About BCG

Why I Founded BCG

I founded Benson Construction Group in 2015 because the standard delivery models in high-end residential construction set builders and owners against each other and leave the architect caught in the middle, and because the industry's answer, adding layers of oversight, spreads accountability so thin that nobody actually holds it. BCG runs on a simpler structure. The architect stays in the lead, and I take on execution risk directly as a Construction Manager at Risk, joining during design so the budget is honest from the start, coordination happens before problems become expensive, and the drawings that get permitted describe a building that can actually be built. The owner gets two parties accountable directly to them, and incentives that point in the same direction.

Over 24 years I have watched what happens at both ends of the residential construction spectrum. Large organizations have the infrastructure but intermediate the relationship, and the senior person who pitched the work hands it off. Experienced solo builders give the owner the person they chose, but the project runs on judgment and memory rather than documented systems. BCG sits between those two models. I am directly involved in every project, every day, in the field decisions, the subcontractor coordination, the cost management, and the owner communication, backed by formal project management infrastructure so that nothing rides on memory or instinct alone.

What BCG Builds

I take on complex residential projects across the Los Angeles Westside where the site conditions, the regulatory environment, or the technical scope call for construction management rather than a conventional bid. The work is hillside construction on steep, geotechnically challenging sites, ground-up custom homes delivered under CMAR from feasibility through completion, fire rebuilds and post-fire reconstruction including PGRAZ compliance and expedited permitting, structural remediation and retaining walls where the scope starts with investigation rather than design, and major renovations where concealed conditions and code triggers require real-time scope management. Completed work across all five categories is in the project gallery.

When Owners Bring Me In

Owners and architects engage me at different stages. Sometimes it is before design begins, when a property carries technical risk that needs evaluation before anyone commits to a direction. Sometimes it is mid-design, when the budget needs grounding in real trade pricing rather than cost-per-square-foot assumptions. Projects also come to me already underway, needing a different level of field leadership, and some arrive as a focused engagement on a specific problem such as a failing retaining wall, a fire-damaged site, or a foundation that needs investigation. I structure the work in two tiers, focused engagements for defined technical scopes and full construction management from feasibility through delivery, and BCG's construction services are built around those entry points.

BCG Is a General Contractor

Benson Construction Group is a California-licensed general contractor (CSLB License #1007735), bonded and insured, and BCG holds the prime construction contract. The distinction matters because construction manager is often read as consultant, and that is not the arrangement here. When I commit to a Guaranteed Maximum Price on a project, the commitment is backed by the firm's license, its insurance, and its financial exposure. The "at risk" in Construction Manager at Risk means BCG bears the overrun risk above the GMP ceiling. That is contracting, not advisory work, and the accountability for the cost commitment is real.

BCG self-performs significant scope with its own crews and equipment. Depending on what the project requires, we execute demolition, site clearing, grading and earthwork, trenching, rough and finish carpentry, framing, fence and gate construction, exterior painting, and general site work. My superintendent handles on-site quality verification and subcontractor management, my foreman maintains full-time daily site presence, and a field crew of typically four to six workers executes the self-performed scope.

The other half of the execution capability is the subcontractor network. I manage competitive procurement across every specialty trade a project needs, from structural concrete, shoring, and structural steel to mechanical, electrical, plumbing, roofing, waterproofing, glazing, plaster, flooring, millwork, landscape, hardscape, pool and water features, and specialty systems. Every subcontractor is prequalified, competitively bid against a minimum of three qualified bidders per trade, scope-leveled for a true comparison, and managed under an executed contract with defined scope, schedule, and quality requirements.

What an owner hires is a fully operational construction firm, with crews and equipment on the property doing the daily work of building.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Open-book accounting means my clients see actual costs. They see the subcontractor bids, the executed contract values, material pricing, general conditions line items, contingency drawdowns, and the backup behind every change order. Under the CMAR model that transparency is structural, not discretionary. Monthly reporting uses earned value methodology, measuring the value of work completed against both the budget baseline and the schedule baseline, and between reports the owner has 24/7 access to the full project record through Procore. Formal change control means every scope modification is documented before work begins, priced transparently, and approved in writing. The Guaranteed Maximum Price ties it together. The ceiling is set before construction begins, and savings below it are shared per the contract terms.

The architect keeps full design authority throughout. My role is constructability input, cost intelligence, and field coordination. Design decisions stay with the architect, and I do not second-guess the architect's judgment. The responsibility matrix spells out who does what. I take on the execution complexity so the architect can lead the design, and when the roles are that clear, the design intent survives construction and the collaboration produces a better building than any adversarial structure can.