8 Construction Project Manager Responsibilities

Construction managers, also known as construction project managers, oversee and allocate resources for various construction projects. A great construction project manager is skilled in both the technical skills required for the job and in leading and directing their team. Construction project manager responsibilities are what guide a project to success. Projects can vary from residential, commercial, and industrial buildings to bridges and skyscrapers.

Construction project managers oversee all aspects of the building process, working closely with engineers and architects to develop plans, establish timetables, and determine labor and material costs. They are responsible for ensuring the project is completed on budget and within scope. They also hire and manage subcontractors and employees, gather permits, and ensure all aspects of the project are up to code. The main construction project manager responsibilities are overall project planning, distributing resources, time management, risk management, creating benchmarks, managing the budget, managing staff, and managing relationships with key stakeholders.

Planning

The construction manager needs to ensure that all of the work is done on time and within the projected budget. They also need to ensure that the construction project is compliant with current building codes as well as any other legal or regulatory requirements. A construction project manager must carefully plan out each stage of the project in order to ensure successful completion. They develop detailed project plans and are able to use these as a benchmark to track overall progress.

Planning a construction project is one of the main duties of construction project managers. They must develop a comprehensive project plan, track the progress of this plan, and effectively communicate the plan with employees and clients. Without a detailed plan of action, the project will not be completed efficiently and therefore could be subject to delays and budgetary issues.

In any job, creating and following a plan makes completing the project easier and reduces the amount of time wasted. The better a construction manager is at planning a project, the smoother the delivery of a construction project will go.

Creating Benchmarks

Creating benchmarks is an essential part of construction project manager duties and is very similar to planning a construction project. Benchmarks are checkpoints during the construction project used to evaluate and determine project health. Benchmarking is crucial for a construction project manager to be aware of the status and progress of the project at all times.

Benchmarks are useful to measure project performance throughout the life of the project. They are used to estimate a project’s timeline, budget, and the efficiency of its progress. Without benchmarks, a construction project manager may find it difficult to accurately understand where exactly in its timeline the project currently is and how the budget allocation is progressing.

Time Management

A successful construction project manager is also skilled at time management. In order for a project to be delivered on time, the project manager must be able to set a realistic timeline and consistently meet the benchmarks within it.

A project manager must be able to estimate the duration of each step of the project in order to prevent delays due to human error. They must develop, maintain, evaluate, and readjust a schedule as necessary to ensure timely delivery of the final project. Using a time app can make time management easier for construction project managers.

Risk Management

Another main role of construction project managers is to perform risk management. Risk management includes identifying and responding to potential issues throughout the life of the project to minimize potential negative impacts and help ensure the safety of the workers. Internal risk management can include issues such as unrealistic scheduling commitments and poor planning design, while external risk management often deals with unforeseen regulatory requirements and natural disasters such as storms or earthquakes.

Many construction project managers create a contingency plan to have a proactive approach to risk management rather than a reactive one. They also supervise their workers and providing assistance when necessary, and are responsible for ensuring that the project is adhering to health and safety standards and must report issues when they occur. A project manager who incorporates risk management in their overall plan is often more effective and is able to deliver the final project within its set specifications.

Distributing Resources

Every construction project requires the skill to effectively procure and allocate resources. One of the construction project manager duties is to allocate these resources and ensure that there are no shortages. A construction project manager must understand what materials are needed and make sure that there are enough to finish the job.

Project managers must be able to manage any alterations made to the project scope and adjust the overall plan to accommodate for these changes. These alterations often stem from unforeseen circumstances and require the project manager to effectively redistribute the project resources.

A construction project manager who does not correctly ensure resource availability and allocation can cause an overall delay of the project. While delays are sometimes unavoidable, a delay due to a construction project managers poor decision making can hurt the budget and waste company resources. Being able to effectively distribute resources helps construction project managers avoid such problems and helps ensure the successful development of the project.

Managing the Budget

A construction project cannot begin without a proper budget. Another major construction project manager duty is to manage the financial plan and consistently evaluate the project budget. To avoid going over a project’s budget, a project manager must continuously keep track of spending and forecast changes to the budget. They must inform their team about forecasts, keep tabs on the budget, and be prepared for unplanned costs. The more prepared a construction project manager is, the fewer problems they will have to worry about.

Managing and Communicating with Staff

Hiring and managing staff is a crucial part of construction project manager responsibilities. They cannot expect their workers to know what to do without clear and concise communication. A successful construction project manager is able to delegate project tasks to employees based on their individual skill sets and overall project goals.

A project manager needs to consistently inform staff of project details and evaluate the effectiveness of a project plan with employees. In order for a project to be completed on time and within scope, there needs to be effective communication between the workers and the project manager.

If a project manager is not able to effectively communicate with staff, the project may have unclear objectives, inefficient allocation of resources, and a poor quality of deliverables. A good project manager is able to motivate and direct their team to ensure the delivery of a successful project.

Managing Relationships with Key Stakeholders

While internal communication between workers and the project manager is necessary, external communication to key stakeholders is crucial as well. Construction project manager responsibilities also involve communicating the progress and health of the project with key stakeholders and clients.

By coordinating internal resources with outside vendors, a project manager can help execute a project more efficiently. They must also maintain relationships with third-party sources, such as subcontractors, to ensure that they have the resources available to complete a project.

Conclusion

While construction project managers may fill several different roles within each specific project, their responsibilities are key to success in a construction project. A construction project manager helps employees effectively work together to create a great final product. The manager is the leader of the project, but by no means is it a job that can be done alone. Through proper teamwork, communication, budget management, resource management, and planning, a project can turn out more than successful. It takes a great team mentality in the construction business to make something great, but it also takes a great manager to direct everyone towards a successful project.