Construction Project Management in Denver

What construction project management covers

Construction project management in Denver covers the same ground it does anywhere: keeping the schedule, the money, the paperwork and the quality of the work under control from mobilization to closeout. The difference between a well-run job and a struggling one is rarely the trades. It is whether information moves on time.

On most projects the work breaks down like this:

• A critical-path baseline schedule, with short-interval look-aheads for the trades.
• Submittals and shop drawings, reviewed and returned before material is ordered.
• Requests for information (RFIs), each logged with a responsible party and a due date.
• Inspection coordination with the building department, plus any special inspections the engineers require.
• Cost tracking against the schedule of values, with a running change-order log.
• Quality control, meaning work is checked against the drawings before it is covered.
• Site safety planning and enforcement under OSHA rules.
• Daily logs, meeting minutes and photo records.
• Closeout: punch list, final inspections, warranties, operation manuals and as-built drawings.

Reading a construction schedule

A construction schedule is a network of activities and dependencies, not a list of dates. The critical path is the longest chain of dependent activities through that network. A delay on it moves the completion date unless something else is resequenced. Activities off the critical path have float, meaning they can slip some amount without moving the finish.

Owners rarely need the full baseline every week. What they need is the current critical path, any change to the completion date, and the look-ahead: a short-interval schedule, usually covering the next few weeks, that the superintendent uses to line up trades, deliveries and inspections.

When an update arrives, compare it with the last one. Did the completion date move? Did an activity that had float become critical? Was the logic quietly changed to absorb a delay instead of reporting it? A schedule that never changes is as suspicious as one that changes every week.

What owners should receive, and how often

Reporting expectations belong in the contract, not in a kickoff meeting. The table below is a reasonable baseline to ask for on a commercial or larger residential project. Smaller jobs may fold several items together.

Pay applications usually follow the schedule of values, and Colorado owners should collect lien waivers with each payment. The general contracting page explains draws, retainage and waivers in more detail.

The project manager and the superintendent

The two titles get confused, and on a small project one person may hold both. On larger work they are separate jobs with different days.

Project manager

The project manager runs the contract side: budget, schedule updates, subcontracts, purchasing, submittals, RFIs, change orders and owner reporting. Much of that work happens in the office or the site trailer, and the project manager is usually the owner's main contact.

Superintendent

The superintendent runs the site. Daily trade coordination, sequencing, safety, quality checks, inspections and deliveries all sit here. The superintendent decides what happens on site tomorrow, and the trades answer to that person. Owners should know who holds each role, because a field question sent to the office, or a contract question raised on site, tends to get a slower answer.

How a change order should move

Every project has changes: owner requests, conditions found behind walls or below grade, design errors and corrections required by an inspector. What separates a controlled project from a disputed one is the paper trail.

1. The change is identified through an RFI, a field condition or an owner request, and logged.
2. The contractor prices it with subcontractor backup and states any effect on the schedule.
3. The owner, and the architect where there is one, reviews the pricing and asks questions.
4. The change order is signed before the work proceeds, adjusting the contract sum and completion date.
5. The change shows up on the log and on the next pay application.

When work has to start before the price is agreed, a construction change directive or a time-and-materials authorization with a not-to-exceed amount keeps the job moving without leaving the cost open-ended.

Signs a project has stalled

Projects rarely stop all at once. They slow down, and the signs usually appear in the paperwork before they appear on site.

• Meeting minutes carry the same open items week after week.
• The completion date has not moved, yet trades are visibly behind.
• Crew sizes drop with no explanation tied to the schedule.
• Submittals or RFIs are overdue and nobody can say who is holding them.
• Pay applications bill ahead of the work actually in place.
• Subcontractors or suppliers start calling the owner about payment.
• Inspections are failing, or are not being called at all.

Any one of these can have an innocent explanation. Several together call for a direct conversation and, if needed, an independent review of the schedule and cost reports.

Decisions that stay with the owner

Good project management does not take decisions away from the owner. It brings them forward early, with the cost and schedule information needed to make them.

Many of these decisions are easier when the groundwork was laid in pre-construction planning, and the reporting load grows with the size of the job, especially on commercial projects with occupancy deadlines. The construction process overview shows where each report fits. Owners building outside Denver city limits can start with the cities we build in along the Front Range page. To talk through reporting for a specific project, request a project consultation.

Inspections and site rules vary by city. See permits and inspections in Aurora, stormwater on new ground in Thornton and building along St. Vrain Creek in Longmont, or every city we build in.