According to Payscale.com, over 4,900 construction project managers report making between $48,400 and $105,698 per year. Pay depends on experience and skill set, but construction project managers are often able to find work in most cities across the country and around the world once they obtain the appropriate work history and education, and often a construction project management certification.
What is Construction Project Management?
Construction project management is not the same thing as construction management. A construction manager often acts in a supervisor role, leading a team of people to complete a job on time and within budget. A construction project manager has the same goals, but he or she is typically more involved in the processes and organizational aspects of a construction job, working with the site manager and other critical team members to ensure work is done correctly, in the right order, and according to specifications.
Construction project managers help bid on projects by compiling appropriate requirements and aligning costs in a data-centric way that helps contractors or construction companies bid with accuracy. Once projects are won, project managers help manage schedules, resources, and implementation both on and off-site. Some common skill sets for construction project management include AutoCad knowledge, contract negotiation, CPM Scheduling, time and quality management, safety management, and cost management.
Why Seek a Construction Project Management Certification?
As companies in all types of industries deal with growing costs and a continuous need to drive improvements and a competitive edge, they turn increasingly to project managers to lead teams toward success. PMs in any field are trained to help teams save money while leveraging improvements for big bottom-line results. When you can save construction firms and contractors money and help them get projects completed safely, with quality, and within time and budget requirements, then you are valuable. That translates into higher pay, job security, and a path to other careers, including engineering or executive construction management.
Types of Construction Project Management Certifications
Before stepping forward onto your construction career path, though, education and training is important. How you go about becoming a project manager in construction depends on where you are today: are you just out of high school and looking for a college degree program, or do you have years of building and construction experience and want to take the next step in your career?
Online or Classroom Certification
An online certification lets you obtain your Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) with an emphasis in construction quickly and without required general studies classes. Most online certification programs concentrate on project management skills and tools, tying those into a specialized field where applicable, so this is a good option for someone who already has experience in construction and wants to add new skill sets to his or her resume. Some community colleges also offer a careers study certification for construction project management. A certificate program is a fast way to boost education credentials for broader job prospects.
Associate’s Degree
An associate’s degree in construction management or other relevant programs might be the right choice if you have limited experience on the job and you want to jump-start your career. Associate’s degrees usually take up to two years to complete and will require some general classwork in addition to construction and project management related courses. Even with an associate’s degree, if you want a project management job, you might need the PM certification too.
Bachelor’s Degree
If you know you want to own your own construction company or move up to an executive level one day, then a bachelor’s degree is probably going to be required at some point. You can start with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in construction management, but you might also consider engineering or even business degrees depending on your ultimate goals. Someone with a relevant bachelor’s degree and experience in construction might be offered a project management job if they can demonstrate relevant PM skills, even if they don’t have a formal construction project management certification.
Training for Construction Software Tools
Regardless of the educational route you take toward construction project management certification, you’ll need to know how to use a variety of niche-specific tools. Project management software, such as Primavera P6, is one such tool. Individuals who are looking for project management work in the construction industry can usually find online learning opportunities for such software, and it’s a good idea to keep up with new tools even if you are experienced in construction project management. The world of construction is full of opportunities, either at home or around the world. Enjoy the journey.
Hi, my name is Charles Irish and am a civil site engineer with 11 yrs working experience in building construction here in Nigeria. I obtained my highest qualification in 2004 which is an Higher national diploma in Civil engineering with emphasis on structures. I want to advance my career in construction management and I would like you to guide me on how I can obtain a certification in construction project management, project management software’s, pop certification and psp with emphasis in construction.
Hi, my name is Charles Iroh and am a civil site engineer with 11 yrs working experience in building construction here in Nigeria. I obtained my highest qualification in 2004 which is an Higher national diploma in Civil engineering with emphasis on structures. I want to advance my career in construction management and I would like you to guide me on how I can obtain a certification in construction project management, project management software’s, pop certification and psp with emphasis in construction.
I have Civil Engineering degree since July 2004, but I don’t work on site. I join oil company work around 2 years as contract engineer but I have amall task, then for 4 years as project control but not on site. I decide to return to my city. They want somebody who have experience on site.
So, what is your suggestion?
My strong on observation, analysis and Maths is my game
Hi Jamal,
You might consider looking into an estimator position or surveying – these positions will usually help you get the on-site experience companies are looking for.
Hi. I got my B.E in electrical power engineering from Myanmar in late 2009 and started working as offshore maintenance electrical & HVAC technician (plus some project offshore phase commissioning) for a major oil company in Myanmar until I recently migrated to USA in mid 2016.
Now I would like to switch career to construction management? At the moment I have no time and money to study again as I have 2 kids who are not yet in school. Which level of job should I be looking to have my foot in construction management? Should I consider taking construction tech certificate?. Thanks.
firstly, let’s not confuse construction management with project management. It sounds like he’s interested in project management. As you an I know, the term construction management denotes a specific contractual relationship where a construction manager, as agent of owner, manages one or more primes. Some GC’s expand and become GC/CMs, or just CMs.
That said, for his particular challenges, I would advocate getting a job as an assistant project manager and learn that way. If he’s smart, he’ll be recognized and move up the ranks quickly, as there is demand right now for talent. The schools are a waste of time and money. He should make use of available free material online and develop his own course of study.
Finally, if he worked in the off-shore OP industry, he should look for a job in the Gulf Coast, as that is within his discipline; to his advantage.
hello sir , i am studying final year BSc civil engineering and i have learned the Primavera P6 professional ,, i can create an EPS , OBS , WBS , project , activities , relationships , optimizing project plan , scheduling , reports , wps and docs , reports , creating and assigning baselines , resource and cost analysis , risks , roles , constraints , activity coding , grouping , sorting , formatting.. i know much about primavera , sir i want to have a certificate for primavera , please tell me how to get it , thanks
In response to @Wajid – Currently there is no certification for Primavera P6 but you can look into getting a PMI-SP certification and eventually your PSP. If you want to take more of a project manager role, then you would want to study for the PMP. Continue to learn as much as you can about scheduling and how to calculate it manually. Lately, I have seen requirements on contracts for PMI-SP or PSP scheduling certifications. Good luck!