Professionally competent construction managers and individuals make up a professional construction management team. The planning, designing, and execution of projects are all handled by this qualified construction management team jointly. By maintaining specific contractual obligations within the team, conflicts resulting from disagreements between team members are reduced to a minimum. The management team responds and produces more as a result of this.
Qualities of a Professional Construction Manager
When placed in a professional construction management, a professional construction manager is skilled in certain specific criteria and proficiencies. Some of them are specified below:
- Construction manager must move with the ideas of the owner and the Architectural / Engineering firm’s representatives, from the beginning of the project. If necessary, critical viewpoints and suggestions regarding the plan’s design must be made in order to promote advancements. He must assist in making recommendations on the timelines, the construction technology, and their economic implications.
- If necessary, the construction manager should be receptive to suggestions for alternate designs and building techniques. Check the variation of cost and project time, based on the alternative suggested.
- Project development with time must be monitored, to assure no extra money is spent for work, without the knowledge of the facility owner.
- The manager is in charge of organizing the procurement of all supplies and machinery from all contractors. He writes the cheque for any sums owed to the contractor or for any deterioration in product quality.
- Performances of any other services, that are related to the same project as demanded by the contractor are also conducted.
Professional Construction Management for Mega Projects
Large-scale projects that call for complete control typically use professional construction management.
The main features of an organization representing mega projects are mentioned below:
As the construction project moves forward, the organizing strategy for each step will alter. It could start out as “functional organization,” then morph to “matrix organization,” and finally become “project organization.” The project’s order need not always follow the same pattern.
The matrix, functional, and project organization systems can all be used at once during the course of the overall project. To manage all three at once is really challenging. This would make both the theory and the management system very challenging, yet they must be used if the project is to be cost-effective.
It has been noted that many large, successful project organizations have a potent, matrix-style suborganization. The majority of the schedule’s control and responsibility for the essential costs are concentrated here. This sub-organization is known as the “cost center” or the “project”. This is taken care by the project manager himself.
The cost center matrix is made up of participants or members drawn from several organizational units. Members are primarily expected to submit technical reports to the higher-ups of the organization from various units and departments. Making these project sub-organizations into a single team is the final step in providing cost-effectiveness. The project manager-owned leadership is in charge of carrying this through. Centralizing or decentralizing of the decision is crucial for the organization of the mega project.
Example of Professional Construction Management – Alaska Pipeline Project
Here we will discuss the organization and the management of a real-time project. The project in question is the Alaska Pipeline Project, which was regarded as the biggest building venture of the 1970s. It employed thousands of people over an area of 800 miles.. The total estimates were 10 billion dollars.
At the planning stage, the owner demanded the construction manager contractor(CMC) to carry out the pipeline portion. The 400 subcontractors and thousands of vendors received instructions from the CMC, which centralized decision-making. Decision-making was delayed as a result of this centralization.
When roughly 15% of the project was finished, the owner proposed a new strategy. He adjusted the group’s structure so that the decision-making and construction management contractor roles were modified. The owner and the CMC make up the new company. An integrated organization assigned this.
The fundamental goal of the system was to create a single team that could manage each and every integrated subcontractor. From the general manager of the CMC to the subcontractors, there were initially nine tiers. The senior project manager (of the owner) and subcontractors are the only four levels in the new structure. This new system bought a unified organization. This system facilitated clear communication within each level. This helped to bring up with good decisions.
The new organization completed five pipeline project segments across five distinct geographic regions. This indicates that the new system made decentralization possible. A section manager was given to each of them. In order to avoid repetition, incomplete activities were combined when 98% of the project was finished. The single bottom line responsibility where identified.
As a result, different organizations initially had control over the project, which was later managed by an integrated organization. This helped in making a small organization with decentralized profit centers.
Benefits of Professional Construction Management
The benefits of professional construction management are enormous.
- Serves the protection of the owner and the project’s objective first and the foremost.
- Reduction of project costs overall through value engineering, cost and time optimization, elimination of unused scope, decrease in change orders, contract renegotiation, etc.
- Integration of participants, by centralizing the communication pathways.
- Retention of best project team is advised for the client.
- Quality is checked by avoiding potential defect reasons and fault in workmen.
- The construction schedule and the design is optimized.
- Unnecessary liability of the owner is saved.
- Provision of expertise in management.
- Estimation of realistic and reliable budgets. Keep cost effective document controls.
