About BCG

What BCG Builds

BCG takes on complex residential projects across the Los Angeles Westside where the site conditions, regulatory environment, or technical scope require construction management rather than a conventional bid. Our work falls into five categories: 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.

When Owners Bring Us In

Owners and architects engage BCG at different stages depending on the situation. Some bring us in before design begins, when a property has technical risk that needs evaluation before committing to a direction. Some bring us in during design, when the budget needs to be grounded in real trade pricing rather than cost-per-square-foot assumptions. Some bring us in when a project is already underway and needs a different level of field leadership. And some bring us in for a focused engagement on a specific problem - a failing retaining wall, a fire-damaged site, a foundation that needs investigation. BCG's construction services are structured to accommodate each of these entry points.

Principal-Led with Commercial-Grade Systems

I started my career at Hensel Phelps, one of the largest general contractors in the country. Commercial construction at that scale demands infrastructure that residential builders rarely encounter: rigorous cost tracking against earned value baselines, CPM scheduling with formal critical path analysis, documented risk management with quantified contingency, quality management systems with hold points and inspection protocols. I spent years learning how those systems work and why they matter.

I spent the next 18 years as a senior project manager running complex residential projects across the greater Westside - Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, the Hollywood Hills. Over $300M in completed work. The common thread was technical difficulty: sites where access was constrained, where the geology was demanding, where multiple agencies had overlapping jurisdiction, where the regulatory environment punished projects planned without construction input. The systems I had learned at Hensel Phelps - the cost controls, the scheduling discipline, the formal risk analysis - translated directly. They caught problems earlier, provided owners with visibility they had never experienced, and created predictability where residential construction is typically unpredictable.

I founded BCG to apply those systems from day one. Not to build a large firm with layers of project managers between the owner and the person making decisions. Over 24 years I watched what happens at both ends of the residential construction spectrum. Large organizations have the infrastructure but intermediate the relationship - 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 rather than documented systems. BCG exists in the space between those two models. A principal who is directly involved in every project, every day - engaged in field decisions, subcontractor coordination, cost management, and owner communication throughout - backed by formal project management infrastructure so that nothing depends on memory or instinct alone. You get both. The principal's direct attention and the systems that make that attention effective.

BCG Is a General Contractor

This is an important distinction, and I want to be direct about it. Benson Construction Group is a California-licensed general contractor - CSLB License #1007735 - bonded and insured. BCG holds prime construction contracts. When I commit to a Guaranteed Maximum Price on your project, that commitment is backed by the firm's contractor's license, insurance, and financial exposure. The "at risk" in Construction Manager at Risk means BCG bears the overrun risk above the GMP ceiling. That is not consulting. That is not advisory construction management. That is contracting, with real financial accountability for the cost commitment.

BCG self-performs significant scope. Depending on what the project requires, our own crews execute demolition, site clearing, grading and earthwork, trenching, rough and finish carpentry, framing, fence and gate construction, exterior painting, and general site work. We operate our own equipment. When you drive past a BCG project, you will see our crews on site doing the physical work of building. A superintendent provides on-site quality verification and subcontractor management. A foreman maintains full-time daily site presence. A field labor crew, typically four to six workers, executes self-performed scope.

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

Hiring BCG means getting a fully operational construction firm on your property. The crews show up. The equipment arrives. The work gets built.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Open-book accounting means the owner sees actual costs: subcontractor bids, executed contract values, material pricing, general conditions line items, contingency drawdowns, change order backup. Transparency is structural under the CMAR model, not discretionary. Monthly reporting uses earned value methodology - measuring the value of work completed against both budget and schedule baselines. 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: a cost ceiling before construction begins, with BCG bearing the overrun risk above that ceiling and savings shared per the contract terms.

The architect maintains full design authority throughout. My role is to provide constructability input, cost intelligence, and field coordination - not to make design decisions or second-guess the architect's judgment. The responsibility matrix is explicit: the architect leads design direction, material selection, submittal review, and RFI response. The CM handles cost estimates, schedule management, subcontractor prequalification, and construction quality management. The owner is accountable for key decisions. CMAR restores the architect's proper position. I handle execution complexity so the architect can focus on design leadership. When roles are clear, design intent is achieved, and the collaborative dynamic produces better outcomes than any adversarial structure can.