In the last writing we focused on the on-site duties of a good construction project manager. In this issue we will delve into the administrative duties that are also necessary.
Construction project managers have come from one or two basic paths:
- Those that rose up doing physical work on site, typically carpentry.
- Those that graduated from a college with a degree in construction project management.
They both have advantages and disadvantages that are rather apparent:
- Those that rose up doing the physical work how to put a building together but are naive about the systems required to properly manage the administrative duties such as budget accuracy.
- Those that graduated with a degree in project management are knowledgeable about software and systems but lack the knowledge of how trades and materials interact in real life.
Of course the best are those that have gained knowledge of both.
A good home construction project manager is competent at:
- Creating a realistic and complete budget.
- The best starting point for a project is a budget that has included in it all the line items that will require funds in order to complete the project.
- A one page outline is not enough, too many items can be missed.
- A laborious budget that is too specific can also be tedious to work with.
- The ideal is a budget that has enough line items that it forces the project manager to remember and deal with all the pertinent items that will need funding.
- Creating a schedule that is digitized and can be updated easily. Typical schedules are called Gantt charts or bar charts.
- Schedules should be digitized because it should have the following qualities:
- Dependencies: That is where the start on a task is dependent on the completion of other prior tasks. For example unless it a a project with many concurrent phases, foundations must be completed prior to framing.
- Have an identifiable critical path. These items must be completed in the sequence shown for the project to be completed.
- Be easily updated. A hand written schedule on notebook paper becomes misleading and good for the dust bin within one month of starting.
- A good construction project manager in the San Francisco Bay Area must be good at managing the schedule because there is so much demand for workers that they must be scheduled way in advance.
- Manage change orders. Yes there will be change orders, no matter how good the plans and the builder are. Custom home construction is unique and new issues become apparent during construction.
- A good project manager is knowledgeable about construction so can quickly discern if a cost requested for a change is appropriate.
- It is the project manager’s job to know what line item in the budget spreadsheet to charge this to.
- Processing pay requests and logging them into the budget. This is where a software system designed for the purpose of tracking pay requests is critical. No, Quickbooks is not the answer. Quickbooks does not have the capability to tell you how much has been paid, what is left to pay, and what percentage of the total line item budget is consumed. This information is critical for a project manager of a construction project to keep on top of the budget as it is being spent.
- Collecting warranties and lien releases. A good construction project manager will make sure these are collected and collated before the end of the project.
For the administrative purposes alone an experienced construction project manager is crucial, especially when building a custom home, and especially when building a home in the condensed areas of Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area. Without someone with the knowhow and ability to stay on top of these tasks subcontractors, supplies and even simple things like permits can slip into the cracks or through your fingers.