Guide
Who to contact on a commercial project
Four parties decide most commercial projects, and they hold the decision at different times. The owner or developer controls program and budget in pre-design and planning. The architect controls specifications in design. The general contractor controls trade and material buyout in permitting and bidding. An owner's representative or construction manager may sit above all of them. Reaching the wrong one is not fatal, but reaching the right one at the right stage is most of the job.
The owner or developer
The party paying for the building. On an owner-occupied project this is a company facilities or real estate director; on a speculative project it is a developer. They set the program, the budget, and the delivery method, and they choose the design team and often the general contractor.
Reach them in pre-design and planning. By design development, their attention has moved to approvals and financing, and the technical decisions have been delegated.
The architect and engineers
The design team translates the owner's program into drawings and specifications. If you sell a product, a system, or an engineered assembly, this is the relationship that matters most, because a specification is a purchase decision made a year before the purchase order.
Reach them in planning and early design. A conversation after construction documents are issued is a request to change something that is already approved and priced.
The general contractor
The GC buys the trades and much of the material. Its estimating and preconstruction staff build the bid list, solicit subcontractor pricing, and make the buyout decisions.
Reach them once the GC is selected and before the bid list is assembled — typically late design through permitting. Waiting for an invitation means someone else decided whether you get one.
The owner's rep or construction manager
On larger or institutional projects, an owner's representative or CM at-risk firm runs the project on the owner's behalf. They frequently control who gets in the room. If one is involved, treat them as the front door rather than a gatekeeper to work around.
How to make the first contact useful
Lead with the project, not with your company. Reference the specific job, the stage it is in, and one thing you have done that is genuinely comparable. Ask a question you actually need answered — who is handling the exterior package, when is buyout, is the spec open — rather than requesting a meeting to introduce yourself.
Then keep the contact attached to the project rather than to one person's inbox, so the next person on your team who touches the job inherits the history instead of starting over.
Last reviewed August 2026
How Hank automates this
Every commercial project in Hank carries the people who decide it — owner, developer, general contractor, architect — confirmed by researchers rather than guessed from a filing. Contacts are reused across every project the same company touches, and your team's notes, assignments, and outreach stay attached to the record.
See how Hank handles this →Common questions
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