Whether you’re a seasoned builder or embarking on your first project, a solid project management plan is key to a smooth construction project. If you think a comprehensive plan sounds complicated and too time consuming, think again.
A well-crafted plan will streamline your construction project in the long-run-helping you avoid costly delays and disruptions to your project timeline.
In some cases, preparing a proper construction project plan with an initial scope of work will prevent you from taking on projects, which in the end, may lose you money no matter how you alter material options and timelines.
So let’s dive into the essential components of a winning construction project management plan.
What makes a solid construction plan?
A construction plan is a document that outlines the who, what, when and where—detailing everything from project goals and timelines to logistical strategies and safety protocols for your project team.
A construction plan serves as your roadmap for a successful building project by anticipating potential challenges, streamlining communication, and acting as a blueprint to keep you on time, on budget, and on top of the key milestones that build the valuable reputation that opens the door to future projects.
Phases of a construction management plan
Construction management plans aren’t one-size-fits-all. Let’s explore the different types of construction project plans and how they streamline your construction activities.
Details of project management plans
Overall project management plans form the master blueprint for your construction project and serve as the big picture. It provides a central reference point for the entire project team, ensuring alignment on project tasks and subtasks, timelines, costs, risks and responsibilities.
As you no doubt serve as the project manager more often than not, it’s essential you use the overall project plan as roadmap to the different phases of your construction project:
Planning
Clearly outlining the scope of work, goals and objectives is essential for the success of the entire project plan. The overall scope also includes assessing the project’s viability in terms of cost, regulations and any anticipated challenges to your project team. A preliminary budget and design concept are often in this initial planning phase and important to determining whether a project can be delivered on time and within budget.
Design
This phase is essential for finalizing design details between architects and engineers, and it is where detailed blueprints, specifications and drawings are developed. Procuring trades, suppliers and obtaining necessary permits can take significant time and resources; so it’s critical that documents clearly lay out the path forward.
Preconstruction
This is where meticulous planning meets on-the-ground preparation and is a crucial phase of the project transition to finalizing project costs, subs, timelines and contracts, all of which will make the initial vision of your customer a reality.
Construction
This phase is a dynamic period where all the planning, design, and pre-construction planning come to fruition. It’s a dynamic period because, as with any live project, you’ll need to ensure the work meets your quality standards, variations are well managed, and safety risks to your project team are mitigated.
Post-construction
The final phase ensures a smooth handover to the owner. This includes cleaning up and removing construction equipment, running through the punch list, completing inspections, and, if applicable, obtaining occupancy permits based on meeting building and municipal codes.
Who creates construction management plans?
It takes careful collaboration and specialized expertise to create a construction management plan. While the customer provides the vision, project managers and construction managers, oftentimes the construction company owner, are the key architects of construction management plans. They hold in-depth knowledge of construction processes, budgeting, risk management, and industry standards to create a road to success.
Project Managers
A traditional construction project manager is a multitasking whiz, adept at juggling schedules, budgets, and teams to keep the project plan running smoothly while meticulously anticipating potential problems and identifying team members responsible for crafting proactive solutions.
Communication is one of their many superpowers, essential to bridging the gap between architects, engineers, trades and clients. They’re often the on-site orchestrator, ensuring work adheres to plans and safety standards while relentlessly focusing on deadlines and quality control.
Construction Planning Documents
Your construction projects rely on diverse documents to guide them from start to finish. While certain core documents provide a foundation, specific plans can vary depending on the project’s unique needs and complexities. There are, however, core documents that are used regularly and include:
Scope of work: outlines the project goals, deliverables and exclusions. It provides a detailed work account. It serves as an agreement and will include project specifics, including a full project description, contractual documents, insurance, terms, etc.
Project Schedule: A detailed timeline with milestones, task dependencies, construction crews and anticipated completion dates.
Estimate: A comprehensive financial plan starts with a solid takeoff made from final blueprints. You then move to cost estimates for labor, materials, equipment, permits, and contingencies. Here you also will document the markup needed to recover both your direct and indirect costs.
Contracts and Legal Documents: Several contractual and legal documents outline the agreements between trades, regulatory agencies and governing bodies, as well as proof of insurance coverage.
Drawings: architectural and engineering drawings that detail floor plans, elevations, sections, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing.
Can you move forward without a construction management plan?
Would you go on a cross-country road trip without a map or GPS? While you may eventually reach your destination, you could face a few roadblocks, figuratively and literally. A construction management plan serves as your roadmap. It is essential to anticipate challenges, ensure resources are efficient, and keep everyone on the same page. You need it to meet your intended outcome.
Expert advice to ace your construction planning game
Both foundational solid planning and construction management software are vital for project success.
Foundational planning sets the strategic course with well-defined goals, budgets, and communication protocols. This is something most successful builders are well acquainted. The problem is that traditional pen and paper planning takes too long. That’s where cloud based software helps.
The software not only speeds planning with simple tools but transforms those plans into actionable data. It offers easy scheduling and invoice tracking, facilitates seamless customer communication, and enables data-driven decision-making.
This combination empowers you with the strategic roadmap and the real-time tools needed to navigate the complexities of your construction project while keeping administrative tasks from chaining you to your desk.
Roles, responsibilities, and involving the team
Defining roles and responsibilities and actively involving your team in the construction project management plan is crucial for success.
Here, software can help again. Adopting a construction management software system centralizes the planning process and allows for clearly outlining who contributes to each task, fostering accountability and reducing confusion.
By easily reviewing online schedules, team members take ownership of their roles. It leads to better problem-solving, innovation and a shared commitment to the project’s success, ultimately improving efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Improve how you plan construction projects
Construction project management software offers tools to streamline everything from planning to budgeting to customer invoicing. Ready to get started?
Try Buildxact for free with a risk-free trial, or if you want to learn more, download this informative ebook, How Preconstruction Works for You.
