The Project Buyout is the time when the owner of a development project selects the General Contractor (GC) who then, either together with the project owner or alone, goes through the process of selecting and hiring all the subcontractors (subs) and pricing the project. A generic buyout process may look like the following:

Project owner selects the GC. The GC creates a list of subs for each trade and puts together Bid Packages or Request for Proposals. These packages will include all relevant information about the project (drawings, specs, trade specific info., etc.) and asks the subs to evaluate and respond with a price as well as provide all relevant information about themselves (proof of insurance, references, resumes, etc.). Based on the subs responses and rate quote; the GC will interview, select, and negotiate and sign a contract with the winning sub for each trade.