How to Hire a Project Manager for Your Construction Project

This post was originally published on this site

Every construction project, large or small, benefits from some organisation. A successful project is often due to the fact that there was a project manager handling all the little details that go into a project like this. While not every construction site requires a manager, you should certainly consider one if you have more than a couple of people working on it.

What Does a Project Manager Do?

A more accurate question would be what doesn’t a project manager do? They are the person who oversees the project and manages all the details, down to the smallest ones. Here are some of the main areas they will manage.

Overall Plan

Even relatively small projects require some serious planning to ensure everything works perfectly. Remember that every step of the construction project must be carried out in order to avoid any clashes with the schedule. You can’t build a roof before you pour the foundation and if the shingles show up before the concrete, there is a disaster in the making.

Your project manager will not only create a plan, they’ll design a very complex schedule and talk to all the suppliers and specialists such as plumbers and electricians, to schedule them into the plan. When it all works out, every step of the project will finish just as the experts come in to do their job. It is a finely balanced dance that cannot be completed easily without the project manager.

They will also create benchmarks to ensure the project is moving along at the correct pace. This will help everyone see where the project is as well as where it should be.

Budget

In any construction site, the budget is an extremely important part of the building. The project manager will ensure that the project stays on budget and will make the necessary decisions to help this happen. If there is a choice between two materials with drastically different price points, for example, they will present the choice to the people building the home and adjust the budget as needed.

The project manager can also find ways to save money in areas that won’t affect the overall project but can really reduce problems with the budget over time. This is an essential service, as the amount of money spent will have a direct impact on the quality of the building.

Reports

Regular progress reports will need to be made for the client and this is also a job for the project manager. They will report any changes in the budget, timeline, or other progress to the client. This requires careful tracking and monitoring of the entire project, particularly when it comes to the more important aspects.

Time Management

The project manager is also responsible for ensuring the entire construction project is completed within the projected timeline. They’ll need proper time management skills to schedule everything and to ensure the workers are as efficient as they can be.

If one shipment of wood or metal is late, it can bring the entire construction project to a halt. It’s essential that this does not happen, but it is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that everything is scheduled and there are other tasks to be carried out should a shipment come in late.

Compliance

There are so many building regulations that must be followed and adhered to that it can be quite confusing in some situations. Fortunately, this is where a project manager excels and will be on top of things. They have an intimate knowledge of the various laws and regulations and will ensure your project is handled correctly.

They will also manage the inspections to ensure the construction is compliant and make any adjustments that are necessary.

Risk Management

Another area that
the project manager is required to handle is risk management. A construction site can be a dangerous place, so you’ll definitely want to ensure that everyone is safe. This means the project manager must identify potential risks and figure out ways to eliminate or reduce them. For example, they may require regular inspections of scaffolding to ensure it hasn’t loosened over a week of use. Or they may assign someone to ensure that each worker is equipped and using the correct protective gear each morning as they arrive at the job site.

Overall, the project manager handles everything that keeps the construction site running smoothly. Without them, it could easily dissolve into chaos. Thanks to their special training, you’ll find it very helpful to have a project manager on the site.

The Benefits of Hiring a Project Manager

Many construction projects are carried out without a project manager, so you may wonder why it’s so necessary to have one. If you are simply building a garage or adding a small office to a home, you may not need a manager. However, anything bigger than this and you’ll see the benefits almost instantly.

First, you’ll save quite a bit of money. If you have a contractor running everything, they will often go far over budget and it isn’t a big issue for them, because they’re getting paid anyway. This can be frustrating when you are trying to save money. Fortunately, a project manager is focused on financial security and will work hard to save you that money and to keep your project running smoothly without spending more.

You can also expect fewer issues among the employees. Your project manager will handle most of these issues and should be good at communicating the project needs. An excellent manager will have the ability to bring everyone on board and get them excited about the project. This is an invaluable service and will result in higher quality work and faster construction.

There are so many things that can go wrong in a construction project and they often do. However, a project manager is ready for the unexpected and will have a solution as soon as you realise there’s a problem. This can be quite useful since all work on the site will stop until you have things sorted. With the project manager, this will happen far more rapidly than with only a contractor.

Anyone who has built anything before knows that delays are inevitable. A shipment comes in late, or weather affects the construction. There’s always something to slow the project down. However, when you have a project manager who has already planned out the entire process, they can get things moving again rapidly. They’re the ones responsible for talking to the suppliers and finding new ones if there’s no movement with the original one. They can handle all the irritating issues that really can destroy the joy of a building project and take care of them.

One of the biggest benefits of hiring a project manager for your construction site is that you can relax. You won’t need to micromanage or stress about the shipments or how the project is coming along, because someone else is doing all that for you. The manager will give you regular reports for the construction process and will handle all the little things that don’t really require your attention.

In short, having a project manager is rather pleasant and can save you time, money, and stress. That makes it worth the extra cost right there.

How to Find the Right Project Manager

The best project manager will not only be experienced with construction zones, they should also have a good background in business and management, along with very good communication skills. Take the time to talk to a few different people and hear their background. You should aim to hire someone who has worked on projects of similar size previously.

You can also talk to previous clients to learn more about the project manager and ask them what their planning and management process is like. This should give you a better idea of what it might be like to work with the manager. Ideally, they will come from a firm where there are multiple project managers. This way, if anything happens so that one person can no longer continue the task, another equally trained project manager can step into their position and take over. This ensures there is no loss of communication, and your project will continue.

Are you looking for a good, experienced project manager? At Imperium Engineering, we know how important it is to keep a construction project on budget and on time.
Contact us today to learn more about our project management services.