Where is the best place to start when considering how to manage a construction project? With a great plan. Construction planning and management requires strong project management skills and the right tools. Not having these two key elements has resulted in statistics like nine out of every 10 construction projects run out of funds before they’re complete. Make the most of your client’s investment and streamline operations by following this helpful guide for how to create a construction management plan everyone can benefit from.
What is a construction management plan?
A construction management plan details what the project is all about, what is involved in carrying it out, and how the team will accomplish it. It essentially provides an easy-to-follow roadmap for clients, stakeholders, and other vested parties.
What should go into a construction management plan?
The most frequently used elements of a construction management plan include:
Project summary with an overview of what, why, where, and how the construction will be managed
- Goals and objectives from clients and the construction team
- Budgets and contingency plans for unexpected line items
- Timeline with agile project phases, tasks, and subtasks
- A schedule for events such as permitted construction hours, overtime policy, night work, and onsite deliveries
- Team members and their responsibilities
- A communication plan for before, during, and after construction happens
- Project requirements such as permits for street occupancy, blasting, building codes
- Site details including descriptions, maps, photos, and setups
- Construction management principles for logistics and safety, including traffic management, emergency evacuation procedures, fire prevention, waste management, and environmental control
- Cultural heritage, neighborly relations, and any relevant zoning details
Project managers may choose to include more sections depending on the unique makeup of their specific assignment. But for the most part, these major categories will be used.
Pro tip: When creating a project plan, decide what the outcome should look like then work backwards from there.
Who creates construction management plans?
Project managers and construction managers who either work as independent contractors or as part of the construction company’s team will prepare the plans. Their goals and process will be the same no matter what. When considering how to become a construction project manager, it's important to have an interest in both the mechanics of project management and the key knowledge of the construction industry as well.
Who uses construction management plans?
Clients, construction managers, construction crews, and project stakeholders all use construction management plans. Clients use them to communicate goals and align with the rest of the team.
Construction managers (if they didn’t write the plan themselves) contribute their expertise and knowledge of the crew to tasks already laid out. Construction crews update task statuses, monitor progress, and view updates in real time.
And finally, project stakeholders sign off on initial plans while also keeping up with changes along the way.
What to leave out of a construction management plan
Leave out any feedback or ideas from stakeholders that has not yet been finalized. Also, keep contingency plans accessible but separate so as not to confuse team members. Skip the overly strict parameters too — adaptability is critical once the construction project is underway.
How to make a construction management plan with Wrike
- Manage moving pieces with Wrike’s drag-and-drop functionality that automatically brings along subtasks and important details.
- Loop individuals or groups of stakeholders into conversations using @ mentions. They’ll be able to see the entire conversation from beginning to end and have quick access to related documents on the same screen.
- Create a visual timeline with tasks, including assigned personnel and approvals. Plus, add in descriptions, deadlines, and attachments teams will need to complete the action.
- Forecast budgets more accurately by setting up expense monitoring and collecting third party quotes all in one place.
- Store contracts and form templates in one place to save time on paperwork.
- Visually plan out timelines using Gantt charts. Then get feedback from stakeholders before kickoff to make sure timelines are realistic and set to meet project expectations. .
- Categorize project phases as: pre-design, design, procurement, construction, and post-construction.
- Cut down on decision-making time by giving all participants visibility into the platform.
- Create contingency plans right within the platform to quickly adapt as things come up while remaining on schedule.
- Automate workflows to trigger reactions to completed tasks like emails that let owners of the next task know when it’s their turn to act.
Construction project management can involve dozens of people and hundreds of tasks — all of which need to be planned out in order to succeed. Keep your project on time and under budget with Wrike. Test out Wrike and learn how to launch your next successful construction management plan with a two-week free trial.
