CSI’s description of project roles is very clear about the owner’s role in project delivery:
The owner is the party that:
Identifies the need or opportunity and therefore initiates the project.
Provides the funding for design and construction.
Retains the design and construction teams and selects the project delivery method.
Ultimately assumes the primary financial and project risk, because the owner is the one investing in and depending on the completed facility.
In contrast:
The designer (architect/engineer) is responsible for planning and design, preparing construction documents, and administering the construction contract on the owner’s behalf, but does not typically initiate the project or provide funding.
The contractor is responsible for constructing the project in accordance with the contract documents; the contractor bears construction execution risk, but not the basic project-initiative and funding role.
Suppliers provide materials/equipment and have no overarching control over the project delivery process.
The question lists all of the characteristics that CSI attributes to the owner:
“initiates the project, assumes the risk, controls and manages the design and construction process, and provides the funding.”
Thus, the correct answer is Option D – Owner.
CSI references (by name only, no links):
CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide – “Participants in Project Delivery” (owner, designer, constructor, suppliers)
CDT Body of Knowledge – descriptions of owner responsibilities and risk
