What should a private residential project management appointment include?

A private residential project management appointment should identify the stages covered, the work to be carried out, the information the client will receive and the authority the project manager has. It should also explain the team, fee basis, assumptions, exclusions and how changes to the service will be agreed.

For a substantial home, a list of activities such as 'manage the programme' or 'coordinate the team' leaves important questions unanswered. The client needs to know what will happen, who will do it and how that work supports decisions about the home.

By Friel Welch · 16 October 2026

Start with the brief and the stages you need

Describe the property, intended works, current stage and main priorities. A family renovating an occupied home may need a different service from an overseas owner creating a country estate or a client commissioning a new residence.

Break the appointment into stages that can be understood and approved. An initial feasibility appointment might cover the brief, team requirements, investigations and a first programme. Later stages might cover design coordination, procurement, construction and handover. Record what is included now and what would require a further instruction.

Connect each responsibility to a useful output

Ask what you will receive and when. The exact documents should suit the project, but the following are useful points to discuss:

• Brief and responsibilities: a record of the agreed objectives, team roles and matters still to be resolved.
• Programme: a schedule showing design information, approvals, procurement, construction and client decisions, with dependencies made clear.
• Risk and actions: a record of material uncertainties, the action required, its owner and the date needed.
• Reporting: an agreed update bringing together progress, decisions, programme and the cost information provided by the quantity surveyor.
• Change control: a process for recording proposed changes and considering their implications before approval.
• Handover: a plan for coordinating completion information, demonstrations, outstanding work and the transition to occupation.

These are discussion points for the scope, rather than a promise that every appointment includes every item. The service should reflect the actual complexity of the home and the responsibilities of the other consultants.

Make the boundaries between roles explicit

The architect, project manager and quantity surveyor contribute different expertise. Agree who prepares design information, who reviews it for coordination, who provides cost advice and who leads the decisions needed to act on that advice.

At Stone House in the Chiltern Hills, Friel Welch is appointed as project manager and cost manager for a 4,000 sq ft private residence designed by CODE. Architects. The combined appointment brings project and commercial advice together alongside the architect. It does not make the roles interchangeable.

For your own project, identify contract administration, inspections and specialist or statutory roles separately. Do not assume they are included because someone is described as project manager. Our guide to choosing the professional team explains how these appointments fit together.

Agree who can decide, approve and instruct

Identify the client representative and any other people whose approval is required. This is particularly useful where a family office, several family members or an overseas owner is involved.

A practical decision record should explain the question, options, recommendation, cost and programme implications, and the date by which an answer is needed. Agree who may instruct work and how approval is recorded. A progress meeting should not leave the team guessing whether a discussion was an instruction.

Specify the people and level of involvement

Ask who will lead the appointment, who will attend meetings and how director involvement works in practice. Establish the expected meeting and reporting frequency and how urgent matters will be raised.

Site attendance needs particular clarity. Agree its purpose, likely frequency and relationship to the inspections carried out by the architect, engineers or other specialists. Attendance at a progress meeting should not be treated as continuous supervision of the works.

Understand the fee assumptions

Compare proposals against the same scope and duration. Check which stages, meetings, visits and reports the fee includes, how expenses and applicable taxes are presented, and what happens if the programme extends or the brief changes.

If procurement, cost management or design coordination is included as an additional service, make that visible in the proposal. Ask how extra services are identified and approved before they are carried out. The client should be able to distinguish the agreed fee from work that remains optional or provisional.

Seven questions before you appoint

1. Which stages and deliverables does this appointment cover?
2. Who will lead the work, and how will the directors be involved?
3. Which responsibilities sit with the architect, quantity surveyor and other advisers?
4. What information will I receive to make a decision?
5. Who can approve a change and instruct the team?
6. What assumptions could change the fee or level of involvement?
7. What support is included at handover and afterwards?

Agree the service around the home you want to create

Friel Welch provides project management, quantity surveying and technical coordination for private clients and family offices across London, the Cotswolds and the Home Counties. We work with the appointed design team to connect design decisions with their cost and delivery implications.

Talk to Friel Welch about the scope and appointments for your home. If contractor proposals are already available, read our guide to comparing building tenders.