draws going out late, and the jobs you do not chase because you are on site. It is the only option that never shows up on a statement, which is why it is usually the most expensive one. |
| You hire for the desk | Salary plus everything on top of it | Payroll tax, workers’ comp, unemployment, health coverage and a desk — usually 25% to 35% on top of the salary before you buy any software. Then recruiting, then months before they are useful. The slider on our home page runs that number against your own jobs. |
| You hand the desk to a trained PM | One rate per company, quoted on the call | No salary, no recruiting, no desk, no software to buy. We run your scheduling, your subs, your change orders and your draws, and we look after your customer too. |
What moves the number
If you want to know roughly where a quote lands, these are the eight things that move it. None of them is a secret, and all of them are things you already know about your own business.
- How many jobs you are running at once — the biggest mover of the eight, and the first thing we ask.
- How many trades and subs are open on each job.
- Your draw volume, and how your billing runs. Progress billing is more desk work than a lump sum draw.
- Residential or light commercial. Commercial carries more compliance on every job.
- Whether you want scheduling only, or the paperwork behind it too.
- Whether the homeowner side is yours to handle or ours.
- Where the jobs sit across California, and how much travel that means.
- How much of the desk you actually hand over — part of it, or the whole thing.
What is included, whatever the number turns out to be
- Scheduling crews and subs, and keeping the sequence honest.
- Chasing subs so a job does not stall for a week waiting on one trade.
- Change orders handled and signed before the work starts, not after the argument.
- Draws and progress billing, with the paperwork behind them.
- Lien waivers and sub compliance, so nothing surprises you at the end of a job.
- The homeowner side — updates, questions, and the calls you keep taking on site.
Why there is no rate on this page
Every company is quoted per outfit. Two contractors running the same number of jobs can be running very different jobs — different trades, different draw schedules, different amounts of the desk they want back. So we quote on the call, once we have seen what you are actually running.
A made-up number would cost you more time than the call would. What we can tell you before you ever speak to us is everything above: the three ways, the eight drivers, and what is included at any rate. If none of that fits how you run jobs, the call would not have either.
Questions contractors ask about cost
How much does a construction project manager cost?
It depends on whether you are hiring one or handing the desk over. A full-time hire is a salary plus payroll tax, workers’ comp, unemployment and health coverage, and that is usually 25% to 35% on top of the salary before you buy any software. Outsourced project management is quoted per company rather than per job. The calculator on our home page runs the hire number against your own jobs, so you can see it on your volume rather than on ours.
What is a typical construction management fee?
The convention in this industry is a percentage of project cost, and the figures the large cost sites publish run from roughly 5% to 15% on smaller or residential work, dropping as the project gets larger. We do not publish a percentage, because ours is worked out per company — two contractors with the same job count can be carrying very different desks.
How much would you charge?
Every company is quoted per outfit, so we quote on the call — two contractors running the same number of jobs can be running very different jobs. Everything that moves the number is listed on this page, so you can narrow it down before you talk to anyone.
Is it cheaper to hire a project manager or outsource it?
Outsourcing is usually cheaper in the first year, because a hire starts with recruiting and months of ramp-up before they are useful, and a hire costs the same salary whether the jobs are strong or slow. Past a certain volume the two get closer. Below a couple of open jobs, a full-time person is simply the wrong size.
What does a virtual assistant for a construction company cost?
VA agencies publish their rates, and the published ranges sit well below a salaried project manager — that is the point of them. What they buy is a pair of hands. An assistant can chase and file. An assistant cannot decide what the schedule should be, or explain to your customer why a change costs what it costs. If what is falling through is judgement rather than typing, the cheaper option turns out to be the more expensive one.
What does a construction coordinator cost?
A coordinator is an entry-level salary, and the salary is not really the cost. The cost is that a coordinator cannot decide anything, so every decision still comes to you. If things are being dropped rather than mis-filed, another pair of hands will not fix it.
How much do contractors charge per hour in California?
That is a different question, and it moves by trade, region and license. What we can tell you is that our rate is not an hourly one: it is quoted per company against the desk you hand over, so it does not grow with the clock.
What moves the number up or down?
Eight things: how many jobs you are running at once, how many trades are open on each, your draw volume and how your billing runs, residential or light commercial, whether you want scheduling only or the paperwork too, whether we handle the homeowner side, where the jobs sit across California, and how much of the desk you hand over.
What does it include?
Scheduling crews and subs, chasing subs so a job does not stall, change orders handled and signed before the work starts, draws and progress billing with the paperwork behind them, lien waivers and sub compliance, and the homeowner side.
What is the most expensive part of this decision?
Waiting. Once you are quoted, the cost of the desk is finite and you can weigh it against what you are carrying. The cost of another year of doing it yourself is the jobs you did not chase and the customers who did not call back, and nobody can put a number on that — which is exactly why it tends to be the bigger one.
Related: when the office side outgrows you, assistant or project manager, and how we get your draws out.
Tell us how you run the business
What you are running and what keeps falling through. We will tell you what it would take, and if the honest answer is that you do not need us yet, we will say that instead.
Apply to work with us →