With any construction manager project, completing it successfully is only possible through effective construction management. This may be achieved in a number of contractual ways or strategies:

A. Traditional Method

1. Traditionally the Client or Employer would arrange the preparation of all the detailed designs, and appoint his design team and Quantity Surveyor to represent him.
2. The Client´s representatives, usually led by the Architect, would arrange for a tender for the construction works.
3. A building contractor was appointed to complete the construction works and is responsible for quality assurance and control.

This became known as an adversarial method of arranging the works typically involving delays and claims by the contractor owing to late or inadequate design information and detailing.

B. Design & Build Contract

During the early 1990´s a new form of contract evolved known as the Design And Build contract, where the Client engaged an Architect only to prepare the preliminary design and a schedule of Employer´s Requirements, usually prepared by the Client´s Quantity Surveyor.

After the tender process, the contractor submitted his Contractor´s Proposals, and there was a review process to see how this matched with the Employer´s Requirements, and a final set of agreed Contract Documents was prepared.

In this scenario, the contractor prepares all the detailed designs as well as completing the contract works on site.

The Contract was administered by an Employer´s Agent on behalf of the Employer.

It is a much cleaner arrangement contractually, unless the client changes his mind and wishes to make a variation to the contract, at which time the cost and time implications may become more difficult to control.

3. Construction Management

In this arrangement, the Construction Manager organises and manages a series of design or works packages or contracts between the Client or Employer and the works package contractor.

There is no main contractor as such, all the facilities and resources that a main contractor would normally employ are split up between different parties.

Overall this method can result in a saving of around 10% on the cost of the works to the Client or Employer.

Common Factors Across All the Above Contractual Strategies

Completing any project on time and within the budget and to good quality, and of course safely, is not an easy feat. This requires a lot of expertise, time and resource planning, monitoring of progress, and effective collaboration among all the many teams and specialists who may be involved.

The construction of any small or large infrastructure project is becoming increasingly complex and more regulated.

In addition to the essential end-to-end project and construction management, common in all the 3 different contractual strategies identified above, there are also contractual, legislative and regulatory requirements that need to be complied with.

With all these complicated processes, and regulations and legislation, construction know-how and expertise is essential to ensure that the project will run smoothly and without delays or increased costs.

Without capable construction management, the pitfalls associated with design and construction may be more costly and time consuming to overcome.

Taking option 3, Construction Management, let us look at the pros and cons of construction management vs Engaging a Main Contractor and why hiring a Construction Manager can save you time and money.

An Overview Of  Construction Management

Construction Management is a professional service that ensures effective management of a project through managing the 3 critical aspects of any project scope: cost, time and quality, which determine the overall project success. A Safe project is a given as this is mandatory.

Construction Management uses specialized techniques to oversee the planning, design, and construction of a project, and these are similar to a contractor´s expertise.

A Construction Manager acts as a client´s  consultant and representative throughout the entire project. They manage the day-to-day requirements of the design and construction. This includes creating the work schedules, delegating tasks, overseeing the logistics and manpower, setting budgets, providing progress updates to the client, managing interfaces and mitigating construction risks.

Hiring a Construction Manager is more cost-effective than proceeding with a project without professional guidance – it is essential.

A Construction Manager has your best interest in mind, keeping projects secure from potential risks in the long run and ensuring that the entire process is beneficial and profitable for construction owners.

The Relative Advantages Of Using A Construction Manager

There are clear advantages of hiring a Construction Manager for your construction project.

1. A CM Provides Objective And Expert Construction Leadership

The Construction Managers’  role is to provide objective construction management and technical expertise to the Client, the design team and the works or package contractors. Experienced Construction Managers can plan and manage the works effectively and achieve arrival at the finished project efficiently.

Construction Managers may use specialized methods and techniques to efficiently manage the planning, design, construction, and assessment processes of a project.

They interpret contracts and technical drawings, coordinate the bidding process for all team members, advise the client on the most appropriate design techniques, construction methods, undertakings, coordinate required disciplines, and ensure that the project is running as required and in conformance with all legislation, especially safely.

2. The CM Helps Reduce Capital Outlay Using Value Engineering & Buildability

When a detailed work scope has been establishedt and the total budget for the project has been identified during the early pre-construction phase, savings opportunities may be identified.

In this area, Construction Managers help by providing budgeting techniques, cost estimating services, and professional feedback on the project plan.

This early budgeting and scheduling approach can help the client avoid potential budget spike-ups caused by change orders done at a later stage. In addition, construction managers maintain strict cost control of the process, so the client won’t have to worry about shelling out for additional project expenditures.

A practical appreciation of construction techniques and methods is a key attribute of a CM.

3. The CM Is Responsible To Ensure The Project Keeps To Schedule

The Construction Managers’ scope of work includes creating and managing the project, managing construction work packages (design and construction), and deciding their schedules. Along with ensuring that time schedules are met, they also make sure everything is moving towards the right direction or the goal of construction – their role is coordination of the works, in the same way that a Main Contractor would do so.

Scheduling dictates the pace of work, list of tasks, start and end dates, and sequencing the work schedules of construction workers employed by different works package contractors.

The CM coordinates the  teams involved in the project and can clearly overview the progress of a project, have a clear vision of the next steps, and what may be needed to meet deadlines.

This also allows the client to expect good results and see what has been accomplished.

Scheduling is a key CM activitiy and essential to avoid time being allocated and spent on activities that don’t necessarily help with project completion. CM is the owner of the Critical Path of the project.

4. The CM Manages The Project While Mitigating Risks

As the project moves forward, the CM continues to seek ways to optimize the process and accelerate the expected final construction result. They make it a goal to also fast-track a project to reduce completion time, wherever possible, while balancing the additional costs that may be incurred in acceleration of activities.

Construction Managers usually divide projects into phases or stages to achieve intermediate goals and reduce the overall completion time. CM´s also consider fast-track construction, a technique that decreases the overall duration of a project by overlapping tasks that would not be commenced on a traditional contract until a previous task was completed. There may be different designs and construction techniques compared so as to choose the optimum solution

Eradicating project scope creep and reducing changes or variation orders can result in significant time and cost savings, if possible.

5. CM´s Use The Principles Of Value Engineering

Value Engineering, also referred to as value analysis, is the systematic method of improving a project’s value, by critical analysis of proposed designs and construction methods and materials. It ensures adequate functionality while reducing costs or time taken.

Construction Managers use the principles of value engineering to solve construction problems, identify and reduce costs, and improve the function and quality of the overall project quality. They essentially help optimize the client’s initial and long-term investments.

Though value engineering can be applied during any part of the design or constuction phase, applying the process early will save costs down the line, ensuring a better return on investment (ROI). Th later VE is deployed usually the lesser the results and benefits.

Profit – It Is False Economy Not To Engage A CM

Hiring a construction manager is essential especially if you do not plan to use a Main Contractor – the cost must be provided within your overall budget and plan, it will prove to be a very worthwhile investment over the duration of the project.

Experienced construction managers can efficiently manage the overall project from pre-construction to post-construction and supervise all the essential tasks, allowing you to focus on the bigger picture of the development plan.

With their CM´s expertise, they can help you to find innovative solutions which may be able to reduce costs and reduce the planned completion time while keeping quality high and safety under control.

A CM approach is a good investment for any Client or Employer.