How to run an effective OAC meeting
Helonic is an AI construction drawing analysis platform for people run oac meeting during plan review.
Best practices for productive Owner-Architect-Contractor meetings.
What is an OAC Meeting?
OAC (Owner-Architect-Contractor) meetings are regular coordination meetings between the three primary parties on a construction project. They're typically held weekly during construction and are essential for resolving issues, tracking progress, and maintaining communication.
- • Project Manager
- • Owner's Rep
- • Facility Rep
- • Project Architect
- • Project Manager
- • Consultants (as needed)
- • Project Manager
- • Superintendent
- • Project Engineer
What belongs on a standard OAC meeting agenda?
A standard OAC agenda covers safety, schedule, RFIs, submittals, and open action items.
Review any safety incidents, near-misses, or concerns
Review and approve previous meeting minutes
Current progress vs. schedule, upcoming milestones, delays
Pay applications, pending change orders, budget status
Review open items, aging items, bottlenecks
Non-conforming work, inspection results, punch items
Trade coordination, upcoming work interfaces
Pending owner decisions needed, upcoming selections
Items not on agenda, next meeting confirmation
What should you do before an OAC meeting?
Send the agenda with updated RFI and submittal logs at least a day before the meeting.
Send agenda with updated RFI/submittal logs, schedule, and any pre-meeting action items.
RFI log, submittal log, change order log, and action item list should be current.
Verify key decision-makers will attend, especially if critical items are on the agenda.
How should you run an OAC meeting?
Run the OAC on time, stick to the agenda, and assign every action to an owner and date.
- Start on time, Respect everyone's schedule
- Stick to the agenda, Park tangents for "new business" or offline
- Document action items, WHO will do WHAT by WHEN
- Make decisions, The goal is resolution, not discussion
- End on time, If needed, schedule follow-up for deep-dive topics
If a topic needs more than 5 minutes of discussion, take it offline. "Let's schedule a separate meeting for that" keeps the OAC on track.
What do good OAC meeting minutes include?
Good minutes list decisions, owners, due dates, and get issued within 24 to 48 hours.
- • Distribute within 24-48 hours
- • Use clear action items with owners and dates
- • Track open items meeting-to-meeting
- • Note decisions and who made them
- • Include attendance list
- • Write a transcript, summarize
- • Leave action items vague
- • Skip the approval process
- • Forget to close out completed items
- • Wait too long to distribute
What problems show up in OAC meetings?
The usual OAC problems are late attendees, unprepared logs, and topics that never close.
Solution: Use time boxes for each agenda item. Visibly track time.
Solution: Improve action item tracking. Escalate if items aren't being closed.
Solution: Make attendance a contract requirement. Communicate consequences.
Solution: Ensure decision-makers attend. Set decision deadlines.
Keep exploring
Related guides for project meetings and coordination.