Here are some of the reasons why you need building project management given by various authoritative sources. The following quotes about Building and Construction Project Management are taken from the authoritative press and respected TV programs.
“Having good project management skills does not mean you have no problems. It does not mean there are no surprises. The value of good project management is that you have a proactive mindset and standard processes in place to deal with all of these events.”
Business Management Magazine Online
“Project management is the process by which projects are defined, planned, monitored, controlled and delivered such that the agreed benefits are realised. Projects bring about change and project management is recognised as the most efficient way of managing such change.”
UK Assoc. of Project Managers
“Experience has shown that projects are inherently at risk – through overrunning on time and cost and/ or failing to deliver a successful outcome. Project management helps to reduce and manage the risk.”
UK Office of Government and Commerce
“To be a successful project manager you will need to chase up the tradesmen everyday and line up ones for the future, and check the standard of work not to mention co ordinate the schedule. It is not for the faint hearted.”
Home Building & Renovation Magazine
“It is worth considering a project manager if you have a large project, such as a loft conversion or two-story extension, and you are working full-time with little experience of running this type of work.”
Which? Advice
“A skilled project manager can save you money as well as stress. It may be you need 20 or more different specialist contractors on a big project and they all have to be on site at exactly the right time for their part of the build. Get a delivery or start date wrong and the timescales will slip, costing you money. An experienced project manager is used to this and it’s their responsibility to get it right.”
Channel4.com/4homes
To keep your self-build project on track, it’s essential to maximise your ability to adapt and efficiently allocate resources as the build progresses. This isn’t just about keeping the bricks moving; it’s about being able to quickly respond to changing demands on the site, whether that’s unexpected delays, shifting priorities for contractors, or last-minute design tweaks.
So in practise, this means making sure materials can be reordered as needed, and being able to reassign tradesmen swiftly if one task overruns. It is importance to be flexible and clearly communicate to minimise cost and time delays.
In short, by anticipating bottlenecks and equipping yourself with a flexible plan—supported by the right project management know-how—you can dramatically speed up progress and avoid holdups.
Beyond overseeing tasks, effective project management is about maximizing resources and adapting to the unexpected. Even the most carefully planned projects can encounter delays, cost overruns, or coordination issues. The core strength of project management lies in its ability to arrange all the moving pieces — materials, schedules, contractors, and unforeseen challenges — into a reliable process.
A proactive project manager can anticipate bottlenecks and streamline communication to better ensure that materials arrive on time, tradespeople are scheduled efficiently, and standards are consistently maintained. This approach doesn’t just keep things ticking — it actively drives the project towards completion with minimal waste and disruption.
By using established best practices and continuously monitoring progress, the project manager provides a vital buffer against common pitfalls. Whether managing a small extension or a complex new build, their role is to keep every aspect of the project aligned, minimizing costly delays and ensuring that the end result meets your expectations—on time and on budget.
“The project manager is the most important role after the architect: one individual who takes the responsibility for seeing the whole project through from start to finish. The best team arrangement is, in my view, to employ an architect, an independent project manager and a builder or set of sub-contractors.”
Kevin McCloud, Grand Designs Handbook