In recent years, the need for transparency and accountability in terms of cost, construction schedule and quality of construction projects in Japan has become increasingly important. As a result, the number of projects in which management companies and consulting firms specializing in construction management (CM) and project management (PM) work on behalf of the client from a standpoint completely independent of the designer or contractor is rapidly increasing.
In this article, we will introduce the major construction management companies in Japan that provide management consulting services such as CM and PM for construction projects from the following perspectives.
- Independent construction management consulting firms in Japan
- Foreign-affiliated construction management consulting firms in Japan
- Design firms that provide construction management services in Japan
- Reference｜List of major companies that provide CM/PM services in Japan
1. Independent construction management consulting firms in Japan
First, let’s take a look at independent construction management companies. The characteristics of independent construction management companies are that they mainly provide management services such as project management and commercial management for construction projects, and that they participate in the project from a standpoint independent of the client, designer, or contractor.
The following is a list of nine independent construction management companies in Japan, with an overview of each company and its characteristics.
(1) Nikken Sekkei Construction Management
(2) Meiho Facility Works
(3) Yamashita PMC
(4) Index Consulting
(5) Hankyu Construction Management
(6) Kibousha
(7) Plus PM
(8) Sato Facilities Consultants
(9) AQA
(1) Nikken Sekkei Construction Management
Nikken Sekkei Construction Management (NCM) is Japan’s largest independent construction management company, with 313 employees at its Tokyo headquarters and offices in Osaka and Nagoya.
NCM had been providing construction management services since 1999 as an in-house organization of Nikken Sekkei, one of the leading organizational design firms in Japan. However, NCM became independent from Nikken Sekkei in 2005 in order to clarify its position as independent from the designer and ensure neutrality, and is now one of the organizations that make up the Nikken Group together with Nikken Sekkei.
The most distinctive feature of Nikken Sekkei Construction Management is its mission to ”resolve all issues related to construction projects” and the fact that it provides a wide range of consulting services related to construction projects, including CM, PM, lifecycle management, cost management, maintenance and maintenance consulting, and real estate utilization consulting.
In addition, the firm has been hiring new graduates in addition to its traditional career hires, making it an option for new graduates to find employment.
(2) Meiho Facility Works
Meiho Facility Works is the second largest independent construction management company in Japan, with 237 employees. The most distinctive feature of Meiho Facility Works is that it is completely independent in terms of capital, with no affiliates, and is the only independent construction management company listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The company is also unique in that it visualizes, quantifies, and unifies “all project processes,” “building asset information,” and “worker activities” as a service.
At the 2019 ICPMA hosted by the International Construction Project Management Association, the firm’s systematic management approach using the aforementioned proprietary system was highly evaluated, and its “Legoland Japan New Construction Project Orderer Support Services” won the top prize.
In addition, it established an endowed course on CM with Waseda University with the aim of fostering excellent construction managers (CMr) and promoting CM through education for students.
According to the securities report for the fiscal year ended March 2020, the company’s net sales for the same period was approximately 4.353 billion yen, while its operating income was approximately 902 million yen. The average age of employees was 45.3 years old, the average length of employment was 8.8 years, and the average annual salary was 9.849 million yen.
(3) Yamashita PMC
Yamashita PMC is headquartered in Tokyo and is the third largest independent construction management company in Japan, with 198 employees.
Yamashita PMC’s predecessor was Yamashita Sekkei, a major design firm, and was established in 1997 as an independent company specializing in PM/CM services.
The most distinctive feature of Yamashita PMC is that it provides consulting services that go beyond the conventional framework of PM/CM services to include management strategies, such as planning facility strategies that are linked to business strategies, based on a trinity of business, assets, and facility operations as a “facility strategist” for the client. We also provide consulting services that go beyond the conventional PM/CM framework to include management strategies.
As with Nikken Sekkei Construction Management, Yamashita PMC also recruits new graduates in addition to career hires.
(4) Index Consulting
Index Consulting is an independent construction management company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with approximately 70 employees.
Index Consulting was established in 1994, and its greatest feature is that it provides a variety of management services, from consulting on planning strategies to CM, cost management, and facility management (FM), with a focus on project management.
In addition to general construction projects, the firm is also involved in PPP (Public Private Partnership), a scheme in which the public and private sectors collaborate to provide public services in order to solve social problems in areas like renewable energy, infrastructure, medical welfare, and education as a partner to various parties involved, including private companies, the national government, and local governments.
In addition, the firm provides support in a wide range o fields for Japan’s infrastructure exports in collaboration with Japanese central government ministries, local governments, and international organizations in roles such as designing systems for public-private partnerships with local governments, conducting feasibility studies for projects, consulting with local related organizations, and developing business schemes in which Japanese companies can participate.
(5) Hankyu Construction Management
Hankyu Construction Management is an independent construction management company with 64 employees and offices in Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya.
Hankyu Construction Management was established in 1996 and is characterized by the fact that it provides construction management (CM) services based on the know-how it has accumulated as a client of its parent company, Hankyu Corporation.
As a member of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group, the company has provided cost management services for various projects of Hankyu Corporation and has expanded its services to include CM operations in general. Currently, more than half of the orders are from non-affiliated group companies, and the company provides construction management services for various projects for a wide variety of clients.
(6) Kibousha
Kibousha is an independent construction management company with 61 employees and offices in Gifu, Tokyo and Osaka. Kibousha was established in 1988 with the aim of establishing a new service for clients (building owners) that is neither a design office nor a construction company.
Kibousha not only specializes in construction management as a consultant for clients, but also raises various issues to the construction industry, and can be said to be a pioneer in establishing a foothold for independent construction management companies in Japan.
One of the characteristics of the construction management method (CM method) developed by Kibousha is that in addition to the general pure CM method offered by independent management companies, Kibousha also offers the CM at risk method in which it directly undertakes construction work from the client.
As with Nikken Sekkei Construction Management and Yamashita PMC, Kibousha also hires new graduates in addition to career hires.
(7) Plus PM
Plus PM is an independent construction management company with 50 employees and offices in Osaka and Tokyo. Plus PM’s predecessor was an architectural design firm established in 1988, and the company has been developing its construction management business since 1997.
One of the most distinctive features of Plus PM is that it specializes in the content of its services and the areas of target facilities. Specifically, Plus PM specializes in construction management services, rather than a wide range of management and consulting services. In terms of target facilities, Plus PM specializes in construction management services mainly for hospitals, senior citizen facilities, and nursing homes.
The firm established Plus PM Consultant Sdn.Bhd in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2013, and is the only independent construction management company to have a local subsidiary overseas.
(8) Sato Facilities Consultants
Satoh Facilities Consultants (SFC) is an independent construction management company with about 40 employees and offices in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.
SFC was established in 1993 to provide management services for clients in construction projects from a standpoint independent of designers and contractors.
One of SFC’s most notable features is that it provides a variety of management services, including PM and CM, with a focus on cost management for construction projects.
The company also has a strong track record in cross-border projects, including domestic airport facilities, overseas factories and commercial facilities for domestic companies, and offices, commercial facilities and hotels for foreign companies.
(9) AQA
AQA is an independent construction management company with 28 employees and offices in Tokyo and Osaka. The company was established in Osaka in 1998, and moved its headquarters to Tokyo in 2011.
AQA’s strengths include meticulous customer care, rich experience, the use of a wide range of technology, and objective viewpoints that support the company’s announced customer repeat rate of over 95%.
In addition to the data that the company has accumulated over the years, the greatest feature of the company is the raw data on transaction prices from the many projects that it is constantly involved in, as well as the information, proposals, and advice that it provides from an objective perspective to clients when they make decisions based on this data.
2. Foreign-affiliated construction management consulting firms in Japan
Next, let’s take a look at what is known as a foreign-affiliated construction management companies in Japan.
A foreign-affiliated construction management company refers to a foreign company that provides construction management services. Unlike independent construction management companies in Japan, they do not necessarily focus on management services such as property management and commercial management, but also have real estate leasing and investment as their core business.
Another characteristic of foreign-affiliated management companies in Japan is that they are mainly large, global companies that provide services around the world.
Let’s take a look at the following six foreign-affiliated construction management companies in Japan and introduce the outline of each company.
(1) ARUP
(2) CBRE
(3) JLL｜Jones Lang LaSalle
(4) LENDLEASE｜Lendlease Japan
(5) PTS｜PTS Consulting Japan
(6) Turner & Townsend
(1) ARUP
Headquartered in London, UK, ARUP is an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, architects, consultants and technical specialists with more than 15,000 staff in over 33 countries.
ARUP has been active as an independent foreign engineering consulting firm in Japan for more than 25 years. In addition to providing specialized technology, ARUP uses its global network to support Japanese companies expanding overseas from Japan and foreign companies considering activities in Japan.
(2) CBRE
CBRE is a commercial real estate services and investment advisory company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with more than 100,000 employees.
CBRE’s Japanese subsidiary provides a wide range of services including real estate brokerage, advisory and project management (PM) services as a total solution provider for corporate real estate on a nationwide scale.
(3) JLL｜Jones Lang LaSalle
JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) is a global real estate services company headquartered in Chicago, USA, with 93,000 employees.
The Japanese subsidiary of Jones Lang LaSalle provides comprehensive real estate services, including real estate transaction support such as acquisition, sale and securitization, corporate real estate strategy, and project management (PM), with over 100 professionals in Japan.
(4) LENDLEASE
LENDLEASE is a global real estate and construction business company headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with more than 12,000 employees.
LENDLEASE Japan provides management services such as project management (PM), construction management (CM), and construction consulting to support clients in building, telecommunications, and environmental projects from a standpoint independent of designers and builders.
(5) PTS｜PTS Consulting Japan
PTS (PTS Consulting) is a global IT consulting and technical project management company with 14 offices in 10 countries, including its headquarters in London, UK.
PTS Consulting Japan provides management and consulting services including project management, technology consulting and procurement management for IT-related projects such as office openings, relocations and data center construction. In Japan, 87 professionals provide services.
(6) Turner & Townsend
Turner & Townsend is a management consulting firm with more than 6,000 employees in 110 offices in 54 countries, including its headquarters in Leeds, UK.
Turner & Townsend provides management consulting services such as program management, project management, and project cost management for real estate development, infrastructure, and energy/natural resources projects from a standpoint independent of the architects and contractors involved. In Japan, the Tokyo office was just recently opened.
3. Design firms that provide construction management services in Japan
The following is an introduction to design firms that provide construction management services.
These are design firms that offer construction management services as part of their own services. For this reason, unlike independent construction management companies, the focus of their services is not on project management or construction management, but rather on design and supervision.
In some cases, the management services provided by design firms are for projects designed by the firm itself, so in such cases, the management services are not necessarily provided from an independent standpoint.
The following is a list of 13 representative design firms that provide construction management services in Japan.
- NTT Facilities
- Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei
- Nihon Sekkei
- Kume Sekkei
- Azusa Sekkei
- Yamashita Sekkei
- AXS SATOW
- Ishimoto Architectural & Engineering Firm
- Daiken Sekki
- Yasui Architects & Engineers
- MHS Planners, Architects & Engineers
- Tohata Architects & Engineers
- RIA, Research Institute of Architecture
4. Reference｜List of major companies that provide CM/PM services in Japan
Finally, the construction management companies introduced in this column are listed below for reference. The following is a list of major companies in Japan that provide management and consulting services for construction projects.
| Company | Links |
|---|---|
| Nikken Sekkei Construction Management | HP top |
| Meiho Facility Works | HP top |
| Yamashita PMC | HP top |
| Index Consulting | HP top |
| Hankyu Construction Management | HP top |
| Kibousha | HP top |
| Plus PM | HP top |
| Sato Facilities Consultants | HP top |
| AQA | HP top |
| ARUP | HP top |
| CBRE | HP top |
| JLL｜Jones Lang LaSalle | HP top |
| LENDLEASE｜Lendlease Japan | HP top |
| PTS｜PTS Consulting Japan | HP top |
| Turner & Townsend | HP top |
| NTT Facilities | HP top |
| Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei | HP top |
| Nihon Sekkei | HP top |
| Kume Sekkei | HP top |
| Azusa Sekkei | HP top |
| Yamashita Sekkei | HP top |
| AXS SATOW | HP top |
| Ishimoto Architectural & Engineering Firm | HP top |
| Daiken Sekki | HP top |
| Yasui Architects & Engineers | HP top |
| MHS Planners, Architects & Engineers | HP top |
| Tohata Architects & Engineers | HP top |
| RIA, Research Institute of Architecture | HP top |
This column introduced major construction management companies in Japan that provide management and consulting services for construction projects.
About the contents of this column
The contents of this column are based on the information available on the websites of construction management companies and their published materials as of August 18, 2020.
Order in which construction management consulting companies are listed
The order in which the companies are listed is as follows
- Independent construction management consulting firms are listed in order of size based on the number of employees.
- Foreign-affiliated construction management consulting firms are listed in alphabetical order based on their company names.
- Design firms that provide construction management services are listed in order of size based on the number of employees and net sales.
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