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The Construction Management Approach  

Construction Management offers an Owner a professional approach to administering a capital improvements project. The scope encompasses either work in a single facility or can include programs in several facilities over a period of several years. Actual construction work can be bid to separate prime contractors or in some cases to a general contractor.

 

Construction Management allows an Owner single project accredibility by allowing the Construction Manager to act as the Owner’s agent throughout the design and construction phases. For an Owner who does not have the expertise or the staff necessary to undertake building projects, the Construction Manager provides the owner with a professional team experienced in managing design and construction, meeting schedules, seeking budget goals and maintaining a quality of construction. Most Owners are not aware of the necessary required time to devote to the multitude of day-to-day details associated with getting any project built. Controlling time, cost and quality is the focus of construction mangement.

Construction often is a complex process involving serious decisions regarding design, budget and schedules. Although the responsibility of managing construction risk eventually lies with the Owner, the employment of a professional Construction Management firm can greatly mitigate the risk through careful selection of the team members who in turn, use their respective skills in designing, planning and managing risk control.

 

  Service Providers   Risk Managers   Communicators  
  Construction can be, and often is, a puzzling process involving complex relationships at various levels. The customer is really buying a service, not a product. Construction skills, necessary to oversee completion of a project, contain tens of thousands of parts delivered over a lengthy period of time and governed by complex details, contracts, work rules and responsibilities. Owners should be aware the team members they select are actually service providers, not product providers.   The Construction Manager, during the pre-construction phase, addresses the three (3) types of risk—design, budget and time; all of which include and concern money. Close teamwork is a necessity so that all areas of risk are addressed. Even though team members may concentrate on their certain specialty, no team member should dominate the preconstruction effort.   Because the design/cost equation is constantly changing, a great deal of uncertainty and ambiguity exists in the preconstruction phase. A poorly managed team at this phase can degenerate into chaos if the participants hide behind their respective disciplines and do not work together as a design/construct team.

As the project moves into actual construction, the risk moves from planning to supervision—the design is fixed; the budget is set but cost control is dependent upon adhering to a realistic schedule. The Construction Manager’s goal is to control and manage risks within reasonable limits through communication and planning.