The Ultimate Guide to Construction Field Management

Whether you're just starting out in the field or have years of experience under your belt, our quick guide will teach you how to be successful in construction field management.

What is construction field management?

Construction field management is the process of coordinating all the moving parts of a construction project. The main responsibilities of construction field management include workforce management, resource allocation, safety management, quality assurance, and corresponding tasks.

Effective field management in construction keeps projects within budget, prevents delays, and helps promote proactive communication between stakeholders.

The functions of construction field management

The main functions of construction field management are:

• Identification of project goals

• Strategic planning

• Management throughout the entire construction process, including estimating, procurement, design and construction

• Allocation of resources, workforce, and equipment

• Communication

• Task management

• Conflict resolution

The role of a project manager in construction field management

Project managers are responsible for overseeing the construction project from start to finish. It is one of the roles most commonly associated with construction field management.

During the preconstruction phase, construction project managers will create a budget, draft estimates, and establish an efficient construction plan. They'll schedule timetables for workers, subcontractors, superintendents, and all other members of the field crew, and they'll identify risks and determine mitigation strategies.

Once construction begins, project managers monitor progress and update the budget, schedule, or timeline as needed. They may or may not be present on the jobsite each day, and depending on the size of the project they may be in charge of managing multiple projects in the same timeframe.

Finally, this individual will manage all relationships with external parties and communicate milestones or issues with executives and the project owner. 

Construction project management roles require both professional management skills as well as technical knowledge of the construction process. Since the project manager has such a wide range of responsibilities, he or she relies heavily on communication from the project's superintendent, especially when it comes to monitoring progress.

The role of a superintendent in construction field management

A superintendent is responsible for onsite field management of a construction project. While project managers are generally part of the administrative staff at a construction company, superintendents directly manage day-to-day operations on the jobsite and work closely with the construction crew.

Superintendents oversee the workers and subcontractors who are hired to work on the project, and they manage material and equipment use. They will understand each employee's role, responsibilities, and tasks, and they will monitor for safety and quality issues.

To ensure the project finishes on schedule and within budget, the superintendent will communicate updates with the project manager on a regular basis.

What role does daily reporting have in construction field management?

A key part of construction field management is the process of daily reporting. Every day, field crews are expected to submit a comprehensive report of what happened on the jobsite. While necessary, this can cause headaches for superintendents and foremen, who are typically responsible for making sure this task is completed at the end of the busy workday. And, from the office, project mangers often spend hours hunting down late or missing info.

Daily reports are vital for a number of reasons, including:

• Keeping project progress on track

• Communicating project progress and updates with owners, engineers, payroll administrators, and other important parties involved in the job

• Protecting businesses from litigation and disputes, even years after project completion

A cornerstone of good field management is making sure your field teams have the tools they need to collect and share high quality data on a consistent basis.This process dons't have to be the worst part of the day. With the right tools, collecting and sharing daily report data is easier than it sounds.

How to improve your construction field management

To improve field management for your construction projects and help your crews submit better daily reports, invest in construction field management software. Digital solutions can help simplify stakeholder communications, increase jobsite visibility, and streamline document management.

Communication

For construction field management strategies to be successful, good communication between the project manager, superintendent, and field crews is vital.

With many different parties working together on the same project, it is no surprise that important info can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Using software for construction field management minimizes these omissions and misinterpretations through digital data capture and automated workflows.

Field management software simplifies daily reporting, time tracking, task management, material tracking, and other crucial tasks that require careful data entry. Instead of time-consuming pen and paper templates or complicated spreadsheets, busy field crews and their managers can record data quickly and easily on their mobile devices and share it automatically with project managers back in the office.

Field management software allows workers to use their time more effectively and keeps everyone in the loop of project progress. 

Visibility

Construction field management software can provide detailed insights that would take hours of manual analysis with traditional project management methods.

With automated production insights, project managers can closely track production and measure performance against estimates in real-time instead of weeks after daily reports come in. Software turns the data from reports, time cards, and other sources into charts, graphs, and other easy-to-digest formats, highlighting critical details.

Software also makes it easier to submit jobsite photos and videos or attachments. This visual documentation can make identifying for safety and quality issues much easier for project managers or superintendents who can't visually observe each and every task.

Documentation

Digital documentation is more secure and accessible than physical documents, and when you have document management functionality as a part of your field management software, it's even easier.

Protect yourself from risk with secure documentation that can be quickly located and reproduced in the event of a dispute or legal issue.

Raken = all-in-one field management

Raken's easy-to-use web and mobile app is a one stop shop for construction field management. Our full suite of daily progress reporting, time and production tracking, safety and quality management, and document management solutions save time and money and keep all your important project info in one place.