What Is Construction Management?

Construction management involves planning, budgeting, coordinating, and supervising construction projects from start to finish. As a construction manager, you may work on various projects, including buildings, roads, bridges, and other structures.

Construction management can be rewarding if you enjoy design, seeing a project grow from beginning to end, and the prospect of partnering with builders, designers, and clients throughout the construction lifecycle process.

Discover more about the role of a construction manager and how to start in this industry. 

What does a construction manager do?

As a construction manager, you may review project proposals to estimate timelines and milestones, cash flow requirements, project protocols, resourcing needs, and requirements for human resources, equipment, and resources at different stages of the project. You will work closely with clients, architects, subcontractors, and engineers to ensure every project aspect runs smoothly. You may oversee a single construction project or several at once. 

Core responsibilities you'll have as a construction manager include:

• Cost management: Maintain awareness of all costs associated with a project, manage budgets, and anticipate any changes to project scope that could impact cost 

• Contract administration: Create contracts for subcontractors and suppliers; manage payments to contractors.

• Health and safety management: Ensure onsite workers follow health and safety regulations, prepare health and safety documentation, and implement suitable protocols for ongoing practices and regular monitoring.

• Quality management: Deliver projects that meet clients' specifications, ensure all work complies with quality standards, facilitate regular checks throughout the project lifecycle, use a total quality management approach (TQM) to help reduce costs in remedial work, minimise delays, and maintain relationships with clients, contractors, and staff.

Construction manager key skills

Carrying out a construction project involves a lot of planning, organisation, and problem-solving. It requires a robust set of both workplace and technical skills. Skills you need to master as a construction manager include the following.

Analytical and critical thinking skills

As a construction manager, you'll need to interpret designs, plans, and technical drawings, understand complex contracts, and interpret building codes and regulations. You'll then translate all this information into easy-to-follow instructions for your on-site workers.

Motivational skills

In a construction manager role, you'll ensure your team meets deadlines, stays within budget, and produces quality work. You'll need to motivate team members with guidance, feedback, and recognition and resolve conflicts to keep the team focused on its goals. You may have less positional power when engaging with subcontractors than when working with employees because they may be self-employed or work for another company. Being fair and consistent is vital to earn their respect and loyalty.

Attention to detail

As a construction manager, you'll ensure the quality of work on site meets local building codes and regulations and client expectations. This requires attention to detail throughout the entire process, including managing mistakes and minimising their impacts.

Communication skills

In construction management, you will interact with a range of people, including the public, clients, and tradespeople, so you'll need good interpersonal skills, both orally and in writing. You might need to communicate changes to a team of tradespeople in the morning, run through plans with an architect over lunch, and meet with planning officers in the afternoon to sign off on building work. This requires a confident and well-rounded communication skill set.

Contract management skills

As a construction manager, you may need to negotiate contracts, manage budgets, and ensure the satisfaction of all parties involved in a building project. Doing so requires persuasion, compromise, and the creation of mutually beneficial, binding agreements.  

Health and safety knowledge

In the construction manager role, you must be knowledgeable about worksite health and safety issues and understand relevant legislation and regulations. This is vital because of the risks associated with construction work. You also need to know best practices to minimise risks to all project stakeholders. 

Project management skills

Managing building projects requires coordinating a range of activities involving different people and completing milestones on time and within budget. Understanding and experience with project management methodologies can be crucial in complex projects.

Reasons to become a construction manager

As a broad industry, construction management offers a wide range of career options. A few reasons you may decide to become a construction manager include:

1. Job growth

According to a report from the Construction Skills Network, the UK construction industry will need to hire 50,300 workers every year through 2028 to match expected work levels. This figure exceeds the prior year's by 5,300 workers [1].

2. Global opportunities

Thousands of construction projects are in progress around the world at any given time. These projects require construction management professionals for successful completion, so you’ll find plenty of options if you like to work in different parts of the world.

3. Financial reward

According to Talent, you can expect to make an average of £50,000 per year as a construction manager in the UK [2]. Whilst salary may vary depending on your experience level, location, and other factors, this job has good earning potential.

4. Interest in managing complex projects

In construction management, you'll have a lot of responsibilities, including:

• Managing crews and subcontractors

• Maintaining schedules

• Ensuring projects meet quality standards

• Providing detailed estimates

• Overseeing compliance with building codes, zoning laws, and health regulations

Because each day offers something different, construction management proves rewarding for many people. 

5. Start-to-finish progress

As a construction manager, you'll see projects progress from the initial concept to built reality, which can be satisfying. You’ll be involved in all aspects of the project and learn about all areas and stages of construction.

Types of projects construction managers work on

Construction managers oversee and direct various construction projects, including building roads and highways, bridges, hospitals, schools, factories, power plants, and residential housing. As a construction manager, you might work for the government, large corporations, private landowners, or property owners. Your career can take you into different types of construction projects.

Civil construction projects

Civil construction is one of the industry's oldest branches. This type of work involves building infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

Industrial construction projects

Industrial construction involves building factories, warehouses, industrial facilities, and power plants. In this field, construction managers may need to understand complex engineering principles related to electricity generation and manufacturing processes.

Residential construction projects

Residential construction involves building homes and other buildings where people live. Familiarity with a variety of architectural styles and techniques for building different types of foundations and structures offers benefits in this field.

Agricultural construction projects

Agricultural construction includes barns, silos, and other structures related to farming operations. Familiarity with agricultural techniques might help you build facilities compatible with current farming practices and those that support future growth.

Institutional construction projects

As a construction manager, you might work on institutional construction projects, such as schools, universities, hospitals, and community centres. Due to their complexity, institutional projects often involve multiple contractors working together toward completion.

Typical construction manager job titles

Construction management jobs and titles vary depending on the company hiring for the position. The following offers some job titles related to construction management you may see during job searches, along with their average total pay [2]:

• Construction manager: £50,000 

• Project manager: £47,500

• Site manager: £47,706

• Senior site manager: £60,000

• Contractor: £50,000

• Developer: £49,917

How to become a construction manager

To become a construction manager, you can get a university degree or complete a degree apprenticeship. Explore the steps for each choice.

University degree

To gain the qualifications needed to become a construction manager, you'll likely need a foundation degree, a higher national diploma, or a degree. Subjects you might study include:

• Building engineering

• Building studies

• Civil engineering

• Construction engineering

• Construction site management

• Estimating

• Surveying

Entry requirements for a foundation degree or higher national diploma typically include 1 to 2 A levels or the equivalent. Entry requirements for a degree usually require 2 to 3 A levels or the equivalent. 

When choosing a programme, look for those accredited by the Chartered Institute of Building for the highest standards and educational quality available. 

Degree apprenticeship

A degree apprenticeship involves both university study and workplace learning. You can complete a construction degree apprenticeship in one of two subjects:

• Construction site management

• Design and construction management

Entry requirements for a degree apprenticeship typically include 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels or the equivalent.

Explore construction management on Coursera

Becoming a construction manager can be a rewarding journey. You'll learn about different aspects of the construction industry and get the opportunity to select the areas of your job that interest you. 

You can find online construction management courses from top universities and industry leaders on Coursera. For example, you can delve deeper into construction management and what it involves by taking Construction Project Management, the first course in the Construction Management Specialisation offered by Columbia University.