Many times I've been thinking how to define, specify and warrant the project manager's role on a construction project, as its significance is often underestimated. It happens often, that people ask us, what do we actually do, what kind of benefits or service in general do they get by hiring us.
In our local area the official regulation / legislation does not determine the official project management role in construction area. The smaller the construction project (not only in shape but also in value) the higher the belief, (inexperienced) investors can handle it by themselves.
What are the consequences like?
Investors start managing the project, first at planning phase the architects are the ones who lead them in taking decisions and building the outline plan. They are the first who help them notice, there are lots of decisions to be made, lots of questions to be answered and many aspects to be taken into account. Often the roles of an architect and a project manger are considered as the same, although we are talking about two separate services, which are, of course, strongly interconnected. The main purpose is to fulfill all the functional conditions for which the project has started. The second activity includes building a financial plan, defining costs correctly and limiting them, defining critical stages and managing them later on. Beside functional and economic component one should not forget to strive for quality of the final product, which also contributes to determining its fundamental value on the market. Yes, the investors in general are certain, they are able to do it alone. Yet no one realizes at the very beginning the complexity of such a project. When they do, when the wheels of this process start moving to fast, errors are made, costs are growing and the panic sensation increases.
Project manager is the one, who's there to represent investor's interests, who puts them questions, who has the advisory role in making the final decisions. He is the right hand to help investors walk along the way, they are not familiar with. As inexperienced hikers need local guide when entering high mountain range full of traps and dangers to lead them to the very top, so does an investor need a project manager to lead the huge group of people (architects, various contractors, local officials and other project participants) in order to work as a team.
What can we promise?
Due diligence all the way through the project. The complete scope of works on the project, the complex structure of costs (mostly inexperienced investors are not familiar with the precise structure of costs on such a project, hence some of the cost groups, not to be disregarded at all, are forgotten). The complete detailed financial analysis, which should be made before the first contract is signed.
Project management is a complex and interdisciplinary activity, which is an inevitable part of every construction project in modern society. The results are obvious, when the project is finished.
