OFCI (Owner-Furnished, Contractor-Installed)
Equipment or material purchased directly by the owner, such as kitchen equipment, specialty security systems, or furniture, but installed by the general contractor's crews, splitting the buying and installing responsibilities between the two parties and requiring careful coordination of delivery timing against the contractor's schedule.
Why it matters
The contractor has no control over the owner's own purchasing timeline, so an OFCI item that arrives late, or wrong, can delay work the contractor is contractually on the hook for finishing, making the risk allocation around OFCI items a real point of negotiation in the contract.
On a real project
A hospital owner directly purchases specialized imaging equipment as an OFCI item, coordinating delivery dates with the general contractor's rough-in schedule so the electrical and structural support are ready exactly when the equipment arrives.
Who this matters most to
A Procurement Manager or Owner's Representative coordinates the owner's purchase and delivery timing against the general contractor's install schedule.
Where this goes wrong
An owner purchases OFCI furniture without coordinating delivery against the general contractor's move-in schedule. The furniture arrives eight weeks late, the contractor's crews sit idle waiting to place and assemble it, and the contractor seeks a schedule extension and standby costs since the delay traces back to the owner's own purchasing timeline.