The conversation is getting confusing. In 35 years in the profession there has never before been a discussion of wholesale construction or retail construction. I believe the terms don't work. All we are talking about how a contractor prices the work, which includes a profit margin, always added to his costs. Presumably, "wholesale" either means there is "no profit" or there is a "reduced profit", either way, it's a "discount". For negotiated work, anything goes. But in either case, the price is neither wholesale nor retail, it's just a "cost proposal for contract work".
There are no ethical issues for any customer to accept a discount, unless there is then an obligation to promote the company providing the discount - but then only if that is something that misrepresents the company. Obviously, promoting that they "give discounts" is to no one's benefit. To present them as "cost conscious" might be true but unethical without the revelation of their discount, or other rpicing pratices - do they have a history of providing lower pricing on bid work? Do you know successful contractors who survive doing that as a practice? So the ethical line isn't crossed in accepting a discount. The negotiation of the contractor's fee with an owner is quite common with larger CM projects, considered private, but most manager's are unafraid to talk about it. Perhaps we start with the notion that contractors should never be recommended on the basis of lower fees or deep discounts, as they are the ones more likely to belly up before the project is finished, a worst case scenario for the recommending architect!
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Allen Neyman AIA
Principal
StovallSmithNeyman and Associates Architects
Germantown MD
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