1. Which tenders concern a construction PMA?
Direct answer: a construction PMA bids for client-support missions on building and development operations, from the brief to handover.
The construction project management assistant is neither the design team (architect, engineering office) nor the works contractor: it advises and represents the public or private client (local authority, social landlord, hospital, university, developer, property fund) to secure an operation. These missions, distinct from IT project management assistance, are published as intellectual-service contracts. Several families stand out.
- Programming: helping define the needs, drafting the detailed technical brief, feasibility and target-cost studies before the design team is appointed.
- Environmental / sustainability PMA: support on certifications and labels (energy performance, low carbon, environmental quality) throughout design and construction.
- Legal and financial PMA: structuring the operation, choosing the procedure, assisting the procurement of design and works contracts, monitoring costs and funding.
- Operation management: overall steering of stakeholders, deadlines, costs and risks, from launch to handover and the defects-liability period.
- PMA framework agreements: recurring support missions triggered by subsequent contracts or call-off orders across an estate, over 1 to 4 years.
Across the EU the logic is identical in all 27 member states: a public operator publishes above the European service thresholds on TED, below them on its national platform. An established PMA may bid for a cross-border contract subject to freedom to provide services and recognition of qualifications.
Key takeaway
The PMA assists the client; it does not design the works nor act as the design team. Its independence from the design team is a recurring contract condition: a single operator generally cannot combine both roles on the same operation.