Sometimes the owner decides to turn the entire project over to an independent manager. As one example, a school district may have little or no in-house expertise on capital project development; rather than employ a large temporary staff to oversee planning, design and construction, they might use the project manager approach. Figure 2.5 shows one possible form of the contractual relationships. Note that the figure simply modifies Figure 2.1 by adding a project manager between the owner and the architect/engineer and general contractor. Thus the project manager manages the project on the owners behalf. This arrangement implies that the project manager contracts with the designer and the general contractor. Below the level of project manager on the chart, other arrangements are possible. For example, the project manager might decide to engage a single designbuild organisation or might employ a construction manager of the type described earlier. The distinguishing characteristic of the project manager form is the assumption of the responsibility for the entire project by a separate firm, on behalf of the owner.
