Roles & authorities
Construction manager (CM)
A construction manager runs the delivery of a project: sequencing the trades, holding the schedule and budget, and coordinating the many parties whose work has to fit together. Depending on the delivery method, the CM may work for the owner as an advisor or carry the construction risk directly (CM at-risk). Either way the scope of their authority comes from the contract, so what a CM can commit to varies from job to job.
Run it with the Photo Gate
Construction quality control plan
12 items · 15 photos required
Why it matters
The CM is the coordination point. When one trade's work gates another's inspection, or a long-lead item threatens a milestone, the CM is who resequences the plan so the job keeps moving without burying a quality step.
Quality lives or dies on how the CM builds inspection and hold points into the schedule. Squeeze them and covered-up defects follow; plan them and the trades know when a photo gated check has to happen before they can close in.
How it shows up on site
The CM chairs coordination meetings, keeps the master schedule, and pulls the general contractor and subs to their commitments. On quality, the CM is who makes sure the QC plan's hold points actually appear in the look-ahead rather than getting skipped under schedule pressure.
Checklists that put construction manager (cm) to work
Free, field-ready checklists, each with the photo every item needs before it can be submitted.
Related terms
- Owner's representativeThe person who acts for the owner on site, protecting the owner's interests in scope, quality, schedule and cost.
- Quality control managerThe person responsible for running the project's quality control program: inspections, hold points and the records that prove them.
- Engineer of record (EOR)The licensed engineer who stamps a design discipline and stays responsible for its intent through construction.
- General contractor (GC)The contractor who holds the prime construction contract and is responsible for delivering the whole project: trades, means and methods, and completed work.
- Design-builderA single entity that holds one contract with the owner for both the design and the construction of a project.
- Project engineerThe contractor's engineer who manages submittals, RFIs, schedule detail and technical coordination between the field and the office.
Knowing the term is step one. Proving it is the job.
RTI holds the submit button until every mandatory item is answered and the photos are attached, then chains the record so it can be proven untouched later.
30-day trial · No card required