Owner
In very broad terms, an 'owner' is a person or organisation who has the rightful title to something such as property, i.e. the property belongs to them.
In the construction industry, the term 'owner' typically refers to the person or organisation that owns a built asset (such as a building, bridge, tunnel, etc.) or land. But it may also refer to ownership of the components of a project. This can be important, for example, in determining whether a ownership of a component lies with a supplier or whether it has transferred to the client.
Project 13, an Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) - led initiative to boost certainty and productivity in the delivery of infrastructure, defines an infrastructure owner as:
| The organisation that owns and operates the infrastructure, promotes the investment in the infrastructure programme, receives the completed facilities and puts them into operation. In the case of creating a completely new network the owner role can be created in parallel with the development of the programme. For example, in large infrastructure programmes such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games the London Legacy Development Corporation was created. The role of the owner will include the individual or organisation called the ‘Sponsor’. |
The term may also refer to a person or organisation that 'owns' (or is responsible for) a project or part of a project.
For example, on publicly-funded projects, the senior responsible owner (SRO) (sometimes referred to as the 'project owner') is the individual responsible for the success of the project:
| ...responsible for ensuring that a programme of change or a project meets its objectives and delivers the projected benefits. The SRO should be the owner of the overall business change that is being supported by the project and should ensure that the change maintains its business focus, has clear authority and that the context, including risks, is actively managed. This individual must be senior and must take personal responsibility for successful delivery of the project. They should be recognised as the owner throughout the organisation. |
(Ref. Achieving Excellence Guide 2 - Project Organisation.)
When the owner of a building also resides in it, they are referred to as the ‘owner occupier’.
A homeowner is a person who owns a home, whether an apartment or house.
NB the English Heritage, Heritage at Risk Register list the following ownership categories:
- Charity
- Commercial company
- Commercial company, multiple owners
- Crown
- Local authority
- Local authority, multiple owners
- Mixed, multiple owners
- Other not for profit group
- Private
- Educational (independent)
- Educational (state sector)
- English Heritage
- Government or agency
- Health authority
- Historic England
- Private, multiple owners
- Religious organisation
- Trust
- Unknown
- Utility
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Certificate of ownership
- Client.
- Customer.
- Forest ownership
- Home owner.
- Home ownership
- Infrastructure investor.
- Integrator.
- Land registry.
- Off site materials.
- Owner occupier.
- Potential owner.
- Privity of title.
- Project 13.
- Project sponsor.
- Property ownership
- Property.
- Retention of title in construction.
- Senior responsible owner.
- Shared ownership
- Stamp duty land tax.
- The rise of multiple property ownership in Britain.
- Title.
- Vesting certificate.
Featured articles and news
The restoration of the novelist’s birthplace in Eastwood.
PAC report on the Remediation of Dangerous Cladding
Recommendations on workforce, transparency, support, insurance, funding, fraud and mismanagement.
New towns, expanded settlements and housing delivery
Modular inquiry asks if new towns and expanded settlements are an effective means of delivering housing.
Building Engineering Business Survey Q1 2025
Survey shows growth remains flat as skill shortages and volatile pricing persist.
Construction contract awards remain buoyant
Infrastructure up but residential struggles.
Home builders call for suspension of Building Safety Levy
HBF with over 100 home builders write to the Chancellor.
CIOB Apprentice of the Year 2024/2025
CIOB names James Monk a quantity surveyor from Cambridge as the winner.
Warm Homes Plan and existing energy bill support policies
Breaking down what existing policies are and what they do.
Treasury responds to sector submission on Warm Homes
Trade associations call on Government to make good on manifesto pledge for the upgrading of 5 million homes.
A tour through Robotic Installation Systems for Elevators, Innovation Labs, MetaCore and PORT tech.
A dynamic brand built for impact stitched into BSRIA’s building fabric.
BS 9991:2024 and the recently published CLC advisory note
Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings. Code of practice.