One of the best decisions you can make when building a new home is to hire a residential construction project manager. It is a safe assumption that one of the reasons you are hiring a project manager is because you do not believe you have the experience to run the project on your own, but let me ask you another question… what do you know about hiring a project manager?
Don’t get nervous because we are going to walk you through the process to ensure you make the right decision.
Project Manager Hiring Checklist
- Experience
- Balance
- Priorities
- Resolving conflict
Experience is a word you hear tossed around a lot in this industry, and for good reason. You want your project manager to be familiar not just with construction, but also in projects similar to yours. A project manager or firm can be new to the business and still have plenty of experience. When you are vetting your PM, ask to see specific examples of projects similar to yours and take a deep dive into those projects to ensure you would have been happy with the outcome had that been your project.
Budget, time, and quality… these are the three things your PM will need to balance if the project is going to be a success. This is the one aspect of the project where it will be critical for you to communicate with your PM to ensure you are both on the same page, which brings us to our next point.
What are your priorities? Whatever they are, they need to be the same priorities of the project manager. As the project progresses, priorities may have to be shifted, which is where the communication aspect of the project comes in. Remember, ultimately, the PM is trying to bring the project in on time, within the budget, and to meet your expectations, so the two of you will work hand-in-hand to make sure that happens.
Just as there will be challenges during the project, there will be conflicts. You have a bunch of alphas on a project who are focused on completing their tasks to fulfill their obligations. There are going to be times when they clash, so talk to your perspective PM about his or her method of resolving these conflicts without derailing the project.
If you are considering building a new home, Better Build Now would love to serve as your residential construction project manager. For more information about our services, please click here. If you would like to discuss your construction project with a member of our team to see if we are the fit you are looking for, give us call at 888-402-4180.