The Construction Project Manager's Handbook
A Complete Guide to Planning, Scheduling, Cost Control, Contracts, Risk, and Delivering Projects On Time and On Budget
Every construction project runs on the same fundamentals - a realistic plan, a controlled budget, a clear contract, and a manager who sees problems before they arrive. This handbook gathers those fundamentals into one working reference. Written by a project controls professional with over 20 years on major infrastructure and building programmes, it covers the full delivery cycle: initiation and pre-construction, planning and scheduling, cost control and earned value, procurement and contracts, risk, quality, safety, claims, and closeout. Practical, direct, and built for the site office - not the classroom. The reference every construction project manager keeps within reach.
Construction projects rarely fail for one dramatic reason. They fail through a schedule nobody believed, a variation nobody priced, a risk nobody logged, and a conversation nobody documented. This handbook exists to close those gaps.
Drawing on more than two decades in project controls across infrastructure and building programmes, The Construction Project Manager's Handbook brings the full delivery cycle into a single, practical volume - written for the manager who needs an answer today, not a theory to study for later.
Eighteen chapters, organised the way a project actually runs
Foundations - the role itself, delivery models and risk allocation, and the dozen contract provisions that govern your week
Setting the project up - pre-construction, scope and work breakdown structures, and building a baseline schedule that survives scrutiny
Controlling delivery - cost control and cash flow, earned value worked through with real calculations, progress measurement, and risk management
Running the site - quality systems and non-conformance, health and safety, and leading subcontractors and stakeholders
When things go wrong - delay analysis and extension of time, disruption, variations and claims, and schedule recovery
Finishing - commissioning, handover, closeout, and the career and certification paths that follow
Built to be used
Every chapter closes with key takeaways, expert tips, and the mistakes that recur most often. Throughout you will find worked examples from real projects - the baseline that hid nine weeks, the four hundred small accommodations that cost a contractor its margin, the acceleration that spent $900,000 to gain eleven days.
The reference section includes a full cheat sheet of formulas and diagnostic tests, eleven ready-to-use templates, eight checklists, a glossary, and an acronym reference.
Who this book is for
Construction and project managers running live projects
Engineers and site managers stepping into delivery roles
Planners, schedulers, and cost controllers widening their scope
Candidates preparing for PMP, PMI-SP, AACE PSP, and CCP certification - with a chapter mapping this book to each credential
Students and graduates entering the industry
One book. The full delivery cycle. Written by someone who has done the work.