On a design and build project, the contractor controls the design — which is precisely why the employer needs a strong representative. The employer’s agent acts as the client’s eyes, voice and contract machinery under JCT Design and Build contracts, protecting the employer’s interests from brief to final account. Manchester Surveyors provides employer’s agent services led by RICS chartered surveyors.
What Our Employer’s Agent Service Covers
- Employer’s Requirements — drafting the document that defines what you are actually buying; vague ERs are where D&B projects go wrong
- Contractor’s Proposals review — scrutinising what the contractor intends to deliver against your requirements before contract
- Contract administration under D&B — instructions, change control, interim payment assessments and completion certification
- Design review — monitoring contractor design development so quality is not silently value-engineered away
- Site monitoring — progress and quality inspections through construction, with clerk of works support where intensity demands it
- Handover and defects — snagging, O&M documentation and defects-period management
Who Uses an Employer’s Agent
Developers, housing associations, funds and businesses commissioning design and build schemes — and increasingly smaller employers on D&B refurbishments who recognise that without an agent, the contract’s balance tilts entirely to the contractor. We act nationwide from our Manchester base, including London and Birmingham.
The Surveyor’s Advantage
Cost discipline from our valuation practice, defect awareness from thousands of building surveys, and contract rigour from our contract administration work — the complete skill set the employer’s agent role demands.
Commissioning a design and build project? Contact us before the Employer’s Requirements are written.
The Employer’s Agent Role Explained
Under a JCT Design and Build contract the contractor controls the design process — so the employer needs a professional acting solely in their interest. As employer’s agent we define the employer’s requirements, scrutinise the contractor’s proposals before contract, administer the contract once work starts, chair progress meetings, value and certify payments, and manage change so the design-and-build route’s speed does not come at the cost of quality or budget control.
Where It Goes Wrong Without One
The recurring design-and-build failure is scope drift: employer’s requirements drafted too loosely, contractor proposals accepted without challenge, and quality quietly value-engineered away. A capable employer’s agent closes those gaps in the documents before signature — much cheaper than arguing about them after. We also coordinate with funders’ monitoring surveyors where development finance is involved, and with the principal designer on CDM duties.
What does an employer’s agent cost?
Typically a fixed fee or a small percentage of contract value, scaled to project size and duration — agreed before appointment, as always. For design-and-build projects across Manchester and the North West, call 020 4579 8270.