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The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) lists a staggering 120 responsibilities as falling under the construction management umbrella. These responsibilities fall under seven general areas of focus:
At a high level, construction project managers are responsible for keeping things organized. Here’s what that looks like at each stage.
In the pre-design phase, a construction manager is responsible for creating a project plan and keeping information organized (often via software).
At this stage, construction project managers review design documents and distribute them to the necessary parties. They do the same for contract agreements, general conditions, and other important files.
Construction project managers will also typically be involved in the public relations aspects of the job during the design stage.
Project managers who work for general contractors oversee bidding and contracting during the procurement phase. This often means participating in meetings and negotiating with subcontractors.
Once a project makes it to the construction phase, management will be responsible for monitoring expenses, coordinating change orders, and ensuring the project is being completed to the client’s specifications.
This is, naturally, among the most intensive phases for construction managers. Savvy managers use the strategies we outlined in this post to get a better grip on things. They’ll also utilize construction resource management software to keep tabs on scheduling.
At this final stage, construction project management involves working with punch lists to ensure the client approves of the job in its entirety.
The next area of construction project management focus identified by the CMAA is cost management. Here are the common tasks at each stage.
At this stage, a project manager’s cost management duties include reviewing estimates and monitoring expenses incurred as part of the design development process.
Aside from negotiating with subcontractors, project managers need to carefully analyze bids from a financial perspective to ensure costs are reasonable.
Once construction begins, project managers are responsible for maintaining a schedule of values. This is a document detailing the entire project, including its budget and how that budget needs to be split across the various activities.
The aforementioned schedules are maintained and monitored by construction managers once a project enters the design phase. This will ensure the designs don’t conflict with the existing schedule.
During procurement, a project manager needs to ensure that subcontractors are able to complete the work in adherence to schedules created in the prior stages.
Effective project management in construction ensures that work keeps moving on-schedule. When issues arise, this means working to reschedule things as needed.
Having all these factors you need to be mindful of while remaining on a rigorous schedule can be stressful.
Of course, completing work on time isn’t the only concern when running project management for construction projects. The work also needs to be completed at a certain level, which is where quality management comes into play.
Before designers get to work, a project manager needs to clarify expectations with the client, which will avoid wasted time. This is when a quality management plan should also begin to take shape.
Turnkey developments in the United KingdomHere, a project manager needs to review design submittals and evaluate them based on quality. There will likely be several project review meetings with various stakeholders to keep everyone in the loop.
When soliciting bids, a project manager needs to evaluate subcontractors to ensure their suitability from a quality perspective. This involves communicating the project requirements clearly with bidders so they can provide an accurate quote based on the project’s needs.
Throughout the construction phase, managers are responsible for overseeing and coordinating quality inspections and testing. They’ll also need to keep meticulous records of deficiencies and efforts made to address them.
Once construction has been completed, project managers typically need to have a quality review with the client. They’ll also deliver a final quality report complete with recommendations for things like future management of the structure.
As you might imagine, there’s a lot to be done in the way of contract administration during the procurement stage. Agreements need to be reached and notarized with subcontractors while also considering contractual obligations with the client.
Additionally, the manager will need to issue a notice to proceed, which informs subcontractors when they are permitted to begin work.
During the construction phase, project managers create and manage documents as needed based on their contractual obligations. They also hold subcontractors accountable to their agreements and have a hand in securing permits, insurance, bonds, and other legal considerations.
During the construction phase, project managers create and manage documents as needed based on their contractual obligations. They also hold subcontractors accountable to their agreements and have a hand in securing permits, insurance, bonds, and other legal considerations.
Contract administration at this stage involves delivering on maintenance manuals, warranties, final permits, and more. When needed, project managers will also initiate contractor callbacks to address work that has turned out to be below-par.
Project managers at this stage ensure safety by laying the appropriate organizational foundation. This may involve assembling the beginnings of a staffing plan. among other things.
The project manager facilitates conversations between the design team and a safety coordinator. This is when the safety coordinator develops a solid understanding of the project and provides input regarding its risks.
This stage sees the project manager working alongside a safety coordinator to create a written safety and emergency response coordination plan.
Once construction begins, a project manager needs to work with safety staff to ensure compliance is being enforced. Periodic safety audits need to be conducted, with relevant reports created to document the findings.
If a safety incident does occur, project managers will need to work alongside safety coordinators to address liability concerns.
Lastly, we have team management. A construction project manager plays a very important role in keeping the team working as a cohesive unit. This can mean tracking productivity, using collaborative construction software, and a number of other tasks.
A project manager’s responsibilities here are not limited to any particular phase, of course. Construction projects require teamwork at every stage and the project manager facilitates it by:
The complex role of project management for construction would simply not be possible without dedicated tools and resources. Here’s a rundown of the most commonly-used tools in construction project management.
