Unlike everything else you build, construction projects are a lot difficult to manage. It has to be undertaken systematically and it needs to be planned well in advance by experts. From the estimation of the involved costs to the management of traffic, safety, and a long list of things beyond, all this is based on project management.
That’s why we have planning and design as two of its necessities. There exists several complex procedures that must be followed during these steps. In planning, there should be an in-depth review of the proposed plan of the building and preparation of the budget for it that takes care of all financial requirements.
All construction projects have one common aim; to deliver a new construction, facility, or something that helps in creating an environment that fulfills the needs of the people. But how can these be achieved? What is construction project management?
To get into the details of what it is and how it’s applied, I suggest you continue reading.
Understanding Construction Project Management
Construction project management plays a vital role in the success of any construction project. It is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling a construction project from the beginning to its completion.
This entails managing the challenges of communication, stakeholder involvement, risks, and conflict resolution. Keep in mind that its main goal is to meet or exceed the expectations of the client and so, difficulties that arise during the process must be well-managed.
Poor planning and strategic decision-making at the pre-design stage can turn an otherwise profitable construction project into a fruitless and expensive nightmare, so it’s also best to consider choosing a good construction project manager that can handle your projects.
4 Different Phases of Construction Project Management
You’ve already known about what’s being done in the planning stage for construction projects, but what really happens after that?
Construction project management isn’t that easy and there are several stages you have to understand first before completing your construction project. After reading this, you’ll have a better knowledge of each stage.
Design
This is where the planning happens. You can also treat this as the construction project plan where their objectives and goals are determined through a feasibility study.
Schematic design, making decisions about the preferred building size, rooms, and space to be used is part of this phase. Getting bids also takes place in the design stage.
Pre-Construction
After the contractor bids are completed and accepted, they now move into this stage. Pre-construction has two steps you have to work on first before beginning with the ground-breaking.
- You need to allocate a project team. Its members include a project manager, field engineer, contract administrator, and health and safety manager.
- A site investigation must be done. This is to prepare the area before they begin with the actual construction.
- Procurement
After you’re finished with planning, design, and determining all the materials and equipment you’ll be needing for the construction, the next stage would be buying or procuring all of them.
Sometimes this could be quite challenging depending on the availability of the resources you’re looking for.
Construction
Now, you’re ready for the actual building process. However, a preconstruction meeting is held first to determine the work hours, site access, material storage, and such.
In this stage, your priority would be to deliver the project as to how it was designed by the constructor.
Utilizing Construction Project Management Software & Apps
Construction project management software helps construction companies plan, schedule, build, assign resources, and document the progress of construction projects. It helps you keep tabs on all key stages in a construction project—from planning to completion.
When you want to work efficiently, it’s a great way to help improve productivity while keeping people on schedule and budget. However, one thing you should make sure of is choosing the best construction project management software to use.
When you’re confused about which kind of construction project management software you need, consider both the advantages and disadvantages of desktop and online versions.
Here are the qualities you should look for in picking a quality construction project management app:
- Resource Management
- Timesheets
- Reports
- Task Lists
- Gantt Charts
- Cloud-based
Handling Challenges in CPM
For every project, there surely are difficulties and obstacles along the process—construction projects are not an exception to it. For instance, miscommunication and undefined goals are some of the problems that may already occur even when you’re just in the planning stage.
These are some of the biggest obstacles that might postpone or delay the successful completion of the project. Another is having a project that has insufficient skills due to lack of training may affect the management process.
Common tendencies are that things may not go according to plan, mismanagement, and poor execution of work.
Each problem differs from one another, yet if you ever encounter any of these, construction project management apps could always be of help.
To give you a better example, here’s how software and apps can help in selected phases of CPM:
- Planning: They make it possible for project team managers to determine resolutions for obstacles they are likely to stumble on.
- Construction: The software enables managers to oversee quality control, monitor contractors’ performances, and ensure that everything is going smoothly according to plan.
If you ever feel like everything’s becoming difficult for you to manage, never hesitate to check out the best construction project management software and apps!
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