If you’re thinking about starting a residential construction project, you may have heard the term “construction management” thrown around. Construction management is an invaluable service that helps ensure your home renovation or building project goes smoothly and according to plan. It can be extremely helpful for budgets, deadlines, communication with stakeholders, contractors, and more!
Royaltakeoffs discuss some of the benefits of hiring a construction manager as well as answers all your questions about how they handle everything from concept and design through completion.
Keep reading to learn more!
Best Practices in Residential Construction Management:
The principles of best practices in residential construction management are essential for achieving a successful project. There are several key components that can help ensure the highest levels of quality and service are met. These include:
1. Establishing Clear Objectives:
It is important to set specific goals for every aspect of the project, including timelines, budget restrictions, safety requirements, and desired outcomes. This helps to ensure that everyone involved understands their role in the process and can work together effectively.
2. Resource Management:
Effective resource management is critical for managing costs and ensuring deadlines are met without sacrificing quality or service standards. Establishing an efficient system of tracking materials, labor hours, subcontractors’ fees and other resources allows for better planning and forecasting.
3. Build the Right Team:
It is essential to build the right team when managing a residential construction project. Finding and retaining skilled construction professionals, such as architects, engineers, and contractors, can be challenging but it is necessary for the successful completion of any residential construction job.
4. Documentation:
Keeping accurate records of all activities related to the project helps to avoid confusion and delays down the line. Documents such as contracts, schedules, change orders and final reports should be thoroughly documented to provide an audit trail for future reference.
What Does a Residential Construction Manager Do?
A residential construction manager is in charge of overseeing, coordinating, and supervising the construction of residential structures such as houses and apartments. Construction job standards and qualifications may differ depending on your firm and where you are in the home-building process.
A residential construction manager will oversee home development from the planning stage to the finished house, which could take anywhere from six months to a year. A construction manager will also create and negotiate the project’s cost estimates and budgets, directing how certain reasonable decisions should be made and ensuring that the project does not go over budget.
It will also be the residential construction manager’s responsibility to schedule all design and construction processes according to the timeframe, as well as track progress throughout the project to ensure that deadlines are met and to oversee quality control of each project process.
Residential Construction Project Management Phases:
The residential construction project management process involves a series of phases, each containing specific activities and tasks that need to be completed for the project to progress.
1. Conception: Design and Planning Phase:
During the conception and design phase of a residential construction project, a plan is created that outlines the requirements and expectations for the completed project. This involves gathering information from stakeholders such as the homeowner or developer, researching current building codes and regulations, and engaging contractors and other professionals to ensure all necessary permits are obtained prior to starting construction.
2. Pre-construction:
The pre-construction phase of residential construction management focuses on assembling an experienced team of professionals to carry out the work according to the plan including architects, engineers, general contractors, and subcontractors. During this stage all contracts are finalized, budgets confirmed, materials sourced, schedules set up, and any unresolved issues addressed.
3. Procurement:
Procurement in residential construction management is focused on ensuring that all materials needed to complete the project have been purchased and are ready for delivery when needed. This includes ordering long lead items such as windows, doors, and appliances as well as scheduling deliveries of short lead items such as lumber, drywall, and fixtures. Procurement also involves managing the flow of materials to ensure their timely arrival on-site, which is essential for meeting construction deadlines.
4. Construction:
The next phase is Construction Execution. This phase focuses on carrying out building activities such as excavation work, framing walls, installing electrical systems, doing plumbing work, and other related tasks. At this point in time, it is important to maintain good communication between the contractor and client so that any issues or delays can be addressed quickly.
5. Close-out and post-construction:
The close-out and post-construction phase of residential construction project management is the final step in successfully completing a project. This stage involves making sure that all requirements for completion are met, all documents and paperwork have been properly prepared, and all necessary inspections have been conducted. During this phase, any outstanding items should be addressed and resolved before the project is officially considered complete.
Following these steps during each phase of a residential construction project management process, it will help ensure the successful completion of the project while also making sure that all safety regulations are met and quality standards are maintained.
Conclusion:
Residential construction management is an incredibly important but often overlooked field that requires highly specialized skills and knowledge to be successful. The more comprehensive the understanding of how homes are built, the better a construction manager will be able to ensure that all parties involved in the project have a good experience and exemplary results in the end.
Knowing what needs to happen on a construction site and taking the initiative to coordinate and direct their crew’s work makes all the difference in delivering satisfactory results. Ultimately, residential construction managers provide oversight and organization at every stage to truly move projects forward.
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