CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT | WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
“Construction management is a professional service that provides a project’s owner(s) with effective management of the project’s schedule, cost, quality, safety, scope, and function. Construction project management is compatible with all project delivery methods. No matter the setting, a Construction Manager’s (CMs) responsibility is to the owner and to a successful project.” (The Construction Management Association of America)
The objectives of construction project management are to execute a project so that deliverables can meet scope requirements on budget and schedule, and at acceptable risk, quality, safety, and security levels.
The project management process starts with identification of the user requirement, project constraints, resource needs, and establishment of realistic objectives to meet the strategic goals.
Generally, a project is made up of three parties:
- The owner, who commissions the project and either funds the project directly or finances it through a variety of methods.
- The architect/engineer, who designs the project.
- The general contractor, who oversees day-to-day operations and manages subcontractors.
Construction Project Lifecycle
The project lifecycle consists of four main phases:
Project Initiation: this is the first phase of the project, where a business problem/opportunity is defined. Then, a business case is identified providing solutions and suggestions followed by a feasibility study ended with a recommended solution. Once the solution is approved, a project is initiated to achieve the approved solution.
Project Planning: this phase involves activities and tasks outlining, resource planning, financial planning, quality planning, risk planning, Acceptance planning, communication planning and procurement planning.
Project Execution: This part of the project includes the execution of each activity and task listed in the project plan.
Project Closure: once all of the deliverables have been produced and the client has accepted the final result, the project is ready for closure. The project close out includes the project documentation hand over, supplier contracts termination, project resources release and communication of the closure of the project to all stakeholders. Then a post implementation review is undertaken and a list of lessons learnt is produced for the future projects.
What is a Construction Project Management Plan?
The Construction Project Management Plan is a road map on how to get the project done.
The Construction Project Management Plan sets out how the project is to be managed, executed, monitored, controlled, and closed through the phases of its life cycle.
Here is a typical Project Management Plan (PMP) outline for construction projects:
Tips for succeeding in construction project management
1 Make safety a priority
When a Construction Project Manager focuses on safety, he ensures that serious incidents will be avoided and most of the tasks will be completed faster.
2 Don’t deal with non conformities at the end of the project
Construction Project Managers should resolve non conformities as they appear instead of letting everything for the end of the project.
3 Use a dedicated construction project management software
A Construction Project Manager should stay on track with each team’s progress at every stage to save time and money. Excel and WhatsApp are great tools but they’re not dedicated to construction management. A good tool like Averroes Software, would centralize all your project data in one platform and would involve planning, task tracking and management, reporting, timesheets…
4 Get continuous feedback and improve all along the project
Get feedback on each phase and talk to the project team to see possible axes of improvement.
5 Maintain Proper Documentation
Having a reliable document management system can help you keep track of all documents and ensure revision history tracking, proper archiving, efficient document numbering…
Averroes Construction Management Software include a powerful automated document control system that would enhance your performance significantly.