If you’ve never worked in construction before, you may wonder what drives project success. If you’re wondering, “What do construction project managers do?” then allow Ramfield Immobiler, a project management service in Montreal, to explain everything you need to know about construction project managers, what they do, and how they use their industry knowledge to lead construction sites.
What Is a Construction Project Manager?
A construction project manager is a manager who oversees the projects on a construction site, from the building processes to the construction workers to the overarching goal. They help ensure that the project progresses on a set schedule, within budget, and toward a specific goal. They don’t work alone, using their management skills to work closely with engineers and architects to ensure everyone meets construction site safety protocols, cost limits, and, most importantly, project deadlines.
A construction project manager oversees everything from material orders to permit approvals. While they may not be as involved in the actual work of a physical building’s construction, they are responsible for ensuring every question about the project has an answer.
Construction project managers aren’t just responsible for understanding every aspect of a project; they need to know the workers involved just as well. They are responsible for matching worker talent to required tasks, ensuring that employees handle work efficiently. They work on the client side of operations, ensuring that communication between worker and client goes along smoothly.
What Is the Average Salary for a Construction Project Manager?
According to the Indeed statistics and metrics, the average salary for a Construction Project Manager is $84,974 per year. However, this number can vary greatly due to many factors, such as inflation, the experience of the employee, and the employer’s location. Construction project managers may also work as independent contractors, which means the salary may vary depending on the agreements of their occupation.
What Are the Requirements To Become a Construction Project Manager?
If you want to become a construction project manager, there are many requirements you’ll need to fulfill. Because construction project managers oversee a multitude of responsibilities, there are many skills that they’ll need to use before they’re even considered for the position. Some requirements for a construction project manager include the following.
Training
Students seeking to become construction project managers should have at least some experience in construction first, so that their management skills come more easily. Through training with an internship program, students can prepare by getting on-site experience while also working toward a degree. The on-site experience, in contrast to education, is perhaps one of the most valuable parts of becoming a construction project manager since experience can help them navigate real problems to find diverse and flexible solutions.
Understanding the workplace is one of the most important parts of becoming a construction project manager. Management staff is only as helpful as it is in understanding not just the industry but the responsibilities of the employees whom they work with. After graduation, students with exceptional experience and a diverse history in the workforce are more likely to get construction project manager positions than those with just education in the field.
Education
While experience is one of the most valuable things a potential employee can bring to the profession, education is also necessary. Just like certifications, education is a required stepping-stone for an employee on the job path toward becoming a construction manager, as most hiring managers will require a bachelor’s degree as part of the hiring process. Those who want to become construction project managers should get a bachelor’s degree in a construction-related field, such as civil engineering, building science, construction management, or business management.
If a student wants to focus their education more strongly on construction as they move forward, consider taking courses that help clarify the more exact practices of a construction project manager. These classes include courses on code compliance, accident prevention, civil construction, and cost estimation and compliance. Since construction project managers will need to adhere to the principles of budgets, code, and loss prevention, these courses are quite helpful in preparing any student for the construction workforce.
Skills
What do construction project managers do to gain skills? In addition to education and certifications, there are a number of skills that job seekers should have if they want to become construction project managers. While education and official certifications are important, the skills that an individual possesses help separate potential employees from each other and often can make a difference when it comes to the final hiring authority.
Some skills that a construction project manager will often use in their workplace include:
- Communication: Every manager needs to know how to communicate properly, and construction project managers are no different. They will be required to communicate with clients, their bosses, and their employees throughout their daily work to ensure everything related to a construction project is going well.
- Leadership: A construction project manager is responsible for guiding a construction team through a project. This means they need to be able to lead and, as a consequence, understand how to manage people, communicate well with them, and answer questions from any party as they arise throughout the project.
- Risk management: Part of being a construction project manager is engaging in a healthy amount of risk management. This means being neither afraid nor reckless concerning risk, placing the company’s interests and their reputation first as construction projects progress for buildings, bridges, and highways.
- Interpersonal skills: Throughout their duties, construction project managers must maintain respectful relationships not just with their fellow employees but with clients as projects progress.
- Technical skills: There are many technical skills that construction project managers need to learn before they can have such a title; understanding how to manage a budget, keeping an accurate record of funds, and allocating said funds properly. Understanding how to use budgeting software and project or schedule management software is a given for this position.
- Planning: Because construction project managers handle project deadlines and other sensitive company due dates, they need to understand how to plan, especially with regard to work schedules, people, and feasible milestones. They will be responsible for putting together a project roadmap, detailing each section of the project, who it involves, and a complete timeline of the construction from beginning to end as part of their responsibilities.
- Integrity: Because construction project managers must uphold a team, as well as their own standards, at work, a commitment to maintaining values and ethical standards is a necessary skill they will need to develop. Integrity brings capability to a leader in a construction project management position, helping them lead both employees and clients by forming genuine relationships based on transparent communication and an important sense of honesty.
What’s a Construction Project Manager’s Work Environment Like?
What do construction project managers do? While that might vary between jobs, certain things remain consistent due to their work environment.
Construction project managers typically work out of an office on the construction site. They will have the equipment to perform administrative duties, using a computer and often an on-site phone to communicate with others and address site needs. Construction project managers often work overtime hours, using their time to work according to what the site needs rather than on a set schedule.
While not in every case, construction project managers, as the overseeing members of the operation, often must be on call 24 hours a day. If there is an issue with the construction site, they are the ones to call for a resolution. While they work outdoors, their office remains an indoor environment, unless they are called outdoors to assess an issue physically.
Construction project managers need to be able to work both indoors and outside. They typically handle various tools and machines throughout their workday, such as:
- Construction tools or equipment
- Office equipment, such as computers, printers, office telephones, and fax machines
- Sealers and stripping chemicals
- Protective equipment, such as hard hats, eye protection, gloves, and steel-toe boots
Construction project managers generally work very closely with people, whether they be vendors for products and supplies, clients for projects, or labor contractors for construction work. They need to not only be able to communicate with everyone in a project but also have the ability to communicate needs and wants across the team, being the medium for cooperation throughout the project’s duration.
Learn More About Property, Construction, and Rental Management With Ramfeld
A construction project manager plays a vital role in every project. They oversee the work, making sure the project is completed promptly. They’re invaluable in facilitating communication between workers, clients, and others, and have a keen enough eye for detail to ensure a project’s success. Finding the right one is critical if you want to make sure that you’ll get results you’ll love.
Now that you’ve learned about the answer to the question, “What do construction project managers do?” why not take your management knowledge to the next level? Ramfeld covers everything from property management to lease management to asset optimization and more. Outsource your property management today with convenient help from Ramfeld.
We offer a centralized method of both learning and approaching real estate investments, whether you’re just starting off or a veteran. If you want to learn more about how Ramfeld works, or want to schedule a meeting with one of our team members, contact us online or call us at our number, 514-745-6106. Discover how we can help.