The ultimate guide to construction project management in 2023

The construction industry is fast-paced and high-pressure. Market predictions estimate continued completion delays, increased costs and reduced profit margins. 

Whether you’re a project manager, contractor or construction professional, improving your project management skills can ensure jobs are completed more efficiently – with fewer issues along the way.  

In this blog, learn what it takes to manage construction projects effectively in today’s market. By understanding each step of the process, you can adapt tips and best practices to help deliver on even the most complicated construction projects.

What is construction project management?

Construction project management is the process of defining, organizing and carrying out all stages of a construction project. The three main stages of construction are pre-construction, physical construction and post-construction.

What does it take to manage a construction project effectively in 2023?

Managing a construction project takes a mix of the right resources brought in at the right time to maximize return. Three must-haves to include in this mix are project plans, people and tools. 

The right plan for your project’s needs

A successful project starts with a clear and detailed project plan to work from. This plan outlines every step needed to be successful throughout a project, beginning with project ideation and planning, and ending with execution and closeout. 

A detailed project plan should include: 

• Designs, floorplans, permits and other documentation
• An estimated construction budget
• An estimated construction timeline and schedule
• Communication and coordination efforts with contractors and subcontractors
• Procurement orders and inventory management lists
• Action plans for work to complete at each construction phase

The right people in place

Identifying the right people involved in a project is essential in every construction build. It ensures you have the right knowledge, skills and authority needed to complete work or make decisions based on what the project plan calls for. Apart from skilled project managers, here are some examples of different stakeholders to involve throughout project management: 

• Internal teams, including main contractors, estimators, construction workers or other independent contractors.These are people employed directly by the construction company to complete work on a project. 
• Internal authority, including business owners, developers or management teams. These are people within the construction company who have direct relationships with the client and the ability to make larger-scale decisions about budget, procurement, prioritization and changes to scope of work. 
• External teams, including subcontractors (plumbers, electricians, carpenters), suppliers and other group purchasing organization teams. These are individuals who are hired to help a specific task or phase of a construction project, but aren’t directly employed by your company.
• External authority, including clients, inspectors, and permitors. These are individuals who have influence over the decision making and direction of a project management plan.

The right tools for the job

Supply chain delays can lead to construction delays. A part of project management is ensuring you have the right tools at the right time to complete construction needs on time. 

Tools can range from the supplies used to structurally build a home, like lumber, to the equipment needed, like excavators or lifts. Also included in this category are other physical resources: appliances, finishings and other construction materials. 

It’s important to remember the technical tools used in project management, too. This includes best practices for communication, the way you’re reporting progress, and the systems you use to measure profitability and financial health per job. 

The phases of construction project management

Although there are three primary steps to construction, project management can be broken down even further. Here’s what a successful project manager is responsible for at each phase. 

What does a project manager do during the pre-construction phase?

1. Project initiation. After a project is approved, the project manager works to define project scope. 
2. Project setup. Using the project scope as a guide, the project manager develops the project plan and begins to set it up in a project management tool. This step formalizes the scope, sets the timeline and identifies to-do items for different people. 
3. Project kickoff. As a final step of pre-construction, project managers kick off the project. This step involves all stakeholders and heavily relies on a strong communication process to ensure everyone is starting work with the same understanding of the project’s needs, goals and target dates.

What does a project manager do during the construction phase?

1. Project planning. As construction begins, details and logistics need to be fine-tuned on an ongoing basis. For example, the overarching project plan may set a date range to source and receive supplies. During the construction phase, the needs of each order are matched with each supplier and plans are made for the timeline of purchasing, storage and delivery to the job site. 
2. Project execution. Everything agreed on between the builder and the home buyer must be completed during the construction phase. A project manager oversees this setup, including managing and scheduling subcontractors and workers, and overseeing work in progress. 
3. Project monitoring. As construction continues, it’s also a project manager’s job to review work being done, make adjustments to the plan’s timeline and manage any scope changes as they happen. A primary part of this step is communicating everything they learn to the people who need to know. 

What does a project manager do during the post-construction phase?

1. Project closeout. As construction finishes, a project manager is responsible for managing punch lists, moving equipment and supplies, and securing payment or receipt of outstanding bills and invoices.
2. Project evaluation. A project manager is also in charge of getting the right people to evaluate and inspect the property. Once quality and occupancy certificates are given, it’s the manager’s responsibility to transfer all necessary paperwork – warranties, for example – to the home buyer. 
3. Project reporting. The last phase of the process is a comprehensive project review. Using data collected in a project management software, a project manager evaluates the entire project based on client satisfaction, supplier relationships, estimated-to-actual budgets and overall profitability. 

The best tools for construction project management

A project manager is responsible for all logistics and deliverables of a project. There are several tools they can use to help gain visibility into the progress of a project. 

Project planning tools

Project planning tools help reduce the manual work required for every task related to the pre-construction phase. 

A software solution should combine project bids, estimating, budgeting and measurement tools. Communication portals for customers and subcontracts should also be included, so documentation and project documents can be easily stored and shared.

Daily logs

Daily logs provide insight into the daily progress of construction work. 

It provides a logged journal entry of all work that’s been done, including notes and photo storage. With the click of a button, these notes are sharable with internal and external stakeholders, so everyone stays on the same page. 

Work in Progress

Similar to daily logs, work in progress reports provide insight to the progress of a project. The main difference is the scope of reporting. 

Where daily logs provide down-to-the-detail information on daily activities, work in progress reports show how much work has been completed for the project as a whole. It includes contract costs, profitability and billing details, as well as a job’s completion percentage. 

Change orders

Change orders can be initiated by the home buyer, by the contractor and even inspectors and code-enforcers. The process involves going back to the original project plan and budget and making adjustments, which can have ripple effects throughout the rest of the project. 

Change order management is made easier with tools that can communicate, document and integrate with daily task lists, supplier pipelines and financial management data. 

Scheduling tools

Scheduling tools are the backbone of a project manager’s toolkit. 

A big part of a valuable scheduling tool is the ability to create and reuse scheduling templates for construction projects. This cuts down on the time and manual work otherwise required to set up every step of a construction schedule. You can also create dependencies with each step, identifying tasks that are stalling construction and ensuring all preceding tasks are completed before the next action can be taken. 

An example of this might be a necessary electrical inspection. If the inspection task is marked with a dependency on the schedule, it ensures that insulation and drywall can’t start work until that inspection is over, reducing rework. 

Mobile tools

The reality of a construction project is there is always work happening in several locations. Team members manage cash flow and orders from the back office. Crews are working on the physical construction at a job site. Project managers are floating between the two, making stops along the way at supplier and vendor locations. 

Everyone can’t be everywhere at once. 

Mobile building apps ensure people stay connected no matter where they are working from.

• Construction crews can clock in and out with mobile time clock features
• Supervisors can monitor locations using mobile maps
• Project managers can access reports and send further instructions
• Home buyers can stay informed using mobile client portals

Tips and best practices for construction management

Managing construction projects can be challenging. Here are some tips and best practices to keep your management methods free of error. 

1. Take the time to be accurate

Mistakes made during the pre-construction phase are one of the biggest causes of change orders. Errors in design, estimating and supply orders can mean costly fixes during actual construction. 

Take your time to ensure accuracy in these steps, even when working under tight deadlines. When scheduling the entire project, aim for a realistic timeline, factoring in any other projects that your construction company may be responsible for at the same time. 

2. Communicate effectively with your team

When managing so many relationships during a construction timeline, it’s impossible to over communicate. 

Communication helps reduce confusion and establishes a record of decisions made. It helps builders manage from afar, stay on top of progress and pivot directions fast when action is needed. 

3. Keep your clients in the loop

Just as with your team, you can never over communicate with a client. 

Establish regular checkpoints with your client to proactively manage requests and concerns before they become costly issues. Monitor client satisfaction throughout the process to reduce closeout delay during post-construction. 

Between regular check ins, make sure you’re making information available to home buyers through a customer portal. This way, they can access information on their own whenever they need it and you can stay focused on project tasks. 

4. Compare estimates to actuals 

The last thing you want is to finish a project and then discover your project went way over budget. 

It’s rare that a project will ever finish as a 100% match against an estimated budget. Still, with frequent comparisons, you can monitor which cost codes are running over – or under – and either make adjustments or secure change orders to get the ledgers back in the black. 

5. Report often 

By completing periodic reports throughout a project’s build, project managers can reduce the risk of project delays during post-construction activities. 

Reporting frequently, even if only reviewing those reports yourself, can also provide clear information on where a project is in relation to completion, what steps are holding up the process and how you might be able to fix them. 

6. Stay organized

There’s no shortage of responsibilities on a project manager’s plate. Having a set process for organization ensures ad hoc requests and off-the-cuff information are accounted for. 

Once you have an organizational system in place, stick to it. If you regard your plan, timeline, communication methods and budget as your source of truth, others will, too. From there, you’ll be able to complete bigger and more complex builds, knowing the project management system you’ve established is reliable and trustworthy.  

How Buildertrend’s construction project management software helps you manage your projects better

Have you been wondering if it’s time to upgrade your project management processes?

Buildertrend’s project management software is built specifically to support the work of successful construction managers, providing what they need, when they need it. Features include comprehensive daily logs, change orders, scheduling, reporting and communication portals to simplify even the most complicated of construction projects.   

Ready to put your project management processes on the path to easier builds and profitable projects? Schedule a demo now. 

Construction project management FAQs

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