What We Do — 03 / Project Management
One PM.
Every moving part.
Owner's representation, permitting management, and construction administration for developers and building owners who need one accountable person managing the whole thing — not five vendors pointing at each other.
98%
On-Time Delivery
$140M+
Under Management
24hr
RFI Response Std.
What a PM Actually Does
Three phases. One accountable person.
01
Pre-Development & Due Diligence
Before you close on the land or issue the RFP, we're already digging in. Feasibility, entitlement risk, budget setting, vendor selection, and the site-condition surprises that eat proformas for lunch. The point of this phase is to protect you from the deal you shouldn't do.
Feasibility Studies
Budget Development
Risk Assessment
Entitlement Strategy
Vendor Selection
Site Investigation
02
Design & Permit Coordination
Managing engineers, architects, environmental consultants, and the seven review agencies that all want something slightly different from the same drawing. We chase the deliverables, run the value-engineering, and make sure your permit hits before the interest rate climbs.
Design Team Management
Agency Coordination
Permit Submittals
Schedule Enforcement
Value Engineering
Comment Resolution
03
Construction & Owner's Rep
From notice-to-proceed through final acceptance. We walk the site, chase the RFIs, review the change orders before they land on your desk, and hold the punch list open until it's actually done. Your interests, on-site, every week.
Owner's Representation
Change Order Review
Punch List Closeout
RFI Management
Site Inspections
Warranty Coordination
The Project Lifecycle
Six phases. One continuous line of sight.
Most projects break down in the handoffs — between developer and engineer, engineer and contractor, contractor and closeout. We stay on the line from feasibility through warranty, so nothing gets lost in translation.
Phase 01
Pre-Development
Feasibility, site selection, budget, and go/no-go.
Phase 02
Design Coordination
Managing engineers, architects, and consultants to milestone.
Phase 03
Permitting
Agency submittals, review cycles, and comment resolution.
Phase 04
Bid & Award
Contractor solicitation, bid leveling, and contract negotiation.
Phase 05
Construction
Owner's rep, RFI management, and change-order oversight.
Phase 06
Closeout & Warranty
Punch list, final acceptance, and 12-month warranty support.
Risk vs. Reality
What usually goes wrong — and what we do about it.
The Risk Without a PM
How We Handle It
Timeline
Design deadline slips → construction bid delayed → interest rates change → project no longer pencils.
Response
We track every design deliverable against the critical path. If a subconsultant is drifting, we know two weeks before they miss.
Communication
Contractor RFI sits in the design team's inbox for three weeks while everyone waits for someone else to answer.
Response
We chase every open RFI daily and escalate to the right decision-maker. Nothing sits idle on our watch.
Budget
A change order lands on your desk with zero warning at $87,000 — signed and executed before you can push back.
Response
We review every change-order scope and price before it gets to you. You approve — you don't react.
Closeout
Punch list drags on for four months past substantial completion. Certificates of occupancy stall. Financing costs pile up.
Response
We stay through final acceptance. The list closes on our timeline, not the contractor's.
Warranty
A warranty issue emerges eight months in. The GC has moved on. The subs won't return your calls. Who do you even call?
Response
Us. We built the vendor relationships during construction; we'll make the call and get it fixed.
Meet Your PM
Every project has one person whose phone rings at 6:30 AM when something goes sideways. Our job is to make sure that person is us — not you.
Chase Cotton
Director, Project Management
Chase has run projects across the Southeast for two decades — from $2M church campuses to nine-figure mixed-use developments. He's the person your project manager reports to, and often the one who walks the site with you when something has to be decided in the room.
Recent Work
Projects we saw through from concept to keys.
Prattville, AL · Retail
2024
Autauga Crossing Retail Center
Owner's representation and full-lifecycle PM for a 62,000 SF mixed-use retail development anchored by national tenants. Managed 14 design consultants, 3 review agencies, and 22 subcontractors from feasibility through certificate of occupancy.
Delivered 6 weeks ahead of the original schedule.
Baldwin County · Faith & Education
2025
Eastern Shore Church & School Campus
Comprehensive project management for a 24-acre church and Christian school campus — sanctuary, K-8 school building, athletic fields, and parking. Coordinated with capital campaign timing so construction milestones aligned with pledge fulfillment.
Delivered on-budget with $340K contingency returned.
Questions We Hear Often
The practical stuff, answered.
Do we need a PM if we already have a general contractor?
Your GC represents their crew and their P&L. A PM represents you. On any project bigger than a $500K improvement, that difference in whose-side-am-I-on tends to pay for itself in the first change-order cycle.
How are PM services priced?
Typically as a percentage of construction value (2–5% depending on scope) or as a fixed monthly retainer for longer-duration projects. We'll propose the model that fits your project on the first call.
When should we bring you in?
The earlier the better — ideally during due diligence, before you close on the site. We can absolutely pick up a project mid-stream, but the biggest wins come from setting the budget and vendor list correctly at the start.
Do you work with our existing design team?
Absolutely. About half our PM work is on projects where the owner already has engineers, architects, or a GC selected. We work alongside them — we don't replace them.
Got a project? Let's run it right.
Or call any of our Alabama offices.
A senior project manager on the line in under 24 hours.
Andalusia
(334) 555-0100
info@civilse.com
Daphne
(334) 555-0100
info@civilse.com
Civil engineering, land surveying, and project management — built on faith, family, and the firm ground of Alabama soil.
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