AEC definitions
A construction project manager is the person accountable for a project's cost, schedule, contracts, and communication. On the contractor's side they manage subcontractors, changes, and pay applications. On the owner's side they watch the same topics for the owner. The superintendent, not the PM, runs the daily site.
Definition
The title is used loosely. A GC's project manager has authority to bind the contractor only as their company allows. An owner's project manager may be the owner's representative or a staff member. They do not become the architect or the contractor by holding the title. Decisions that change the contract still need the form the contract names. A PM who directs extra work in email without a change order is a common author of scope creep.
In depth
Buyout, subcontracts, RFIs, submittal tracking, the schedule narrative, and the monthly cost report. They turn the superintendent's field facts into contractual notices.
They should know the general conditions, especially notice periods. A perfect field and a late notice can still lose a claim.
Budget, user decisions, invoice review, and coordination among designer, contractor, and lenders. They are not a second architect. Design answers stay with the architect of record.
If they are a consultant, the owner agreement should say whether they may authorize changes and up to what amount.
The PM can promise a date the field cannot build, and the superintendent can build something the PM never priced.
A short weekly meeting that reconciles both prevents that. On small jobs, one person wears both hats and must still separate the records.
Open RFIs, submittals, potential change orders, and time extensions are the PM's dashboard. A log that is weeks behind is how a project discovers its cost at the end.
Pay applications should match the log. Billing a change that is not approved is how trust breaks.
A PM's approval of a submittal, if the contract gives the contractor an internal review, is not the architect's stamp.
A PM's direction to a sub is not an owner's change unless the owner has authorized it.
Examples
The contractor's PM turns a field conflict into an RFI the same day and logs a potential change if the answer may cost money.
The owner's PM tells the user group that a lobby revision needs a proposal request before anyone builds it.
The superintendent reports a delayed inspection. The PM sends the contractual notice before the deadline in the general conditions.
FAQ
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