Robert Smith of Hays Montrose reports on the rosy prospects for project managers.
Are you a project manager who enjoys working on larger sites? Then you're in luck, because a number of companies that deal with larger projects are moving towards appointing a project manager for every site rather than having a site manager on each site and a single contracts manager overseeing a number of jobs.

While many companies have no solid job structure in place, preferring instead to set up the structure that best suits the job and the client's needs, there is an expectation that with larger projects (those worth more than £5m), a project manager will be on site with responsibility for quality, programming, procurement and financial matters, reporting to a contracts manager.

The advantage, of course, is that the project manager will be more focused on one project and is accountable. As a result, project managers are in demand at many larger contractors.

One issue making things difficult for contractors is that project managers by their nature tend to be project-led and change employers regularly to get the best projects.

The size of a project obviously affects a project manager's salary, but not as much as you might think. For example, in London a project manager on a £50m site would earn between £55,000 and £60,000 basic pay. On a £10m project they would earn between £40,000 and £50,000 basic, while on a £1m project it would be around £38,000.

The lack of people entering the industry 12 to 15 years ago is now being severely felt

The majority of applicants in the marketplace at the moment are in their fifties. The lack of people entering the industry 12 to 15 years ago is now being severely felt. Younger project managers are in high demand and companies will pay heavily to hold onto them. For example, one 34-year-old project manager with a BSc in civil engineering and a top 10 contractor background is currently earning £48,000 plus a car allowance, plus a bonus.

Young project managers are treated as a fantastic commodity. There are examples of companies with reputations as low payers putting incentives, loyalty bonuses and share options in place for project managers to tie them to the company long-term.

A couple of years back most project managers came from a quantity surveyor background. Today it is much less important which discipline you come from. What is important is your core technical competence.

This means the winning project manager combination is a degree, with three to four years' experience in a specialist field including chartership, followed by three to four years' project management experience.

Project management bible

In 1991 it became clear that a great deal of confusion surrounded the term ‘project management’ and a code of practice was needed. The CIOB initiated a multi-institute task force and a code of practice for project management was published in 1992, with a second edition in 1996. In a recent court case, the judge accepted the code as an aide memoire for project managers. To respond to Latham and Egan, the CIOB initiated another review in 2001; a third edition will appear this autumn. It’s client-oriented and supports a cross-boundary approach by recognising the whole project team: clients, architects, engineers, QSs, builders and specialist contractors. It contains standard documentation for any project, together with a project management agreement. The CIOB says it’s the only authoritative code and no project manager should risk being without it. The third edition will be available from Construction Books Direct on 01344 630810

PM versus CM

Name:
Nick Brown
Education:
Civil engineering, MSc in construction management
Career sketch:
Started as trainee technician in local government. Spent five years on drainage and sewerage projects in the Middle East. Section package manager for Bovis on Broadgate. Project manager for new civic offices in Stoke-on-Trent for Conder Projects. Project-managed the construction of the National Ice Centre in Nottingham.
What’s the more difficult job?
Project management. You’re dealing with clients who don’t know what they need, architects who don’t pay enough attention to how the thing will be built, plumbers and tradesmen who don’t have time to talk to each other and wouldn’t anyway. Construction managers have to pull a team together but subcontractors are not as flighty. The front-end team is like a flock of hens. Try and drive them and they scatter in all directions. By the time the construction manager gets involved, cost, time and quality are already defined.
Name some key skills.
Acting. There will be occasions when you want to throw a wobbly but have to put on a smile before going outside and kicking the rubbish bin into next week. Other times you have to throw a wobbly to make a point, even if you don’t feel like it. Also meeting tactics. Say you want a meeting to end without a conclusion. If you stay still and calm and quiet, you may provoke a walkout by the other party, who may be less able to control their reactions.
How do the pay and lifestyle compare?
With pay there isn’t much difference. Lifestyle is better. A construction manager has to be on site all the time. Project managers have to be available to the client all hours but that can be by phone.
Personal pitfalls?
Because of my background I have to work hard at not getting dragged into detailed construction issues. That’s for the constructor to work out. I have to keep my eye on the bigger picture.