How to Become a Construction Manager
This article provides in-depth information into What is a Construction Manager? What Construction Manager do? Degrees for Construction Manager, Steps to become Construction Manager and much more.
Construction managers oversee construction projects from the beginning of development to the finished product. In addition to hiring and supervising workers, construction managers must estimate project costs, determine schedules, report progress, and ensure that safety codes are met.
What does a Construction Manager do ?
Construction managers coordinate and supervise a wide variety of projects, including the building of all types of residential, commercial, and industrial structures, roads, bridges, power plants, schools, and hospitals.
-
Release and use of funds throughout the project.
-
Project scheduling.
-
Control of the scope of work.
-
Optimum use of other firms' talents and resources.
-
Avoiding delays, changes, disputes, and cost overruns.
-
Optimum flexibility in contracting and procurement.
-
Assuring the project is built to specifications.
-
Explain technical information to other professionals.
-
Update clients on work progress and budget matters.
-
Collaborate with construction specialists, engineers, and architects.
Steps for becoming a Construction Manager
1
Get A Bachelor’s Degree
Experience is the most important factor in the construction industry but employers prefer a candidate who holds at least a bachelor’s degree in a related field like construction management, building science or civil engineering.
2
Get An Internship
An internship not only provides experience in the field, but it also may help with landing employment after graduation. Internships may offer insight into both the labor and managerial aspects of the industry.
3
Gain Experience
To become a certified construction manager you need to have prior construction experience. Students work as management assistants after bachelor’s degree to gain work experience. Such work experience provides first-hand knowledge of construction site operations. Construction management firms may provide training to prospective managers to prepare them for advancement opportunities.
4
Get Certified
To get certified as Certified Construction Manager (CCM) students’ needs to have a bachelor’s degree in related field with particular work experience requirements, including four years of construction management experience. After that, he can appear in the test conducted by the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA).
5
Pursue Master’s Degree
Construction managers looking to further advance in their careers may want to pursue a master's degree program in construction management. Graduate-level studies in the field emphasize practical applications of key management principles. Courses include construction materials and methods, labor relations, safety, public policy, and construction management practices.
Construction Manager Degree Levels
Associate
A 2-year college degree, Associate in Science (AS) in Construction Management is offered by many community colleges. The degree provides instruction in management skills, construction industry-specific technical and occupational subjects, such as construction planning, design, and OSHA 30 safety.
Structural Design
-
Beams
-
Tension Members
-
Compression Members
Objectives
-
Ensure safety
-
Ensure stability
-
Understand Concrete Structure
Construction Planning & Scheduling
-
Creating the Logic Diagram
-
Determining Activity Durations
-
Money and Network Scheduling
Objectives
-
Network schedules
-
Construction projects
-
Planning of each activity
Sustainable Construction Practices
-
Sustainable Construction Methods
-
Sustainability and the Building Industry
-
Using Renewable Energy Sources
Objectives
-
Proper planning
-
Environmental effects
-
Sustainable Design
Bachelors
Bachelor in Construction Management program equips students with refined skills in written and verbal communication, technical construction fundamentals, mathematics, business, and law to prepare them for their future careers as construction leaders.
Design and construction technologies
-
Statics of Architectural Structures
-
Building Systems
-
Materials: New and Old
Objectives
-
Understand contemporary building technology
-
Rich historical and cultural
-
Evolution of technique
Quality assurance
-
Construction Equipment
-
Statistical Methods
-
Modern Construction Materials
Objectives
-
To ensure building meets specifications
-
To find out all the faults
-
To check every detail
Construction project management
-
Project Planning
-
The Estimating Process
-
Performance and Payment Bonds
Objectives
-
Planning of each activity
-
Procurement of materials
-
Financial Planning
Masters
For complex construction projects, employers demand specialized management-level personnel. A Master’s degree in Construction Management program places particular emphasis on developing skills as a business manager prepared for the construction trade’s current and future challenges.
Operating & Managing a Construction Organization
-
Applications of Statistical Methods
-
Construction Technology
-
Retrofitting of Structures
Objectives
-
To understand the business process
-
Know about Construction Methods
-
Planning for Construction Equipment
Negotiation & Dispute Resolution
-
Shapes & Geometry of Negotiation
-
Tools for dispute resolution
-
The Protean Negotiator
Objectives
-
Understanding conflicts
-
Importance of a negotiation
-
Avoid or control a dispute.
Construction Safety Management
-
Construction Safety
-
Safety Technology
-
Accident Prevention
Objectives
-
Establishing effective safety goals
-
Accident prevention
-
Health preservation and loss reduction
Certificate
Specialized Construction management certificates are available online. These certificates will be useful to those candidates who are interested in holding upper-level management positions like Company management or Project management.
Construction Financial & Cost Control
-
Construction accounting operations
-
Project Breakdowns and Overviews
-
Forecasts
Objectives
-
Construction cost monitoring
-
Understanding analysis
-
Calculating project estimates
Construction Methods & Technology
-
Planning and Drawing
-
Light Construction Systems and Material Resources
-
Non-Structural Systems
Objectives
-
To understand the construction industry
-
Methods used in construction
-
Planning, designing and constructing the project.
Construction Cost Estimating
-
Labor, Equipment, and Material
-
Indirect Costs, Overheads, Cost Indexes.
-
Contingency Analysis
Objectives
-
To understand Estimates and
-
Details of estimating
-
Labor, materials, equipment, and overhead costs.
Construction Manager’s salary
On an average, the Construction Manager earns about $111,636 a year and it typically ranges between $96,543 and $127,563 as per the Bureau of Labour Statistics 2020. The salary depends on the education, certification, additional skills and amount of experience earned in that field.
Job growth
The employment opportunities for a construction manager in the United States is estimated to rise up to 10 percent during the period of 2018 to 2028 as projected by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Earning a bachelor's degree in construction management, construction science and gaining experience construction experience will have better opportunities to explore.
Job concentrations
When you aim at becoming a construction manager, you must also be aware of career concentrations available to you. Here are few you can choose,
Architect:
An architect is a professional who is involved in the designing and planning the construction of the building, their duties is to work on the designing of the building and the spaces surrounding the building that can be utilised by humans. You are required to earn a bachelor's degree and the average earning is about $79,380.
Engineering manager:
Engineering managers play a role of planning, overseeing, continuously assessing the project to complete within the deadline. This also includes the estimation of cost, budget and coordinating the activities of the project. The projects may vary in the field of IT, Industrial, construction, and other. The requirements for the job is to have a bachelor's degree and the salary offered is about $140,760 per annum.
Civil engineers:
Civil engineers are professionals who design, construct, maintain the built environment which includes the roads, buildings, airport, pipelines, dams, canals and other structures. This mainly concentrates on the infrastructure of the system. The minimum requirement is to earn a bachelor's degree and the median salary earned is about $86,640 annually.
Cost estimators:
Cost estimators are specialised in analysis of information and estimate the time, labour, cost, and materials required to manufacture a product or a service. They are mainly focused on providing an overview of the cost that could be spent on producing the product. The bachelor's degree is required and the average earning could be about $64,040 per year.
Landscape architect:
The landscape architects are professionals who are expertised in designing the outdoor spaces, landmarks and structure to achieve the aesthetic outcomes, and are environment friendly. You're required to earn a bachelor's degree to land on the job and the average salary offered for this job is about $68,230 per year.
Stand out skills for a construction manager
As a construction manager, the caliber and the academic excellence is higher. The professionals are experienced in programs such as internships. However there are additional skills required to stand out. They are,
Analytical skills: Construction managers must carefully analyse the clients needs and the budget to plan the project. With proper analytical skills, they schedule the operations to be completed before the deadline while managing time effectively. You must also be engaged in solving problems and estimate the cost, time, labour required to carry out the functions.
Decision Making skills: Making the correct choice plays an important role in completion of the project. Assigning the specific tasks to the workforce, choosing the subcontractors the tasks helps in achieving progress.
Initiative: some constructions willingly become self employed where they must present skills and initiate to make contacts in order to grow their business. They often initiate to take up responsibility and represent their business on the projects handled, the services provided in order to attract the clients.
Communication: communication is a key in the profession which helps in conveying the ideas and managing the projects by assigning tasks clearly to the labourers. Explaining the complex information and technical details to the clients helps you gain their confidence.
Time-management skills: As a construction manager, you must ensure that the projects are completed on time. Hence the events must be scheduled well during the planning phase. This helps in client satisfaction and helps in better progress of career.
