The Owner's Role in Project Success

The successful execution of capital projects depends on the effectiveness of project teams—team members with diverse backgrounds, conflicting goals, and who answer to different employers. The relationships among team members and between the owner and contractors evolve throughout the project’s life. Just as the process of design and construction calls for the input of different disciplines and trades at various points, many owners—different entities (for example executives, technical personnel, and end users)—within owner organizations participate at various times over the life cycle of a capital project. With all these players and variables, determining the “right” level of owner involvement is the key to success.

CII established the Owner’s Role in Project Success Research Team to identify management approaches used for different types of projects, delivery systems, and team structures to determine how the owner contributed to project success. This research summary describes the team’s effort.

The research team also developed the Project Priority Calculator (CII Implementation Resource 204-2) to assess the value being added by the owner based on recommended roles and responsibilities. Using this tool will help to determine the key owner functions that will contribute to project success and define the level to which the owner organization can or should be involved in managing the project.