Many remodelers rely on a single project manager for each job, concentrating the decision-making power and supervisory duties with that one individual. But what about when a project is so large or multifaceted that there just aren’t enough hours in the day for one person to accomplish the task? Or when the time frame is so short that several supervisors would clearly be able to handle the job better than a single person ever could?
That’s when Kelly Wright, owner of Wright Brothers Builders, in Westport, Conn., divides duties between two individuals, each responsible for specific aspects of the job. On a recent project, Wright started with a project manager and supervisor but quickly realized that the project’s size and fast-track schedule required even more energy and expertise.
“As the interior details started getting fed to us, I brought in another project manager to work on the requests for proposals and estimates,” he says. The 18,000-square-foot construction management job had $10 million in construction costs and required two or three competitive bids for each segment. “It kept all three of them very busy.”
Wright says that he has at times brought in a second person to supervise for a month or so, but he has never assigned two managers and one superintendent to a single job. The superintendent was on site every day from job start to completion of the punch list, and handled scheduling and quality control and supervised the subcontractors. The two project managers dealt with purchase orders, subcontractor agreements, insurance and waivers, shop drawings, change orders, and other administrative tasks.
All three worked with the architects, interior designer, lighting specialist, and the homeowners.
With that extra person concentrating on finding the best bids, the company could save, for example, 5% on a $2 million material order, which immediately pays for the $100,000 that it costs Wright Brothers Builders to have that extra person on the project.
“Besides, the owners are thrilled with the results and our ability to meet the tight time frame — the latter of which would not have been achieved without the second project manager,” Wright says.
Bridget McCrea is a freelance writer based in Dunedin, Fla.
