The market has returned to health, which should be good news to professional services firms like construction and program managers. However, many CMs and PMs are seeing the market as a mixed bag, with owners having to be convinced that CM services are worth the price and that experience and expertise, not price, should govern their hiring choices.
The steady if uncertain market for professional service firms can be seen in the results of the ENR Top 100 Construction Management-for-Fee and Program Management Firms list. Revenue for the CM-PM group rose 2.6%, to $19.91 billion, in 2014. Domestic revenue from CM-PM work rose only 1.4%, to $14.83 billion. CM-PM revenue from projects and programs abroad fared a little better, rising 6.1%, to $5.08 billion, after declining 1.6% in 2013.