What Should Be The Background Of A Construction Manager?

Construction Manager vs. Project Manager: What Are The Main Differences?

| Published on January 24, 2022 | 10 mins read

Construction Weblog

In the construction industry, the surveillance of the process and proper direction is crucial as, without it, the take chances of project failure or heavy construction rework increases. That's why construction companies put and then much endeavor into ensuring quality oversight of the work. At that place are two main positions responsible for information technology: the construction manager and the project manager.

Understanding the distinctions between a structure manager vs. projection manager will help you comprehend the process of work administration in the construction manufacture and learn what it takes to complete a construction project. In this article, we'll go through a structure manager vs. projection manager comparison, explaining the key responsibilities of each role and their main differences.

We'll start with the:

Structure Managing director: Full Overview of the Position

Definition

Construction management is the overseeing of the building projection'due south structure stage. The construction managing director is responsible for supervising the entire construction process and ensuring that the projection gets completed on time and within the project budget.

About of the construction managers in the industry accept worked every bit experts in the edifice trades, similar carpentry, plumbing, and so on. Their daily activities can include planning the work schedule, buying the necessary materials, and ensuring safety and health standards on the site.

Although in some structure projects, they might be involved in the project from the showtime, in well-nigh companies, the construction manager'southward scope is express to only the construction phase. Most of the work of structure managers takes identify in the construction site every bit they oversee the day-to-day operations, making sure everything follows the initial planning.

Today, as the role of instruction grows, most construction managers are required to take a BA to be qualified for the position with a structure background or working experience in the industry.

Salary

In 2020 the median salary of construction managers in the US was around $97,180 per year or $46.72 per hour. Today, however, the average salary is around $77,694. Just of form, how much the structure manager earns highly depends on their level of experience and pedagogy.

Required pedagogy & certifications

As we've already mentioned, more than and more companies are demanding a relevant BA degree from structure managers. The undergraduate degrees that relate to the construction industry include:

Civil Engineering or Engineering
Architecture
Structure Management or Construction Science

Most companies will too encourage their construction managers to obtain a Primary's Degree to expand their knowledge fifty-fifty further.

Having practical skills is crucial for this position, so the managers will usually be required to accept at least iv years of experience. Nonetheless, there are ever exceptions. For instance, if a person has 8 or more years of feel in the industry, the visitor might overlook that he does non agree a BA degree.

Ordinarily, though, those who do not accept a four-year didactics are better qualified every bit subcontractors or general contractors.

Skills

At that place is a list of both hard and soft skills that construction managers should concur. Some of the most important ones include:

Solid Understanding of Engineering science

2022 promises to exist a year of exciting applied science trends for construction companies. From drones to 3D printers and AI machines— the industry is looking for new ways to enhance performance and speed upwardly the entire process. But these changes come with their challenges, as it means the general contractors and structure managers have a lot of work to do.

For instance, if the construction company wants to utilize a 3D printer, information technology should ensure that its construction managing director has at to the lowest degree a full general understanding of the engineering to oversee the procedure accurately. And so a skillful construction manager should be tech-savvy to apace learn all the how-to-s of the technologies used in the field.

Organizational skills

Supervising the entire project and ensuring that it goes according to the project schedule and does not cantankerous the construction budget is not an like shooting fish in a barrel task. It requires focus and strong organizational skills as the construction manager will accept to handle different responsibilities simultaneously. That'due south why organizing the tasks according to the priority will assist reduce stress and improve the efficiency of the project.

Team leadership and management

Construction projects are all about teamwork. So the construction manager should know how to piece of work in a team as a team fellow member and leader at the same time. He should encourage and help all the workers to achieve the mutual goal. With adept collaboration and direction, all the issues volition be promptly solved.

Responsibilities

Here are some of the most mutual responsibilities for construction managers:

Supervising and managing the construction team
Assigning tasks to the field workers
Overseeing the day-to-24-hour interval fieldwork
Communicating with the textile suppliers and clients
Ordering the required fabric and updating the material inventory with new ones when necessary
Creating projection schedules for the team members
Estimating the costs for specific construction tasks
Reporting on the project'due south process to the project director
Ensuring the project meets all the requirements

Scope of work and duration

Usually, the construction managers will not be involved in the get-go stages of the project. Although they might participate in the budgeting stage, their master work occurs in the construction stage.

This ways, they will participate mainly in the building phase of the project, which approximately will have at least 6-viii months for large construction projects and a couple of weeks for small construction projects, similar edifice the roof, or framing the firm.

work organization of a construction manager

System of the piece of work

This is the role in our construction manager vs. project manager comparison where both positions mostly use the same tools. They both have to create a projection schedule, ensure in that location are no overruns in the structure budget, and engage in take a chance and quality direction.

From the technical aspect, they need a tool that tin can incorporate all of information technology in the same identify. And then most of the time, both the project managers and the structure managing director volition use project direction software to help them organize the work more than efficiently.

Authority levels

Although the construction manager has a lot of responsibilities, the project managers hold more authority, as they are the ones to supervise structure managers.

Work surroundings

The main departure between a structure manager vs. projection manager is the environment they work in. The construction manager mainly works on the construction site overseeing the building procedure, and rarely visits the function.

Projection Manager: Full Overview of the Position

Definition

If construction managers are responsible but for the construction role of the projection, the construction project manager has greater responsibleness. He oversees the entire project: from the pre-construction and initial planning phase to the execution, completion, and blessing. He is the one who participates in the client meetings to understand all the requirements and specifications and ensure that the project meets them all.

The project managing director'south job is mainly to secure that the project is delivered on upkeep and on time. He works closely with the contractors, designers, and engineers to track the process, quickly identify issues when they arise, and provide a solution.

Their daily tasks include setting deadlines, attention squad or client meetings, tracking the project budget, providing updates and reports. Although they might visit the construction site from fourth dimension to time, their main work is in the office. In the instance of project managers, having a construction background is not strictly required; what's important is that they accept loftier organizational skills and working experience equally a PM.

Salary

According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a construction project manager is around $89.474 per year. And for the very experienced ones, the pay might exist every bit high as $143K per year!

Required education & certifications

If a four-twelvemonth didactics was not rigidly demanded by construction managers, the project managers almost always must have at to the lowest degree a BA degree. However, as we've already mentioned, it doesn't accept to exist connected to construction if they take working feel in the industry.

In some states, project managers might need a license to consummate the building tasks, such as approving the edifice codes. PM-s usually also get a certificate related to project direction. Although having a certification is optional, information technology helps them stand out in the highly competitive market.

certification process of a construction project manager

Skills

Only similar the construction director, the projection manager, too, has to be a team actor and a leader at the same time and hold high organizational skills.

However, every bit they take more responsibilities on their shoulders, they besides should accept a list of other skills to ensure a technically sound and high-quality project in the end. Some of those skills include:

Financial direction

The project manager works with the construction upkeep more than closely, then he should know how to manage finances properly to avoid overruns. Managing the budget is one of the biggest responsibilities for the project manager, as fifty-fifty small mistakes or changes can cause meaning fiscal problems afterward on. Therefore, making forecasts, tracking the costs, and finding new financing opportunities is a must for a good PM.

Take a chance Management

Have you ever heard of Potato's Police force? Information technology is the belief that if something can get wrong, it volition. For projection managers, Murphy'southward Law should be more than relevant. Coming up with all the "wrong" resolutions will help the project manager assess and be prepared for all the possible risks, eventually giving quick solutions to them if they happen.

No to micromanagement

If you are the 1 supervising the general construction project, yous should exist able to call back big. In the structure industry, micromanagement is one of the biggest enemies of efficient work. A good projection manager should trust the construction managers and other colleagues to take intendance of the smaller tasks. They can't really be the supervisor of building trades: getting to all the details and small assignments is a pure waste matter of fourth dimension.

Responsibilities

Here are some of the almost common responsibilities for the construction project director:

Discussing the new project pattern with the client
Creating the construction upkeep and plan
Choosing the location of the project and securing the land for the building
Working on a projection timeline and setting deadlines for each stage
Hiring squad members, including the structure manager
Estimating the costs of different elements in the project
Supervising the entire project and ensuring on-time completion

Scope of work and duration

Project managers are involved in the structure project from the beginning until the end. They are participating in all the stages of the piece of work.

This means they will be engaged in the planning, design, building, and project completion phases, all of which together tin can accept every bit long every bit 1 and a half years to complete if working on large projects. For small projects, the PM-s will still demand at least a couple of months to terminate.

Organization of the work for Construction Manager and Project Manager

Arrangement of the piece of work

Project managers are so involved in the arrangement of the construction projection that they will have plenty knowledge to found a construction company on their own by the completion of the project.

That'south why not to get overwhelmed with all the tasks and data; they work with structure project management software. Nonetheless, compared to structure managers, they engage with it more as they are the ones who create the initial schedule, assign the tasks and supervise the overall process.

Dominance levels

Every bit we've already mentioned, project managers have greater responsibility and hence more authority over the projection . They are the ones to rent construction managers and supervise their piece of work.

Work surround

The work of the project manager mainly takes place in the office. They might visit the structure site from time to time or get out for meetings, but most work is in-office.

Tin can a construction manager be a project manager?

It all depends on the construction manager's skills and didactics. If a construction manager has a BA caste or even has obtained a Master's and extensive working experience in the industry, he might be promoted to a project director. However, he will probably offset work every bit a PM assistant or associate before being hired as a project director.

Principal differences betwixt the two roles

Let'south do a quick sum-up of our structure manager vs. project director comparison:

Construction managers work in the construction site, while the project managers mainly work in the office
Construction managers are involved only in the construction stage, while projection managers oversee the entire project.
Construction managers report to project managers, and so they have less authority in comparing.
Construction managers are not strictly required to hold a BA degree, while the expectations and requirements from the PM-s are much higher, then without having higher education, they can't compete in the market.

Final Thoughts

Both project and construction managers accept a significant function in the construction project. Without them, information technology would be very difficult to consummate the project successfully. That's why the force per unit area on them is very high, so they absolutely need assisting digital tools for keeping track of all the processes.

Of form, in large projects similar construction ones, information technology'southward almost inevitable that we'll make mistakes as, in the stop, we're all humans. Only at to the lowest degree we can attempt to reduce them with structure projection management software.

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