The construction manager will have to be ready for potential changes to balance the costs, schedule, quality, and scope of the project while still meeting the financial goals. For example, instead of a redesign, the construction manager may suggest modifications instead.
Or if the owner decides to expand the project, the team will have to make adjustments before pricing. To keep a handle on the budget before design is complete and construction crews are called up, the construction manager conducts site visits and purchases major items ahead of demand.
Drawbacks : A cost overrun could cost the construction manager a great deal of money. The CM is allowed some mistake-related contingency, so there is a possibility that they will compensate by reducing the scope of the work to fit the GMP. Also, since the GMP is decided before design begins, it is difficult for owners to know whether they received the best possible bid.
Bottom Line : An at-risk delivery method is best for large projects — both complete construction and renovation — that are not easy to define, have a possibility of changing in scope, or must meet strict schedule deadlines. It can also be an efficient method in projects containing technical complexity, multitrade coordination, or multiple phases. Accelerated Construction Techniques : Starting with its Accelerated Bridge Program in the late s, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation began employing accelerated construction techniques, in which it signs contracts with incentives for early completion and penalties for late completion, and uses intense construction during longer periods of complete closure to shorten the overall project duration and reduce cost.
The federal and California Departments of Transportation also employed this technique after the Northridge earthquake in to speed up repair of freeways in the Los Angeles area. The bidding process is usually consistent no matter the type of construction project, but you can expect two business models in the construction industry:. As noted in the two above models, the bidding process begins with the design phase.
The design stage itself can be broken down into different approaches. After the bidding process is finished, the construction phase can then start. Although the stages of a construction project are different than that of traditional project management, they follow a similar pattern.
Before the project starts, a project manager must develop and evaluate the business case to determine if the project is feasible and worth undertaking. Stakeholders may be asked to do their due diligence and to conduct feasibility testing, if needed.
When all parties agree to proceed with the project, the project manager writes a project charter or project initiation document PID , which includes both the business needs and the business case.
Next, the project team develops a road map for all involved. This includes the project management plan PMP , a formal, approved document created by the project manager to guide execution and control, as well as set baselines for scope, cost, and schedule. You can also expect to see these documents in the planning phase:. Work breakdown structure WBS : This document breaks down the scope of the project into visual, manageable chunks. Communication plan : This outlines all aspects of communication, from goals and objectives to roles to tools and methods.
The communication plan creates a common framework that everyone can work from to avoid misunderstandings or conflict. Risk management plan : This helps project managers identify risks beforehand, including time and cost estimates that may not be met, potential budget cuts, shifting requirements, and a shortage of committed resources.
Now the work begins. Typically, all parties hold a kickoff meeting, then the project team begins the crucial work of assigning resources, implementing project management plans, setting up tracking systems, completing tasks, updating the project schedule, and if necessary, modifying the project plan.
The monitoring phase often happens concurrently with the execution phase. This phase is necessary to measure progress and performance and to ensure that items are in line with the overall project management plan.
The project team then creates a punch list of any lingering tasks, performs a final budget, and issues a project report. Learn more about the phases of project management. We asked six construction project management experts about their No. Get out in the field, get your boots muddy, and show respect to the trades who actually do the work of getting projects built. It's important that entry-level CMs understand the many field elements, such as weather, site conditions, limited lay down space, traffic congestion, etc.
Bad news is just as important as good news. Making sure all stakeholders in the project are aware of what is happening on the job will minimize the phone calls, emails, and conference calls in the midst of trying to fix or recover from an issue onsite. Successful CMs are nimble and informed and understand the implications of these many changes. The old way of doing things is disappearing; keeping up to date on everything from standards and codes, to construction practices, to collaborative project delivery and more will be required.
It also encompasses daily and weekly planning through the life of the project to ensure all tasks are completed. You have to communicate with your team, subcontractors, suppliers, your client, designers, local authorities and sometimes neighbors and members of the public. Never take anything for granted. The construction management profession demands complete attention, great commitment and excellent learning and analytics skills.
Live the project in its day to day and never forget to prepare for the unexpected. That was actually one of the major reasons why we created Construction Junkie. The construction industry may still do some of the same things we've done for decades, but there's always room for improvement and things should always be improving. Just look at the advances being made in concrete right now.
Concrete has been used for centuries, but now scientists are figuring out ways for it to heal its own cracks and others are engineering ways to make permeable concrete strong enough for heavy concrete. If we stop learning, progress stops with it. Here are some top construction management books for beginners, either students or those just entering the field:. Readers will find out what it takes to be a construction manager with an aptitude quiz, learn the ins and outs of contract documentation, and build and maintain a project schedule.
Learn more about Jackson's book. Alison Dykstra, an architect and construction management teacher, offers an introduction to managing contracted construction projects in 25 chapters. The book walks through the early development stage through bidding, selecting a contractor, the construction itself, and closing out. She also covers frequently asked questions, like who the players are in construction and what each one does, and the link between the type of contract and how the contractor gets paid.
Learn more about Dykstra's book. Geared toward construction professionals and students, this book by a construction professional provides a step-by-step guide to successfully managing a project, including a list of things not to do to avoid costly mistakes.
Readers will learn about planning the project, scheduling, people, materials, quality, safety, subcontractors, contracts, finance, and more. Learn more about Netscher's book. This book introduces all aspects of construction management to students and professionals. It covers each stage of the construction project from conception to completion, design-build, and build-own-operate-transfer, and it discusses environmental issues important in 21st-century practice.
This massive and exhaustive reference book for the Australian construction industry is frequently updated. Now in its 35th edition, the handbook includes increased coverage of green design, sustainability, environmental management, and more. Informative Articles on Construction Project Management. Even more valuable resources on construction project management can be found on the internet in the form of articles and reports.
Here are two such documents that flesh out the role of the construction project manager in the building process. This article breaks down the overlap between project management and construction management, outlining how knowledge of one can feed into the other. The construction management life cycle begins at the same time as the bidding process, but once the contract has been finalized, the meat of the project can start.
Here are the stages in a construction project:. This is the first stage of a construction project, and once it is completed, it signals the beginning of the bidding process. In design-bid-build contracts, the owner chooses a contractor based on completed designs. In this stage, an architect or engineer first assesses the feasibility of the design based on regulations and codes of the building, as well as the number of rooms, the size of the building, and the amount of space.
Then he or she creates schematic designs or sketches, researching the type of equipment and materials needed and their cost. The bidding process is over and the owner has chosen a contractor. The contractor is then paired with the project team, including a contract administrator, project manager, field engineer, and superintendent. Then the team gets the site ready for construction.
They conduct a site examination, test soil, and identify any possible unexpected situations, like environmental challenges. The best project management tools have a solid core of PM features that allow users to manage an entire project effectively. It also has multiple integrations directly or via APIs for features and data sources outside of the project management tool.
A flexible solution can readily integrate with many popular apps and services in use by companies today such as G Suite, Microsoft , Salesforce, or Dropbox. Zoho Projects , Wrike , Asana , and many other project management vendors offer a lot of integrations to connect to many other business software types.
When used for external clients, project management software will help teams with additional features such as white labeling, custom branding, or customization settings.
These features often appeal to sales and marketing agencies and global or multinational corporations who want to adapt their tool to meet language and cultural requirements. Project management software has reporting functionality included—but to varying degrees. Another feature to consider is the ability to export project data to a third-party business intelligence tool if your company has one or is planning to have one.
Helpful reporting features might track progress by due date or task type, update stakeholders on resource allocation, give a list of unfinished tasks, use tags to filter data, and estimate on-time delivery.
A PM software with scheduling functionality promotes organization in large, multiple, and remote teams. It allows the user to set schedules on tasks, create a project timeline with milestones, and determine dependencies and resources.
For some, this is an essential project management function. However, for organizations with simple projects, short-duration projects, recurring tasks, or small teams, this may not be as important.
Time management features in a project management app let team members track how much time they spend on independent tasks, let project managers set ideal time goals for the project, and integrate with a timesheet or payroll app.
Teams with long-term projects or that regularly employ contractors may find these tools especially useful. In software options built for large teams or industries with contractors, these features may also be called resource management and include expense tracking features.
Microsoft Project offers resource management tools in their Project Plan 3 and Project Plan 5 pricing tiers. A Project Management Office PMO is a department within an organization that standardizes and documents project management techniques.
The PMO sets the scope for projects, trains staff, and tracks the metrics for all processes. Small businesses relying on spreadsheets or whiteboards miss an opportunity to manage their projects more efficiently. They can enjoy the advantages of a modern solution and still stay within budget with careful planning and mindful selection of important items while purchasing an affordable PM solution. While it may be helpful for everyone on the team to have access to a project management tool, many options base price on user seats.
Companies can identify the essential personnel who need paid access and those who can collaborate for free through other channels such as email or integration. Smaller organizations can easily bring the rest of the team up-to-date through reports that are generated without costs. While every company wants to save money on their software, free and low-priced options are especially attractive to small businesses who run on a shoestring budget. Affordable plans have limitations on the number of access or features, so it is important to plan for growth or expansion.
Open source project management can provide a free or low-cost option, but these tools often do not provide the technical support or frequent updates that free or inexpensive SaaS tools cover. Task and project visualizations help teams see the progress of multiple projects running at the same time.
These tools can assist in managing the progress of the initiative, but they can also be useful for project planning by giving a visual mind map of the project timeline.
Small businesses should identify what data or metric is important for them to see and check that their choice of PM solution can display them by default or will allow for customization. Growing businesses face different challenges such as the task of scaling their company requirements. Project management software can help these businesses make a mind map of their upcoming projects, define their project processes, refine existing inefficiencies, and improve overall project outcomes.
Midsize businesses have the tendency to adapt a greater number of solutions over time. As such, the ability of a project management software to integrate to these existing solutions plays a greater role. The candidate solution should have native app connections, capable of API calls, or include webhook features to automatically data transfer and speed up processes. Time tracking software helps teams track contract work, employee hours, and billable time spent on projects. Project management software should include features that tie work hours directly to individual tasks.
The solution should also be able to compute hours across projects or filter hours for individual contributors. The dashboards are above average in this software, with useful executive dashboard reports and visual displays of your projects by location.
Used by over , contractors, Joist is a professional invoicing and estimating app with a feature list that includes digital signatures for invoices in-person or online, cost markups, financial management, deposit requests, payment schedules, job photos, and more. All it takes is a compatible mobile device to get started. BrickControl is a cloud-based construction management software with features like estimates, project progress reports, certifications, cost management, project budgets, automated project planning tools, resource management tools, project deviation control, and more.
BrickControl works on both Mac and Windows interfaces. It is multilingual and multi-currency enabled. The interface is simple and clean with a great POV via lists and Gantt charts. Overall, they did well in both UX and Usability when considering the evaluation specifications.
The software is a little feature-light compared to other options on the list. However, they are constantly expanding. Plus, their price is more than fair for what they do offer.
Candy CCS is a specialized software solution for the construction and engineering industries that is developed by contractors to address industry-specific needs. They address estimating and cost control, project control, enterprise management, and more.
It can take some time and practice to get into programming on CCS but it overall scored quite well in our evaluation consideration for Usability and UX. No other information was available on their site.
Navigation and management of Quantity take-offs QTO estimates and tracking could be more comprehensive. If you need additional suggestions for handy construction project management tools, check these out. Have you tried out any construction management applications listed above? Are there any project management construction tools missing from the list?
Let us know in the comments below! Subscribe here for fresh updates from the world of PM—events, awards, new tools and technologies, trends, predictions, and more. Zeen is a next generation WordPress theme. Construction project management becomes easier with tools for design and construction coordination, project controls, cost management, document management, and field management.
With this cloud-based software, users only need a web browser and login details. Oracle Aconex gives users secure document management to easily manage documents and models of any size, type, or number of files. It has strict version control, automated custom workflows, and workflow tracking and reporting based on real-time analysis.
Other features include advanced communication and forms, BIM model coordination, integrated cost management, automated quality and safety processes, and out-of-the-box reports and dashboards. Fieldwire is jobsite management software for construction teams. Its users include general contractors, specialty contractors, owners, architects, and engineers.
The software enables the construction project team, from the contractor foreman to the project manager, to collaborate and share information in real time. Fieldwire improves jobsite coordination, tracks team performance, and reduces risk. With the software, users can assign tasks, work from the latest drawings, and align field and office teams from any device. Features also included are real-time messaging, tasks, punch list, inspection management, scheduling, and mobile plan viewing and markup.
It also has digital forms for daily reports, timesheets, inspection requests, and RFIs. CoConstruct is cloud-based construction management software for builders and remodelers. Teams manage projects, clients, and contractors from the office or the field. This construction scheduling software also has a simple drag-and-drop interface. Alerts and reminders keep the team and partners on track. It also has baselining and automatic updates when users shift a task. CoConstruct includes ready-to-use schedule templates, or users can build their own or import from another system.
Other features include client access for selections, costs, photos, and conversations. It also has financial tools for presenting specs, pricing, and files, as well as integration to QuickBooks. Jobsite activity and progress tracking, bidding, proposals, change orders, and mobile access features are also available. It provides a document and field management solution that centralizes information in a single place.
A user-friendly mobile app enables foremen and supervisors to submit time and materials, complete daily reports, and schedule resources. It also has tools for field notes, RFIs, subcontracts, equipment rental, and meeting minutes. It is a flexible, modular system integrated into a single platform, so users use only what they need. It has offline mode, time tracking, project planning, and reporting features that include Gantt chart scheduling, issue tracking, reminders, and email integration.
RedTeam construction management software helps users face the day-to-day challenges of commercial construction. It is a collaborative solution that includes a free mobile app for iOS and Android devices. The software provides real-time updates, so teams can stay on track regardless of location. It supports paperless contracts, documents, and digital workflows to speed up contracting, compliance, and change management. RedTeam covers the whole construction project lifecycle, from planning to closeout.
The all-in-one software has tools for bidding, estimating, project management, submittals, change orders, RFIs, and scheduling. Per-month pricing, paid annually, includes support for unlimited users. STACK is construction takeoff and estimating software. It focuses on the pre-construction stage to help contractors complete takeoffs and estimates faster, with the goal to increase bid volume.
The software is ideal for trade subcontractors, home builders, general contractors, and construction material suppliers and manufacturers. It provides a central hub for plan management, cloud-based takeoff and estimating, proposal customization, and real-time collaboration. Users can organize plans into folders with drag-and-drop functionality, and find files quickly with a powerful search tool.
The software also has markup and measuring tools, automation, templates, bill of materials, labor and materials incorporation, custom proposals, version control, call-outs, and shareable plans. Individuals and teams working on construction projects use construction management software as their primary tool to share information and collaborate on documents. There is no standard feature set, as the construction industry is still in the process of adopting digital solutions.
However, these core features are vital for solving common problems and managing risk:. Construction teams, owners, and other partners work with many documents in the course of a given construction project.
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