Engaging a project management team at the design stage allows for selecting optimal solutions, with the overall management cost constituting 2-3% of the project budget, said Markus Querner, a managing partner at the Austrian engineering company iC consulenten, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"It is optimal to involve the project management team from the very beginning, and even better at the design stage. This allows for calculating all possible implementation options and choosing the most optimal one. Projects where enough time and resources are allocated at the design stage are usually cheaper, faster, and of higher quality at the implementation stage," he said.

According to Querner, the average global fee for project management services as a percentage of project cost does not differ from the Ukrainian rate.

"Construction costs can vary, but the percentage for project management is more or less the same. It depends on the size and complexity of the project. Project management fees start from 0.5% of the cost for very large projects up to 5% for smaller ones, averaging 2-3%. The smaller the project, the higher the project management cost. This is because you always need to conduct tenders, adhere to schedules, and monitor expenses. This workload is the same for a project worth EUR 500,000 or EUR 5 million," Querner said.

He emphasized that management is a crucial factor for project success, as construction always involves significant costs and the need to strictly adhere to schedules.

Founded in 1989, iC consulenten is an international engineering and consulting company providing comprehensive management and infrastructure development services. iC has extensive expertise in high-rise construction, tunnel design and technical supervision, infrastructure projects ranging from healthcare to energy, design, technical supervision, and project management.

iC group is a team of more than 640 professionals in three main offices in Vienna and Salzburg (Austria) and in Ljubljana (Slovenia). In addition, there are a number of branches, project and site offices around the world, among them Albania, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Türkiye and others.

iC has been actively present on the Ukrainian market since 2006 and officially registered in 2013 as iC consulenten LLC. iC Ukraine performs project management functions in more than 20 communities. Among the major programs in 2024 in partnership with Nefco, funded by the European Union, are new construction and reconstruction of housing for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and restoration and reconstruction of critical infrastructure.

Other consulting services are provided in the sectors of transport infrastructure, environmental protection, sustainable building certification, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects.