Your advocate on the budget, the schedule, and the change orders — pre-construction advisory and project oversight for condo and HOA boards and commercial owners across Washington DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia.
Every capital project has an engineer working for the design and a contractor working for the contract. Nobody is working for you. OAK Builders' Owner's Representation service puts a licensed contractor and career owner's-side project manager on the board's side of the table, from the first budget conversation to the last punch-list item.
Before OAK Builders was a contractor, our principal spent fifteen years as the Owner's project manager and Contracting Officer's Representative on more than $133 million of federal construction for GSA, the Pentagon, and the Library of Congress. That work had one job: protect the Owner's money, schedule, and building while the designers designed and the contractors built.
Condominium boards, HOAs, and small commercial owners in the DMV run the same projects with none of that protection. A reserve study says the garage needs $900,000 of concrete repair. An engineer writes a specification. Three contractors bid three different scopes. The board picks the low number, the change orders start in month two, and nobody on the board has the background to say no. We built this service because we kept watching it happen from the other side of the bid table.
When OAK serves as your Owner's Representative, OAK does not bid or perform the construction on that project. We are paid by you, we report to you, and our only interest is that the project you approved is the project you get, at the price you agreed to. That independence is the whole point.
Pre-Construction Review (fixed fee) — most boards start here. On-Call Advisory (hourly). Full Owner's Representation (percentage of construction cost or flat monthly fee), start to closeout.
An independent, market-checked opinion of what the scope on the drawings should cost — before you spend months in a bid process, while there is still time to phase the work or adjust the plan.
We read the drawings the way a bidding contractor reads them: what is missing, what conflicts, what will become a change order. Every gap becomes a written RFI to the engineer before the bid goes out.
Proposals leveled line by line, exclusions exposed, licenses, insurance, bonding, and references verified — and a one-page written recommendation the board can vote on and defend to owners.
Plain-language flags on payment terms, retainage, liquidated damages, warranty, insurance endorsements, and whether the schedule is achievable in an occupied building — reviewed before signature.
Pay applications checked against work in place, change orders evaluated and negotiated, progress meetings run and minuted, and a monthly board report written for people who are not builders.
Punch lists enforced, as-builts and warranties collected, lien waivers verified, final payment released only when the work is complete — and a closeout binder your next board can actually use.
A 30-minute call with the board or property manager. We tell you plainly whether you need an owner's representative at all, and what it would cost if you do.
Independent cost opinion against the drawings and the DMV market, before the bid package goes out.
Scope review, RFIs to the engineer, and a bid form that makes every contractor price the same thing.
Apples-to-apples comparison, contractor vetting, and a written recommendation the board can vote on.
Pay-app and change-order review, progress meetings, monthly board reports.
Punch list, warranties, lien waivers, final payment, closeout binder.
Best fit: capital projects from roughly $50,000 to $3,000,000 within about two hours of Falls Church, VA — building-envelope and waterproofing repairs, reserve-study replacements (roofs, façades, plaza decks, parking garages), common-area renovations, tenant improvements, and life-safety upgrades. Not sure what is causing the problem yet? Start with a water intrusion assessment.
The engineer's contract is for the design and, sometimes, periodic observation. It usually does not cover leveling bids, reviewing pay applications, negotiating change orders, or telling the board when the budget is unrealistic. Those are the owner's representative's jobs.
No. On any project where OAK serves as Owner's Representative, OAK does not bid or perform the work. You get an advocate with no stake in the construction contract.
It depends on the engagement model and project size. A pre-construction review is a fixed fee quoted after the first call; full representation is typically a percentage of construction cost or a monthly fee. On most reserve-study projects, catching one scope gap before bid or one unjustified change order during construction pays for the engagement.
Yes. Most of our engagements come through the property manager, who stays the board's day-to-day contact while we handle the construction side. We make the manager's job easier, not harder.
Start with a 30-minute call. We'll tell you plainly whether you need an Owner's Representative at all, and what it would cost if you do.