Employing contractors Project manager

A project manager will run the project from start to finish and ensure that a good quality build is created within budget and on time. They provide a link between you (the client) and the contractors and tradespeople involved in the project.

A project manager will either order the materials necessary for your build or work with the tradespeople to ensure the right material is there at the right time and on the right day – and is of the right quality at the right price.

Project managers work from start to finish

A project manager should also deal with legal contracts and ensure that health and safety regulations are adhered to on-site.

Major projects

It is worth considering a project manager if you have a large project, such as a loft conversion or two-storey extension, and you are working full time with little experience of running this type of work. Sometimes this role is taken on by an architect or a builder with experience of project management.

Some companies, such as large builders or specialist companies for loft extensions, automatically allocate a project manager to the work to ensure that it runs smoothly and that any problems are dealt with swiftly and in line with your requests.

Project managers may also do the preliminary work for you and then let you manage the project once it’s up and running. For example, they may look over your plans, check these against costs and your budget and set up the contracts for you with the tradesmen you choose. On top of this they may provide you with a critical path and project management document for your build, then you can manage it yourself.

There is not one particular set of qualifications for project managers. It is their experience, knowledge of materials and network of tradesmen that you are effectively buying into. 

You should ask to see what type of qualifications any potential project managers have and what jobs they have worked on. It is likely that they started in the construction and housing industry and therefore should have qualifications such as an HNC in building studies, together with a health and safety qualification, such as understanding site safety and scaffolding.

Choosing a project manager

Good project managers are usually in high demand but, as they don’t need any particular qualifications, the job can attract people that aren’t so good. There is also no real consumer-facing organisation that they belong to, but you could contact www.apm.org.uk, the Association of Project Managers.

You can search online for a project manager – especially ones that look after self-build projects, as they also take care of domestic extensions. Look, too, in Yellow Pages under ‘builders’ and also contact the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors www.rics.org.uk as some surveyors have project management skills.