Construction Manager: Job Profile and Role

A construction site resembles a beehive – and it actually has a similar hierarchy. While subcontractors like architects, electricians, and plumbers do most of the hands-on work, the construction manager is mainly asked to oversee and manage this construction beehive. This includes various tasks ranging from supply chain and procurement management to budget management, risk management, and quality control.

What other responsibilities await a construction manager in the UK is what this blog is about. Here, we also take a look at the annual salaries and potential employers as well as the needed qualifications and skills. Moreover, we give you some insights into a construction manager’s working day and some tips for thriving in this exciting profession.

Short Summary

• As a construction manager, you are also a risk manager. You need to identify potential health and safety hazards and ensure that the accident risk is kept at a minimum.
• As a construction manager, you are in charge of procurement and supply chain management, albeit you are not a supply chain manager. You need to ensure that all building materials are ordered accordingly and are at hand at all times.
• As a construction manager, you need to focus on environmental sustainability which is getting ever more important. Therefore, you need to ensure that your construction site leaves the smallest possible carbon footprint – also after being finished.

Job description

The managing part of your job may already tell you a bit about your daily responsibilities. As a construction manager, you are basically in sole charge of a construction site. You are responsible for securing the necessary permits, adhering to all health, safety, and legal standards, and procuring all the needed building materials. You are furthermore tasked with securing the necessary workforce, including construction workers, plasterers, plumbers, electricians, and architects – some of those you will employ as subcontractors. Excellent people skills will be a part of your competencies to professionally deal with all these “employees” – and you will also need strong financial management skills to stay within a building project’s projected budget.

Responsibilities

• Project Planning/Scheduling
• Procurement/Supply Chains
• Environmental Sustainability
• Regulatory Compliance
• Budget Management
• Team Management
• Risk Management
• Decision-Making
• Client Relations
• Quality Control

Different types of Construction Managers

• Site Manager
• Project Manager
• Quality Manager
• Contracts Manager
• Health and Safety Manager

Salary

Typically, you can expect to earn an annual salary ranging from ￡43,000 to ￡68,000, with an average base salary of around ￡55,000. These numbers refer to full-time employment and also bookend your starting salary and advanced salary in construction management in the UK. Besides your work experience and your form of employment, your annual wages will likely be affected by your employer (aka the company size) and your location. Although construction work is being carried out throughout the whole of the UK, you will probably earn slightly more in big cities as opposed to rural areas.

Working Hours

Your typical working hours in construction management range from 41 to 43 hours per week. While some of that time is spent in an office, a great deal of your working week will take place on-site and in meetings with regulatory authorities and your clients. Depending on the building stage and the potential obstacles you are facing, you should also factor in the occasional evening and weekend in which you can end up working. Moreover, travelling will be a regular occurrence to get from your office to the building site and other stops in your working day.

Employers

As a construction manager, you will find employment with property developers, construction companies, and even specialist subcontracting firms. In short: you can look for a job in any sector that is connected to the building trade. Besides, you can think about going into consulting work and offer your services as a self-employed construction manager. Note that all options apply to all company sizes, be they small- or medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) or large and well-known corporations.

Qualifications

There are four ways available to become a construction manager in the UK: attending university, doing an apprenticeship, working towards the role, or applying directly to a job vacancy. Whatever your chosen path, you will be required to have completed your secondary education. For a university course, you will need between one and three A levels in financial management or construction management, for example. Applying for an apprenticeship comes with the entry requirement of four to five GCSEs at pass grades 9 to 4 (A* to C). These must include English and maths and should also feature natural science.

Software Skills Needed in Construction Management

So far, we have only listed the required academic qualifications you need to become a construction manager in the UK. But what about other hard skills, for example, those concerning IT and software knowledge? Do not despair – here are some of the software you should be familiar with in construction management: Revit, AutoCAD, Naviswork, Sage Construction and Real Estate, CostX, and BIM 360. These software cover everything from 3D modelling to budget management, and construction management. Proficiency with these and further software should be part of your education and your continuing professional development.

Skills

As a construction manager, you should have strong people skills – both for being a team player and for delegating tasks professionally and efficiently. Besides, you should have further competencies which can vary depending on your employer’s needs (therefore, always carefully check the skills section in every job post). What other skills you should have or develop is what we take a look at in the following section.

Communication Skills

Strong communication skills in construction management are a must. You will not only liaise with your subcontractors but also with your clients and various official bodies. To strike the right note in every one of those dealings is vitally important to perform a good job. In fact, it is important to get a building project quite literally off the ground. Besides excellent verbal communication, you should also be highly proficient in non-verbal and written communication.

Attention to Detail

Attention to detail is another important competency you need. Eagle eyes are important when it comes to ensuring a safe and well-oiled building site. They are equally important when dealing with health and safety regulations and building permits. Drafting contracts for your subcontractors will also require the strongest attention to detail to minimise the risk of contractual breaches and financial losses to your client/employer.

Problem-Solving Skills

Hardly any construction site always runs smoothly. Problems and holdups can occur regularly and are, naturally, time- and money-consuming as well as annoying. With strong problem-solving skills, these hiccups will not faze you too much. You not only know where a potential problem may occur, but you have also already drafted a Plan B that can be put into action in case of obstacles and challenges.

Career Path

Starting with an assistant job in construction management will be the first step in your career. With experience, training, and qualifications, you can advance to the job of a construction manager. Within this role, you can think about various specialisations. Depending on your drive and interests, you can become a health and safety manager or branch out into supply chain management. Equally, you can do further training focusing on consulting work and turn your career towards the job of a consultant in construction management.

Educational Background

Of the four options to become a construction manager in the UK, attending university or doing a degree apprenticeship are the most promising ones when it comes to starting your career successfully. Employers value both an academic background and practical experience in their applicants. 

Undergraduate or postgraduate degrees show a high level of willingness to learn and determination to see a project through to completion. The practical knowledge gained in an apprenticeship, on the other hand, shows that you are not afraid to get hands-on if needed. Depending on your personal preferences, you can look into the following educational options.

University

You can complete an undergraduate degree in the following subjects:

• Estimating
• Building Engineering
• Construction Engineering
• Surveying/Civil Engineering
• Construction Site Management

Note that a Bachelor’s degree enables you to do a postgrad course later on, for example, a Master’s degree.

Apprenticeship

If you want to get some practical experience, you can look into the following apprenticeships:

• Level 4 Construction and Build Technician Apprenticeship
• Level 4 Construction Site Supervisor Apprenticeship
• Level 6 Construction Quantity Surveyor Apprenticeship
• Level 6 Construction Management Degree Apprenticeship
• Design and Construction Management Degree Apprenticeship

Note that these apprenticeships take between three and four years to complete, the same time you would spend on an undergraduate degree.

Entry Level

After you have completed your education, you will work in an entry-level position for about a year. Typically, this position is the job of an assistant construction manager or a junior construction manager. This job gives you the opportunity to deepen your knowledge and learn new things, be it the application of your qualifications or your soft skills. We recommend that you shadow a senior colleague to get the best entry-level training possible.  By closely listening to and following your mentor’s advice and work ethic, you can gain valuable tips you yourself can apply when you have been promoted to the role of a construction manager.

Continuous Learning

Besides your insights from your entry-level position and your educationally gained knowledge, further training and becoming a member of the relevant bodies and institutions is a surefire way to fast-track your career. In construction management, you have several options to cement your success. We recommend that you look for training, qualifications, and certifications with the CITB, the Construction Industry Training Board. 

Besides, you can work on your continuous professional development (CPD) by earning qualifications from the Construction Industry Council (CIC), the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE), and the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). Here, you have the option of becoming both a European Engineer (EURING) and/or an International Professional Engineer (IntPE). This could be interesting for you if you are thinking about working outside the UK and with Brexit still going strong, these qualifications ensure that you are allowed to work in continental Europe or further afield.

A Day in the Life of a Construction Manager

Managing a construction site is – of course – what most of your working day is all about. But which tasks will keep you occupied and might even challenge you? Read on and find out what a day in the life of a construction manager in the UK can look like.

Site Visits

Site visits can make up a great part of your working day – whether it is before a building project starts or while it is ongoing. You need to regularly check the progress, which includes liaising with all subcontractors. Also, you need to communicate their insights and your observations to your client who may accompany you on your site visits.

Team Meetings

Be it at the start of a project, during its course or at its completion: team meetings are another daily/weekly/regular task. Here, you meet up with everyone involved in the building’s construction, be it the groundworkers, labourers, plumbers, or architects. You discuss the current progress, potential obstacles, and plans that ensure the project’s timeline will be met.

Project Coordination

In your team meetings, you also delegate existing and accruing chores to the respective professionals. As an extension to these meetings, you spend a considerable amount of your working day with further project coordination. Here, you oversee and coordinate the activities between the different subcontracting teams. This way, you make sure that all tasks are performed and completed within the day’s schedule and that all workflows are smooth and efficient.

Tips for Thriving as a Construction Manager

To thrive in your construction manager’s job does not only involve training, qualifications, and certifications. Improving your soft skills is another way to excel in your profession and advance your career. What tips can help you achieve all that is what this section is all about:

• Strong leadership skills
• Challenge adaptability
• Strong relationships

Strong Leadership Skills

As a construction manager, you not only manage the financial and material side of things. You are also asked to manage all people working on a building site. Therefore, strong leadership skills are needed. We assume that you have already developed these – but it can never hurt to improve them further. To achieve a new level of excellent leadership skills, you can, for example, attend webinars or read up on the latest leadership techniques and delegation methods.

Challenge Adaptability

As mentioned above, holdups and other problems can be regular occurrences on any building site. If you are equipped with challenge and change adaptability, you will likely sail through the said obstacles. With efficient contingency plans in place, you can quickly adjust timetables, budgets, and workforce if and when needed. This way, you not only ensure continuous work, you also thrive in your profession. Together with your other soft skills, this will also make you more interesting to existing and future clients.

Strong Relationships

Building and maintaining strong relationships is another good way to ensure your thriving in construction management. After all, you are liaising and dealing with a whole range of different individuals and personalities from all sorts of working backgrounds. You will need a strong network of professionals who help you complete a building project, making strong and healthy work relationships a necessity. This should come easily to you since you – after all, you also have strong teamwork and leadership skills.

Frequently Asked Questions