The Role Of The Modern Constrction Project Manager Construction Essay

Construction project manager is the responsible person to handle overall construction of projects from start to end, successfully complete the project within on Time, Cost, and Quality. As the educational Qualifications, They are degree holders or having relevant equivalent qualifications in the field of civil engineering, construction management or construction sciences.

There are critical responsibilities relevant to the construction project manager roles; hence he should mange the project in a proper way to achieve the project goals.

This management process specially consists of some specific functions such as, Project Initiation, Planning, Organizing, Controlling and Managing of Resources for completion of the project successfully within a scheduled time, cost and quality.

There are nine project management processes Such as, Scope Management, Schedule Management, Budget Management, Quality Management, Team Management, Stakeholder Management, Information Management, Risk management, Contract Management.

Cost controlling system is a critical activity of the cost management process, to run the project without commercial backlog. (Refer to Chat 1.02)

Final inspection should carry out by the Construction Project Manager after completion of constructions of the project. He must re-check all approval for quality of work, testing and commissioning reports, scope verification etc.

INTRODUCTION

As a spectacular construction project manager who is broadly discuses within this report about Modern Construction Project Management Process for the purpose of make understand of client. Describing identified critical phases of management process how to manage and how to obtain a maximum turnover of the project through proper management methods. As well as to archive the project goals in terms of time, Quality, Cost, Safety.

Hence in this study will be discussed some significant project management key measures, such as role of the modern construction project manager, effective modern project management process and how to contribute to improve the time, quality and cost to construction project.

MAIN BODY

Who is the construction project manager?

Construction project manager is the responsible person to handle overall construction of projects from start to end. His duty will be act as the representative of the client, as well as complete contribution for the successful initiation, planning, execution and close-out of a project.

Construction project managers are engaged with particular management activities for managing construction projects in a proper way, hence they have the specialized knowledge for project planning, directing, coordinating and budgeting process. As examples for construction projects; Commercial buildings, Industrial buildings, Schools & hospitals, Roads & bridges, Water treatment plants, and also specialized civil engineering works, etc;

Educational Background of the Construction Project Manager

Generally they are degree holders or having relevant equivalent qualifications in the field of civil engineering, construction management or construction sciences. Also some of them are promoted as construction managers from supervisory level having sufficient experience. Other added qualifications will be; ability of having flexibility, making clear decisions for managing and resolving problems, good understanding about engineering drawings and very good knowledge of operating computer software.

And also talented with good communication skills, leadership skills & to have a good relationship with relevant parties,

The Construction Project Managers’ Responsibilities:

There are critical responsibilities relevant to the construction project manager roles; hence he should mange the project in a proper way to achieve the project goals. His responsibilities and duties in brief are as follows;

Study the condition of construction site and prepare a feasibility study report to get understanding about what type of land required for the project.

Prepare master program coordinate with the planner and discuss with the employer.

Execute as a key role in project planning, budgeting, and identification of resources required.

Organize the construction team, developing the objectives, goals of each and allocate individual responsibilities.

Managing project cash-flow and minimizing exposures and risks in the project.

Manage/ monitor the construction activity progress in line with the project schedule.

Keep well communication with all contractors. And also co-ordinate with all parties whom are involved in the project.

Advising the employer related with finance and cost controlling.

Monitoring strictly budgetary guidelines, quality and safety standards.

Periodic inspections of construction sites.

Heading of project kick off meetings and periodic progress meetings as required

Obtaining of all necessary permits and licenses as per the project requirements.

Preparations for handing over process in respect to the agreed contract master Program.

In addition, there are some specific qualitative attributes in project management roles; ability to plan and organize a team effort, well client management and kindness building aptitude, talent to motivate, guide and increase morale of the teams, successful time management and logical decision-making skill, ability to handle work force, physical & mental fitness and physically powerful focus on quality etc.

What is a Construction Project?

A Construction project is a temporary endeavor to create an inimitable product or service. Construction Projects generally include constraints and risks concerning cost, schedule or performance outcome. Every project has a start and an end. The end of a project is defined by the successful completion of the product or service. There are specific traits that all projects have in common. The most distinguishing feature is a specific time frame. Every project must have a clear, definitive objective and activity tasks, such as planning, organizing, Control and close-out tasks, and resource and project executions

Key Characteristics of Projects are:

Unique solution.

Project boundaries.

One-time effort, usually requiring specified resources.

Specified start and Project Milestones.

Concerning about project completion period.

What is the Construction Project Management?

According to the ”PM4DEV” Project Management for Development Organizations, noted as; Project management is a process of leading a team of capable people in planning and implementing a series of related activities that need to be accomplished on a specific date with a limited budget. Because of its nature, coordinating all these activities requires a process approach.

General functions of construction project management usually include the following

Project objectives and plans; (including definition of scope, scheduling, budgeting, setting performance requirements)

Maximizing resource efficiency of labor, materials and equipment through a proper management.

Implementing various operations through proper coordination and monitoring of planning, design, estimating, contracting and construction for the entire process.

Developing effective communications and mechanisms for resolving conflicts

Particularly project manager is the overall responsible person to implement the construction project management process in a proper way. Hence, Project Manager has the ultimate responsibility such as, Planning, Organizing, Controlling and successful completion of the project.

Furthermore, explaining about project management process by below given chart will shows clearly. (Refer to Figure 2-1)

Figure 2-1: Basic Ingredients in Project Management

Specific Benefits of the Construction Project Management Process

There are specific benefits of Construction Project Management process, these benefits are very essential for the project success.

Preferable efficiency in delivering services

Improved/Increased/Enhanced customer satisfaction

Enhanced effectiveness in delivering services

Improved growth and development within your team

Greater standing and competitive edge

Opportunities to expand your services

Better Flexibility

Increased risk assessment, Quality & Quantity

However when executing the essential project management strategies; Construction project managers’ intent will focus to reach of the desired project goal.

Essential Factors of Project Management Process

Generally Construction projects have specific factors to contribute of project success or project fail. Each factor directly affect with other factors in order to archive the project objectives.

Those are as follows;

Project Team and Team Motivation.

Project Manager.

Project.

Planning.

Avoiding Scope Creep.

Risk Management.

Project Closure.

Project Management Process

According to the ”PM4DEV”, its Project Management for Development Organizations’ as noted in the article, There are nine particular management processes under Construction project management, and to implement in a proper way by using specialized knowledge of the Project Manager.

The nine project management processes are:

Scope Management

Schedule Management

Budget Management

Quality Management

Team Management

Stakeholder Management

Information Management

Risk management

Contract Management

Above management process have divided into two groups:

Enabling processes

Facilitating processes

This management process phases are interrelated with entire project life cycle. Below given graphic chat will shows about interrelationship with management process and project lifecycle.

Enabling Process

(Scope, Schedule, Budget, Quality Management)

Project Life Cycle

(Initiation, Planning, execution, Controlling & Monitoring, Close-out)

Facilitating processes

(Team, Stakeholder, Information, Risk management Contract Management)

Figure 4.1 Project Management Processes and Phases

Enabling Processes

In the construction management process, enabling process include with project scope, schedule, budget and quality. Hence, these should enable to control some specific objectives of the project for the project success.

Scope Management

In the construction project management process; Scope management is a very critical for project success. Also project scope is the way to illustrate the boundaries of the project. Hence, Project Manager should aware and concerning the project scope. As a result of this, Project Manager is able to co-ordinate with designers to get update and control the project scope and also acknowledge of project team.

Further about scope management by below given graphic chart will explain it briefly;

Schedule Management

Schedule Management is the development of a project schedule that includes all project activities, hence the Project Manager has to stick on starting and completion dates of each trade packages as programmed, and management team also has to monitor progress of construction and forecast the completion dates accordingly. If completion dates are not matching the master program, control process is required. As an example; assumed some work element unable to complete as programmed due to less progressing or late in starting. If so, it will affect to other work sections too, and delay occurs accordingly. Therefore, Project Manager should advice to allocate additional resources to accelerate the delayed work section to complete it as pre- programmed.

Budget Management

Budget Management process is required to ensure the project is completed within the estimated budget. Hence, this is the vital responsibility of the Construction Project Manager to handle and complete the project within allocated budget of the project. As well as monitor and control the cost of project at both pre & post contract stages, also these are important parts of the management process.

Quality Management

Quality Management is the process to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs of the beneficiaries. Hence, Project Manager has to monitor and control the quality of work and develop the quality plan. Also he has to allocate a experienced project coordinator to advice & guide the contractor to maintain the quality of work. Each work element should be approved by a qualified quality controller or an Engineer prior to handover. Also he has to check the quality of materials and should be strict to the contractor to use standard materials for construction as specified in drawings and specifications to maintain the quality of work. Hence all materials should be approved by a quality controlling team prior to use for construction.

Some of the most important quality tools are; Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle, Fishbone Diagram, Pareto Chart, Scatter Diagram, Decision Matrix, Flowchart, Stratification, Control Chart, Histogram, Brainstorming, Tree Diagram, etc;

Facilitating processes

This process includes with some specific functions such as, Team, stakeholder, information, risk, and contract management, these are facilitating to assist and make possible to achieve its objectives.

Team Management

Team management is a technique, processes and tools for organizing and coordinating a group of individuals working towards a common goal, there are some critical factors for success of the team management process, identify the roles & responsibilities, reporting relationships and getting the people whom will be allocated to the project and team improvement. As well as team evaluation is very important part to identify the staff performances and their skill levels and required further development.

Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Management include Stakeholder identify, analysis, planning and communication. Project Stakeholders are very important people for the project success. Hence, Project Manager has to manage them in a proper way, because of all of them having interested to the project success. As example Donors, Beneficiaries, Local Government Organizations & Partners or Organizations are the Stakeholders of a Construction Project. Also, managing them and keeping good relationship in between stakeholders and project.

Risk Management

Identification of possible risks in advance is an important and major responsibility of a Project Manager. The project management team will be able to take necessary actions to avoid or minimize the risks by identifying them early. Safety of work, Economic matters, Weather conditions, political matters, etc; also includes in risk management. Hence, it is important to take required insurance for the construction, material on site, employees; third parties, etc;

Methods and Techniques for influence the planning process

At the Design Stage

Existing plans to be used to observe design problems and identify most suitable techniques and methods during the design stage.

Site visit and inspection carry out at recently completed projects, similar to this project in order to get proper analysis to minimize the possible design risks.

Separate design department such as Architectural, MEP, and Civil Works need set-up to reduce design errors and to minimize the time.

At the Construction Stage

Supply Ready-mix concrete from nearest place for control project time and cost overrun.

Use slip-forming method for special constructions, swimming pool and water tank tower.

Project duration can be controlled using pre-cast concrete slabs for car park basement floors, walls etc.

Use of eco bricks for structural walls & boundary walls. Also cement, soils stabilizer can be used for wall plastering.

Programming, scheduling and controlling

Pre-Contract Stage

Planning to start tendering process carry out prior to finish all the required designs.

Project Specifications and requirements to be submitted at early stage to the specialized contractors.

Soil investigation reports need to be handed over to the design consultant at the planning stage.

Tenders should call for Pilling contractors once completing the design of pilling.

Planning to carry out Site preparation works by others (Demolitions, filling and cutting, removing vegetation soil etc.)

Required temporary facilities need put-up at project site.

Take necessary action for site security by fencing, lighting etc. and also putting up security post as required.

Post-Contract Stage

Prepare the construction programme as per the construction works sequence.

Actual performance to be achieved being reviewed weekly and monthly.

Design modifications should incorporate when and where arise at the project.

Review construction Programme frequently, in order to control project milestones.

Monitor sub contractors’ activities regularly to check whether activities are in accordance with agreed timescales.

Cost Controlling

Cost controlling system is a critical activity of the cost management process, to run the project without commercial backlog. (Refer to Chat 1.02)

Chart 1.02 Cost controlling and cost management system

Pre contract cost management

Generally preliminary budget estimate is prepared based on the client’s intended budget and also concerning separate trade packages. As well as Cost plan (elemental analysis), Cost check, Tender reconciliation process also important activities for the cost controlling under pre contract stage.

Post contract cost management

BCIS slandered form is followed (Elemental Standard Form of Cost Analysis Principles, Instructions, Elements and Definitions 4th Edition) to prepare elementary cost analysis method and gaudiness.

Further detail herein for cost control, using S- curve methods; (Refer to Chart 1.03)

Chart 1.03 Cost control S-Curve (Programmed)

Referring to the above diagram; it shows expenditure and income occurred. This is being monitored regularly, to avoid the cost overrun. .

Safety of Work

Safety of work is very important at the site to avoid delays and disputes in construction. Hence all employees should educate about safety matters and should provide safety equipments, also should be maintain proper safety standers for the project success.

Closing and Handover the Project

CONCLUSION/ RECOMMENDATION

When study through the report its present this conclusion; any construction projects can be successfully completed by implementing construction management process in a proper way and also critical responsibility of the project mangers having, as examples; considerable effort to be taken to avoid or minimize the project overrun time; cost and quality within obtain comprehensive effort for site investigation and feasibility study as well as all parties that involved at the design stage have to be worked as a team and to be collaborated to finalize and fulfillment of project designs, managing risks in a proper way and using management techniques to mitigate cost over runes.

REFERENCE/ BIBLIOGRHAPY

The Top 10 Benefits of Project Management

http://theconstructor.org/constrution/project-quality-management-in-construction/292/

http://pmbook.ce.cmu.edu/09_Construction_Planning.html#9.1 Basic Concepts in the Development of Construction Plans

WORD COUNT

Word count 2127 No’s (Excludes Reference/ bibliography)

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