What Is Construction Management?

New materials, new machinery, new technologies—the good news is, the construction industry is gaining new capabilities that underpin more innovative, more unique, and more sustainable buildings. However, that means these companies face more choices, and more elements to track.

That’s where the specialty of construction management comes in. With this overview of benefits, tools, and future possibilities, as well as needed skills and responsibilities, companies can get a handle on the role of construction manager and optimize their processes to take advantage of these professionals’ skill sets.

What Is Construction Management?

Construction management is the practice of guiding a building project from start to finish. Construction management professionals are contracted to oversee everything from small-scale home additions to major campuses. It’s a unique discipline that includes elements of project management, business management, civil engineering, architecture, and construction accounting.

Successful construction management requires a blend of business and technical skills, including a grasp of supply chain logistics and vendor relationship management as well as the technical aspects of construction, such as material selection and the latest automation technologies. In addition, the construction management process can involve a range of regulatory, compliance, accounting, and permit issues touching on everything from city licenses and approvals to environmental regulation to challenging work conditions.

Key Takeaways

• Construction management is the discipline of managing the schedule, vendors, budget, deliverables, and regulatory needs of a construction project.
• A construction manager is a person hired to oversee this process. They’re important for any project, but particularly for complex and/or multisite projects.
• Strong construction management allows projects to deal with issues and delays with minimal impact to schedule or budget.
• Technology and automation can optimize the construction management process.

Construction Management Explained

Construction managers are involved in nearly all aspects of building, including design, bidding, contact management, and construction execution. Day-to-day tasks vary depending on the stage of the project as well as the scope; if a firm has multiple sites running in parallel, a day might involve discussions with municipalities on zoning, vendor contract reviews, resolving issues with material logistics, checks of on-site status, and a budgeting meeting.

A typical list of expected responsibilities for a construction manager include:

• Contract management: A construction project will have many different vendors and contractors requiring payment and deliverable tracking. Keeping a tab on commitments, expirations, and fulfillment obligations is a key part of a construction manager’s job. The many moving parts and shifting dynamics of this process make technology resources and training a must have.
• Cost management: Construction managers review and forecast the costs involved in a project, adjusting as focus shifts from design and planning to practical on-site work.
• Project management: Construction managers must understand the phases and requirements of the industry, from vendor selection to deliverable spans to anticipated seasonal weather. All of these can impact schedules, and strong construction managers can mitigate impacts by adapting and negotiating as needed.
• Regulatory management: Construction projects touch on many regulatory and governmental areas. Zoning, permits, hazardous waste, environmental impact, and infrastructure impact are just some of the factors that require interfacing with different authorizing and regulatory agencies. The construction manager oversees this to get applications and authorizations in place without causing schedule impacts
• Safety management: While there may be specialists involved, overall safety protocols and environmental hazards are overseen by a construction manager, who checks that the latest safety and environmental information is being passed to stakeholders and works to ensure implementation.

Why Is Construction Management Important?

Construction management is important because even a small building project can have hundreds of variables, from infrastructure needs to prefabricated parts to zoning and code compliance. Construction workflows are a combination of serial and parallel items, meaning that if one element hits a roadblock, the impact could be felt in multiple directions: delays, cost overruns, safety hazards, and other risks. In extreme cases, one breakdown might even lead to project failure.

Construction managers oversee projects from start to finish, including schedules, materials, designs, local government interactions, regulatory compliance, and budgets. By having a single point of contact managing all these elements, the project can rely on an overseer trained to spot issues before they happen. If circumstances do take a turn for the worse, experienced construction managers are trained to find ways to adapt and minimize the impact.

Benefits of Construction Management Software

Construction management is a complicated process, with many sub-tasks and overlapping details. Because of that complexity, tracking tasks is a challenge, as is consolidating information. Using spreadsheets can be inefficient in smaller projects and completely untenable for larger developments with multiple sites. Construction management software integrates data, automates workflows, and enables collaboration to help managers get their arms around a project scope.

The following are some of the common benefits of construction management software:

• Optimized project scheduling across multiple sites: Larger-scale projects of scale might involve multiple sites, each with different scopes and functions. Because of that, everything from materials to regulatory/zoning compliance can sit at completely different stages, each with unique stakeholders and variables. Construction management software provides a unified view to optimize scheduling in this dynamic environment.
• Accurate budgeting and cost forecasting: Construction management software can track and collate the many costs involved with a project for an accurate, unified accounting of current budgets and cash flow. Because software ties into scheduling, sourcing, and milestones, it also creates accurate cost forecasting with both macro and micro views.
• Centralized control over large-scale operations: As projects get larger in scale and complexity, the risks of disjointed operations include delays, customer dissatisfaction, and waste. Construction management software centralizes control, allowing for a broad, comprehensive view while tracking specific and individual tasks.
• Improved subcontractor and vendor coordination: From billing to scheduling to regulatory compliance, subcontractor and vendor management simplifies with construction management software. These elements fold into a single repository of information for construction payments, status, and contacts that reduce individual spreadsheets and ensure updated views.
• Real-time progress tracking and reporting: The latest construction management software can connect across devices, networks, and vendors to provide an end-to-end scope of schedule logistics, all updated in real-time or near-real-time thanks to technology including automated sensors and mobile field apps. As progress updates, systems can also produce reports to provide status and flag issues.
• Standardized quality and safety protocols: Unifying data across construction projects—particularly those that are complex or have multiple sites—allows teams to standardize quality and safety protocols. Single-source documentation, real-time updates and logistics, and regulatory tracking all inform a consolidated view to bring consistency to the project.
• Efficient resource and labor management: Construction management software can optimize resource use, including cost tracking, onboarding stages, and allocation. From at-a-glance views to larger impacts on project costing, teams can better sort data while increasing accuracy when tracking resources and labor.
• Fewer delays and minimized downtime: A comprehensive and connected view of schedules and logistics ensures reduced delays and downtime. Real-time updates, automated notifications, and field apps enable faster, more informed decisions when issues arise.
• Better risk mitigation on complex projects: By unifying schedules, budgets, resources, and logistics, construction managers gain a more thorough view of their projects. This allows for proactive risk mitigation based on comprehensive perspectives and data-driven insights across all stages of the project.
• Stronger client relationships: Construction managers can use software to provide transparent, accurate, and updated information to stakeholders and clients. This commitment to visibility and reliability strengthens relationships.

Automation and Technology in Construction

The construction industry continues to evolve as technology, particularly automation, pushes the boundaries of what’s possible. Suppliers can use automation to create materials with precision and at volume; on site, automation can perform repetitive tasks at a greater speed and with fewer errors.

The following are some of the most common uses of automation in construction:

• Office operations: Operations software can employ automation for tasks like inventory tracking, invoicing, contract analysis, and shipping logistics.
• Pre-site fabrication: High-efficiency production lines of smaller parts as well as high-volume production of larger components, such as drywall sheets, allows for faster fulfillment of on-site demands. The latest automation techniques can come with design customization as well as 3D printing capabilities.
• On-site processes: Construction teams can bring automation technology on site to accelerate a number of tasks while also increasing accuracy and reducing resource drain. Examples of established on-site automation include automated concrete mixers and sensor-driven environmental monitoring. Cutting-edge on-site automation use cases include self-driving compactors and welding robots.

The Future of Construction Management

Construction management isn’t a static practice. Stakeholders in the process are continually developing new technologies and capabilities, from data to materials to logistics. The following are just some of the emerging trends construction managers can take advantage of:

• AI and machine learning: Many construction management tools already incorporate AI and automation for analytics, notifications, and report generation. This can expand with dedicated AI systems that optimize data entry and analysis, visualize design possibilities, and examine regulatory needs.
• Data and analytics: Deeper and more timely insights can improve nearly every aspect of the construction process, from supply chain efficiency to environmental and meteorological considerations to selecting the best vendors for a given job.
• Prefabricated buildings: Efficient, high-quality prefabricated buildings have become possible with the latest 3D printing technology. As these capabilities advance, so will design and customization options.
• Smart materials: Similar to the evolution of green materials, smart materials such as self-healing concrete provide increased flexibility and adaptability for a range of circumstances.
• Sustainability: While the construction industry has already started to push towards green building, innovations in materials and processes are taking these possibilities even further.

Improve Efficiency, Costs, and Profitability With NetSuite

To prepare for the present and future demands of a rapidly changing construction industry, NetSuite’s cloud-based construction ERP platform helps construction managers accelerate processes, connect data, optimize budgets, and provide visibility across the entire management spectrum. With a built-in suite of digital tools, NetSuite gives construction managers new ways to communicate, collaborate, analyze, and make decisions for smoother and more cost-efficient operations.

As a discipline, the principles of construction management have remained the same for years. However, just as technology has expanded the capabilities of designers and builders, it has also transformed the discipline of construction management. By integrating the latest ERP technology for the industry, construction managers can unlock new ways to track processes, adapt to problems, and optimize both budgets and schedules.

Construction Management FAQs

What does construction management do?

Construction management is a process that oversees the end-to-end workflow of a construction project. The responsibilities of a construction manager often span from the design and bid phase all the way to on-site construction to final permit closeout and occupancy. In between, a construction manager may assess budgets, build vendor relationships, and coordinate with on-site teams to mitigate potential delays and cost overruns.

What background is needed for construction management?

Construction managers are often trained on a variety of disciplines to gain the specific experience required for the role. These include project management, civil engineering, material science, construction accounting, and architecture. Many institutions offer degrees or certifications in construction management as part of civil engineering programs given the discipline’s unique place between engineering design, business operations, and project management.

Is construction management more than just budgeting?

Yes, construction management involves more than budget management and forecasting. While budgets are certainly a key element to construction management, the discipline takes a broader end-to-end view that incorporates other factors such as schedules, contracts, vendor selection, and licensing/compliance.

How can technology help construction management?

Specialized software can help construction managers by tracking, automating, and optimizing steps in the process. For example, software can provide tracking for shipping logistics and contract status so managers are never caught off-guard when issues arise. Similarly, construction projects can utilize automation in a number of ways, such as inventory status updates and real-time data from environmental sensors.