Professional Construction Management Services

This paper identifies a full range of professional construction management (PCM) tasks that may be utilized on major construction projects. This listing is based on the work of the ASCE committee on PCM. Identification of the essential tasks of a professional construction manager, as a basis for measuring performance, was the primary purpose of this work. Basic attributes of an effective PCM firm are presented. The functional PCM tasks are divided into the five phases of major construction projects: (1)conceptual planning; (2)program planning; (3)design construction; (4)close-out; and (5)start-up. For each of these phases, the primary PCM services and tasks are identified. Examples are included where appropriate. Practical application, for selection of a firm, evaluation of a firm on an active project, or self-auditing by a PCM firm, is discussed. The successful PCM firm must be multi-disciplinary, include all control functions, and provide a broad spectrum of management, engineering, construction, systems, and legal expertise.