Everyone surely remembers the Flintstones and how cool Bedrock construction company looked like. In fact, everyone wanted to be like Mr Slate who always seemed to be the boss until that one episode where the pressure on him was exposed. Well, that is how the construction industry is, unfashionable and of course, full of pressure.
Construction projects need a lot of resources. Apart from materials the needed resources are manpower (blue, grey and white collar), equipment and other parties involved to make it all work. Planning, contracts, scheduling, documentation, payments and other management related paperwork, documents and tasks are also part of any typical construction project.
Contractors taking charge of large scale projects often require a large team of experienced and strong people who are able minded, sound, qualified and experienced in managing and leading multiple phases of construction projects. Let us now explore that side of construction project management.
Team roles in a construction project management team – roles and responsibilities compiled
Those who are desirous of knowing and understanding the specific roles and responsibilities of each member in a construction project management team, they are in luck. There are almost nine different kinds of roles and team members in a complete construction management team. Few of those members are not on the site, while the rest are on site.
Hence, here are the key positions involved in construction project management:
- C-Level Executives (CEO, CFO, COO, etc.).
- Senior Project Manager (aka the Project Executive).
- The Construction Project Manager (i.e. the Project Manager).
- The superintendent of construction projects.
- Assistant Manager – projects.
- The Project Administrator.
- General Foreman.
- Field Clerk (aka Field Engineer).
- Foremen.
Let us now discuss them in brief detail:
C-Level executives
They comprise of roles such as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). C-Level executives manage the construction company and project’s bigger picture.
They are concerned about the amount of money generated, controlling unnecessary expenses to remain profitable and competitive, seeing if there are any construction claims or not, any mistakes the company has made at any step and whether or not more people should be brought on board.
They are involved in projects during the most crucial moments and are usually experienced. At times, some reach that level with legitimate exceptions.
Senior Project Manager (Project Executive)
They are also known as Project Executives. They are the highest non C-Level executives on construction projects and have worked with project managers for quite some time. Their years of experience vary and depend more on the number of projects they have overseen from the beginning to the end.
On average, senior project managers have overseen almost ten projects before they attain seniority. They also have almost 15 to 20 years of working experience in the capacity of project managers too.
Senior project managers are overseeing at least two to three projects in an instance. They often rely on project managers for managing daily activities. What senior project managers do is that they focus on ensuring the higher level objectives are in sync with expectations and manage good relations with clients and other external parties.
The Project Manager
They are in charge of ensuring each daily need of construction activity is fulfilled and each activity is conducted seamlessly. The construction project managers coordinate and collaborate with senior management to plan both short, medium and long term objectives of the project. Here are some of their tasks:
- Meeting and scheduling organizational processes pertaining to the project.
- Meeting things as per schedule.
- Organizing the needed resources.
- Creating a working set of drawings and designs.
- Monitoring scope of work along with any changes or additions to it whilst managing change orders.
- Developing policies and plans for employee safety on site.
These professionals usually have around 7 to 10 years in the industry, and began as assistant project managers or a similar role. They’ve worked on each phase of the project once a time, and have also worked with project managers to excel in the trade.
Construction superintendents
The construction superintendent is the project manager’s partner, and deputy. They share the same role in the sense of deliverables i.e. manage and oversee daily operations of construction projects and make sure compliance is achieved in line with the schedule, budget and quality needs. Construction superintendents conduct their duties at construction sites.
Assistant project managers
They are sort of project managers in training. They strive to work towards becoming project managers but are in the process of learning the different responsibilities lying in the realm of project managers. At times, they are also needed to conduct other duties outside of their mainstream job description.
A quantum expert based in Dubai explains that assistant project managers have the same responsibilities as project managers. Scheduling, documentation, procurements, billing, price comparisons and the like are among their tasks.
They have around two to three years of experience, and stay in the position for a maximum of five years unless and until they are ready to become project managers.
