Milestone Builders is a Luxury Project Management Company that aims to simply build and design dream living spaces, eliminating the stress of building for families and working professionals. We use our unique Milestone Method to ensure our projects are designed and built to perfection.
There are a variety of different types of construction projects that depend on the construction sector. The two sectors in construction are residential and commercial and there are four different types of projects:
That means there are a wide variety of types of construction projects that require construction management in order to be successful. Construction management might be required for a simple home to a large bridge, from engineering a dam build to an airport seismic retrofit project. Construction project managers, then, manage the beginning and end of a project build, often managing on-site to ensure safe, successful construction.
There are several types of construction projects and each of them has different challenges. However, all of them require a project owner, construction project manager and general contractor.
The project owner commissions the project and directly or indirectly finances it. The owner also supervises the project from a high-level view and makes important decisions such as defining the bidding process, selecting the contractor and choosing the project delivery method.
Construction project management is run by a construction project manager. This person plans, coordinates, budgets and supervises the construction project.
The construction project manager is usually a Project Management Professional (PMP) certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The Project Management Body of Knowledge explains the different roles and responsibilities of a project manager in depth.
Also, the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) explains the responsibilities of a construction manager, which is basically a project manager that specializes in the construction industry.
The role of a construction project manager requires a thorough understanding of the construction process. Check out our construction management templates to help you get started.
A general contractor oversees the daily operations of the job site and provides the equipment, materials and labor required for the execution phase of the construction project. General contractors usually hire subcontractors to execute specific tasks.
A general contractor is selected after the project owner reviews bids from multiple general contractors and chooses the bid that better adjusts to the project requirements.
Our construction proposal template for Word can be easily customized to fit your needs as a general contractor when creating a project proposal for the bidding process.
A construction estimator is a construction professional who’s capable of estimating the costs of a construction project. To do so, he must include all types of costs such as hard & soft costs, labor, materials and unit prices.
This person can be either in-house or subcontracted by the general contractor. There are also construction estimating firms that can help you throughout the process of creating an accurate and competitive construction estimate.
Construction estimates are one of the most critical documents for a construction firm as it affects their profitability and their ability to win the bidding process. That’s why construction estimators rely on construction estimating software to make sure everything goes well.
Construction subcontractors are construction firms that specialize in a particular area of construction such as plumbing, electrical work or carpentry. General contractors usually reach out to them to execute work that’s outside their expertise.
It’s the responsibility of the general contractor to oversee the performance of the subcontractors. They do so by checking daily construction logs. But, at the end of any construction project there will always be some unfinished tasks or work that needs to be re-done. Our punch list template is the perfect tool to help you make sure no task is left behind at project closure.
Most construction projects follow the design-bid-build model. First, the project owner gets the design from architects or engineers. Once the project owner has blueprints and a material take-off (MTO) for the construction project, the next step is to select the general contractor through the bidding process.
Then, general contractors present their bids, which include details like the statement of work, payment terms and how much it will cost.
Open bid: These bids are publicly advertised and are used on public projects. Any general contractor can submit a bid.
Self build in the United KingdomClosed bid: The project owner selects a group of contractors and only receives bids from them for the construction project.
Best-value selection: This selection method evaluates both the contractors’ qualifications and the price to choose the contractor with the best price-quality relationship. The project owner also closely examines the request for proposal (RFP) submitted by contractors to make a decision.
Qualifications-based selection: This selection method focuses on the contractors’ qualifications. To do this, project owners analyze each contractor’s request for qualifications (RFQ) to decide which is the most qualified contractor for the project.
Once a contractor is chosen, a payment agreement contract must be signed, and the bidding process will be finished. Let’s review the most commonly used contract types.
These construction contracts are a legal agreement between the project owner who needs to outsource job site work and the general contractor who will get it done. Their purpose is to clarify things like the project scope and payment terms so that everybody is on the same page.
Some projects may involve a contract administrator, superintendent or field engineer, which act as assistants to facilitate the process.
Lump Sum Contract: A lump sum contract or fixed price contract, defines a total price for the completion of the project.
Lump Sum Contract: A lump sum contract or fixed price contract, defines a total price for the completion of the project.
Cost Plus Contract: Cost plus fee contracts are made of two parts: a fixed fee that’s agreed upon by the project owner and the contractor, plus additional costs that are added as the project progresses.
Time and Materials Contract: This type of contract is used when there’s uncertainty about the project scope. The general contractor charges an hourly rate for labor and materials.
The purpose of these construction delivery methods is to define how the project owner, the general contractor and the licensed designer (architect or engineer) will interact throughout the project.
Design-build: In the design-build method, the design and build phases are executed by the same party known as the design-builder.
CM at risk: The CM at risk model empowers the construction manager, giving him more functions than he would normally have. In this project delivery method, the construction manager acts in two ways. On one hand, he is a consultant to the project owner during the design and development phases, and on the other hand, he monitors the contractor during the construction phase to control costs and guarantee that the project is delivered within the guaranteed maximum price.
Once the project owner has the blueprints, material take-offs, a construction project manager and a general contractor, the project can begin.
Construction project management requires a broad variety of skills, along with the ability to interface with a diverse range of agencies and people in order to lead the project from concept to build. It’s important that construction project managers follow the principles of project management during every phase of the project life cycle.
You can’t start a project unless you know you’ll be able to finish it. First comes the due diligence to determine if the project is even feasible. How do you figure this out? You want to go through a feasibility study or what is often called a business case, in which you look at the goals, cost estimates and timeline to see if you have the resources to reach a successful project end within those constraints. You also want to define the reasoning behind the project and make sure it’s sound. If so, then you create your project charter to help initiate the project. You’ll also identify potential issues and risks in this phase.
You have approval, now how are you going to achieve success? Outline the tasks within the timeline, noting project milestones, and the resources needed to do those tasks within the budget allotted. Be transparent in your project plan, so everyone is on the same page and understands what needs to be done over the life cycle of the project. That includes detailing the cost, scope, duration, quality and communications used in the project. This is also when you’ll be able to conceptualize the best project team for the project and begin the process of assembling them.
