Project Management Institute The Project Management Institute (PMI) serves individual members from around the world who are dedicated to advancing the practices and methods associated with professional project management. PMI has members from a wide variety of industries, such as information technology, business, engineering, pharmaceuticals, financial services, telecommunications, and construction. It offers a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification program that is recognized around the world. If you want to learn more about PMI, go to its website at http://pmi.org.
United States Green Building Council In 1993, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) was formed as a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization with a diverse membership of architects, contractors, owners, product manufacturers, environmentalists, and others who are interested in the promotion of green building in the United States. In 1998, the organization launched a nationally recognized rating system for benchmarking the design, construction, and operation of “green buildings.” The system, referred to as LEED, is a voluntary rating system that identifies a definitive standard for what constitutes “green building.” The goal of LEED is to evaluate the environmental performance of a building from a holistic perspective and measure that performance over the building's lifecycle.Individuals can become accredited as LEED AP professionals by passing an exam administered by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).You can learn more about the USGBC by going to its website at www.usgbc.org.
Lean Construction Institute The Lean Construction Institute (LCI) was founded in August 1997 and is now a nonprofit corporation. The institute is involved in research to develop knowledge regarding project-based production management in the design, engineering, and construction of capital facilities. To learn more about the LCI, visit its website at www.leanconstruction.org.
Terms to Know
| base isolators | lean principles |
| brownfield sites | program |
| constructability review | project delivery |
| cofferdams | self-performed work |
| curtain wall | slip forms |
| infrastructure | specifications |
Review Questions
1 What is the name of the stone carvings dating back to the pyramids that contained the first written regulations pertaining to construction, commonly referred to as the first known building code?
2 By what specific measurement is construction used as an economic indicator for the U.S. economy?
3 What are the five primary sectors of the construction industry?
4 What is the name of the organization credited with promoting construction management as a legitimate and unique area of study at four-year universities?
5 What is the role of the owner on a construction project?
6 What is the name of the weekly magazine dedicated solely to the construction industry?
7 Name three associations affiliated with the construction industry.
8 What does LEED stand for, and what is its purpose?
9 What two construction associations offer voluntary certification programs for construction managers?
10 What is lean construction, and from what industry does its concepts stem?
Chapter 2 What Is Construction Management?
In This Chapter
What makes the construction project unique
What factors determine the success of a construction project
The owner's role in initiating the project delivery process
How owners select and procure their construction services
Trends in project delivery
The various construction management functions
What it takes to be a construction manager
In Chapter 1, “The Construction Industry,” you discovered that construction is about much more than just bricks and sticks or mud and mortar. You understand that buying construction is very different from buying cars or computers. Construction is complex, and many factors influence the outcome of a construction project. The job of the construction manager is to take a set of written plans and specifications and a raw piece of land and then coordinate all of the materials, manpower, and equipment necessary to guarantee the set price, schedule, and quality of the project—without any accidents or errors, regardless of weather conditions, interest rate fluctuations, acts of God, or any other unforeseen conditions. (Whew!)
Today the pressure for speedy delivery, cost efficiency, and high quality is immense. The success of any construction project depends on the men and women who plan, organize, and perform the work that transforms someone's dream into a reality. The process of constructing a building or a bridge does not happen in a factory under controlled conditions. It occurs in a dynamic environment where risk is inherent and the decision-making and problem-solving abilities of the construction management team are crucial to the success or failure of the project.
Let's now focus on the construction process itself and the specific management functions unique to that process.
Construction Management Defined
One of the best definitions that I have come across over the years is from Charles Patrick's Construction Project Planning and Scheduling. According to Patrick, “Construction management (CM) entails the planning, scheduling, evaluation, and controlling of construction tasks or activities to accomplish specific objectives by effectively allocating and utilizing appropriate labor, material, and time resources in a manner that minimizes costs and maximizes customer/owner satisfaction.”
Although this definition explains the function of construction management, the discipline or profession of construction management is not quite so easy to understand. That's because construction management is not just a single task or activity. It comprises several tasks and is usually delivered by a construction management team. At the same time, an individual member of a construction management team performing even one of the CM functions is said to be doing construction management. Is it any wonder that the general public is by and large unaware of construction management as a distinct career?
If that isn't confusing enough, let's also consider the different ways the construction management function is offered as a service to the consuming public. In the most traditional sense, the construction management function is simply provided alongside the actual construction services. In other words, when an owner hires a general contractor to perform work for them, they get that contractor's construction management services as part