AdvancedTopic 100 of 112Civil & Structural
Construction project management
Plan, schedule and control cost, time and quality.
In depth
Project management plans scope, time, cost, quality, risk and resources through initiation, planning, execution, control and closeout. Tools: WBS, Gantt charts, earned value, risk registers and procurement strategies (design-bid-build, design-build, PPP). Communication and stakeholder management are crucial.
Key points
- SPI and CPI indicators
- Change control
- Lean construction
ExampleEarned value shows a project 5% behind schedule and 8% over budget.
What is Construction project management?
Plan, schedule and control cost, time and quality.
Why is it important to understand construction project management?
Construction projects succeed only when cost, time and quality are controlled together, so project management is a core engineering skill.
What are the main project constraints?
Cost, time, quality and scope, which are often in conflict and must be balanced by the project team.
What is a milestone?
A significant point in a project, such as completion of foundations, used to check progress and trigger payments.
How is Construction project management used in practice?
Typical applications include planning the stages of a bridge contract with milestones, tracking cost against budget on a building site each month and managing quality checks for a large concrete pour.
What should I learn before Construction project management?
Study "Intelligent transportation systems" first (topic 99 of 112 in Civil & Structural). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
What are the key points of Construction project management?
SPI and CPI indicators. Change control. Lean construction.
Can you give an example of Construction project management?
Earned value shows a project 5% behind schedule and 8% over budget.
What comes after Construction project management?
The next topic is "CPM and PERT", which builds directly on this one.
How difficult is Construction project management?
It is classed as Advanced in Civil & Structural (topic 100 of 112). It is an advanced topic. It assumes you are comfortable with the intermediate topics in Civil & Structural.