Construction projects are complex undertakings involving dozens of project stakeholders working in tandem to achieve a common goal – that of delivering a quality project on time and within budget and under the terms outlined in the contract agreement.
Unfortunately, the vested interests of stakeholders often compete and conflict with others, putting the project at risk of failure or delay. For this reason, for the project to succeed, all parties must coordinate their interests in favor of the common goal. This where a construction manager comes in to provide unity of command, unity of direction and deliver the project as planned. A construction manager accomplishes this by putting in place a system that ensures each stakeholder keeps their end of the bargain as agreed.
Before we go into the tasks and responsibilities of the manager, it will be helpful to outline the roles of the individual stakeholders. This will give a clearer picture of the coordination necessary to see a project through to completion.
There are generally two groups of stakeholders whose different expectations are managed throughout the contract.
Members of this team are parties to the construction contract. They are actively involved in the execution of the project on site and include:
This group is not a party to the contract. The members are not actively involved in the execution of the project but are affected by it positively or negatively. They include:
With some projects, it’s not uncommon for the construction manager to take on the role of general contractor or the right-hand person. When playing these two roles, managers hold a stake in the project. They may also work in conjunction with other construction managers in a massive project and be responsible for a smaller section of the development, e.g., concrete work. It’s also possible they could be an independent consultant, managing multiple projects at the same time.
Since construction projects are unpredictable and adversarial, the manager rarely, if ever, has a typical workday. They may perform all or any combination of the following duties on a single workday.
At the beginning of a contract, a manager and their team must study all project documents in preparation for the workload ahead. They send out requests for information (RFIs) to the design team at this point (and throughout the construction period) to clarify all ambiguities in the contract. On a daily basis, they must refer to this set of documents – and revisions thereof – for guidance on:
The design team prepares most of these documents. However, it is the job of the manager to generate a comprehensive project master schedule to guide the site from start to finish. They can then issue instructions to contractors, allocate resources and supervise the work to ensure every activity is going according to plan. Because delays are inevitable in most construction projects, they often revise the master schedule, get it approved by the architects and plan the next course of action accordingly.
It’s standard practice to routinely use construction management apps to increase the efficiency of the whole construction team. These apps help managers to quickly complete the following tasks:
In addition, a manager must always be on call. Site issues can arise in the wee hours of the morning and require attention. An example is being awoken in the middle of the night after a bulk excavation site collapses due to heavy rains. Indeed, construction management is certainly not a 9-to-5, five days a week job.
It’s necessary to schedule and attend different types of meetings throughout the contract. Some examples of meetings construction managers attend include the following:
In conclusion, the job of a construction manager is to deliver a quality project on time and budget while managing the expectations of project stakeholders. Having fulfilled their obligations, they can hand over the keys at the end of a project. Assuming there is no need for lengthy dispute resolution proceedings at this point, all parties can go in peace, with a successful project having been completed.