In this week's tip, we begin to walk you through whether you need to hire a project manager—separate from your community association manager—for a big project.
Some contracts with community association managers include a provision saying they'll charge extra to manage large projects. And those fees can add up.
But let's back up a bit: What types of condo/HOA projects do you really need to hire a project manager to oversee? And is your community association manager the best expert to hire? If not, how do you find the right person to handle this work? And finally, what's a fair price for project management?
All kinds of factors will be part of your evaluation of whether to hire an independent project manager when you're doing work like replacing your roof, renovating your clubhouse, or repaving the vast network of streets in your community.
“It depends on the project, whether your association is professionally managed, and what your contract with your manager looks like,” says Lydia Chartre, CCAL, a partner at Kaman & Cusimano in Milwaukee who represents 750-800 associations throughout Wisconsin. “For many communities, their management contract addresses the management of larger contracts and how
the manager would bill for that. It's usually an hourly rate or a fee, and that's the become the norm. But I haven't seen any exclusive contact language that you must use the manger.”
Thomas W. Chaffee, a partner at O'Toole Rogers LLP in Lafayette, Calif., who, after he became the president of his own HOA, began to focus more on community association work in his legal practice, has—and he tries to knock those out of any contract before his association client signs. “When I'm reviewing management contracts for condos and HOAs, I try to take out provisions that say, ‘On a contract of a certain size, you have to use the property management company to
manage the project,'” he says. “I think it helps to have a third party do that work.”
If you're not required to choose your community association manager to be the person who oversees your capital projects, what should you consider in
determining whether to hire a third party or sticking with your community manager?