Re-striping a parking lot and re-roofing an entire building are not the same category of decision, even though both start with “get some quotes.”

When the board can usually handle it

• A single vendor, a defined scope, a modest budget
• No dependencies between contractors
• A board member with relevant time or expertise to spare

When it’s worth bringing in dedicated project management

• Multiple trades that need to be sequenced (demo, then repair, then finish work)
• A budget large enough that a mistake is expensive
• A timeline with real consequences for delay
• A scope technical enough that evaluating bids fairly requires expertise the board doesn’t have in-house

What tends to go wrong without one Scope creep nobody catches until it’s already cost money. Contractors who each assume someone else is coordinating the schedule. A board member unofficially becoming a full-time unpaid project manager on top of their actual job.

What a project manager actually does Manages the bidding process, keeps contractors on schedule and accountable to each other, does quality checks along the way, and gives the board one person to ask instead of five vendors with five different answers.

If you’re weighing this for an upcoming project, [let’s talk] about what coordinating it would actually look like for your building.