Project Management

CIC published its first project management guide in 1996 and this was followed by the current guide in 2000. Both documents were the output of working groups drawn from CIC member practitioners and beyond, and comprise a consensus view of the function. Construction Project Management Skills is intended both as a guide to clients and as a source of information to practicing and aspiring project managers.

An extract from the introduction follows to give a flavour of what the publication contains:

Introduction

Project management has a strong tradition in the construction industry and is widely used on projects of all sizes and complexity. Even so, many projects do not meet their required performance standards or are delivered late / over budget. These issues can be directly addressed by raising the standards of project management within the construction industry and more specifically improving the skills of project managers.

Purpose of construction project management

The purpose of project management in the construction industry is to add significant and specific value to the process of delivering construction projects. This is achieved by the systematic application of a set of generic project-orientated management principles throughout the life of a project. Some of these techniques have been tailored to the sector requirements unique to the construction industry.

The function of project management is applicable to all projects. However, on smaller or less complex projects the role may well be combined with another discipline e.g. leader of the design team. The value added to the project by project management is unique: no other process or method can add similar value, either qualitatively or quantitatively.

Purpose of the guidelines

These guidelines build on the success of their predecessor, Project management skills in the construction industry, published by CIC in 1996. There has been a recent ground swell within the construction industry for improvement in all areas of its activities. Many of these improvements are highlighted in the 1998 Egan report and in the ongoing work of cross industry representative bodies such as the CIC. Project management is a process which runs throughout the construction life cycle and so touches all associated activities. Recognising that project management is such an important component of the construction process the aims of this document are:

• To raise the standards of project management in the construction industry by setting objective standards of competence and encouraging their usage.
• To help clients choose a project manager who has attained the required competencies at an appropriate level for the type of project or stage in the project.
• To assist project managers to identify the competencies they need to develop and maintain continuous improvement and a CPD profile.
• To recognise, in setting out the competencies, that the construction industry is fragmented leading to project management being performed at a number of levels.
• To continuously improve the project manager's exercise of core competencies and to broaden their understanding of the competencies required in all the stages of development.