Owner’s Representatives Vs. Project Managers
Many terms are used during a construction project. Sometimes, those terms can seem so similar and interchangeable that they can get confusing. For example, an owner’s representative and project management professional seem the same at first glance but have two different roles.
What’s an owner’s representative vs. a project management professional?
An owner’s representative is your advocate, much like a lawyer.
You hire an owner’s rep to represent and advocate for you throughout your construction project. An owner’s representative will see the owner’s side of the project.
Consider the owner’s representative a vital extension of the owner’s role, a bridge between you and the project. They play a pivotal role in ensuring the successful completion of your construction project while safeguarding your interests. They keep you informed about any issues and progress, providing you with a sense of security and reassurance.
When you hire an owner’s representative, they will help keep your best interests at heart within the project. A project management professional is responsible for managing the life cycle of the projects.
A project management professional (PMP) is usually employed by the owner, developer, GC, engineer, or other discipline involved in the project. So, a construction project can involve several project managers: one for the general contractor, sub-contractors, one for the engineer, one for the architect, and so on.
These project managers protect the project in its entirety so the project can meet budget, deliver on time, look at risks, and understand the resources and quality for whoever they work for—the PM for the architect is responsible for tasks assigned by the architect firm. Nothing else.
A project management professional oversees the project’s planning and delivery. They ensure work is completed on time and within budget, organize site logistics, delegate work, obtain equipment and materials, and communicate with other disciplines and vendors to arrange scheduling for different construction phases. Their comprehensive responsibilities instill confidence in the project’s execution.
What’s the difference between an owner’s representative vs. a project manager?
An owner’s rep and project manager have different mission statements and responsibilities.
The owner’s representative’s primary responsibility is to protect the owner’s interests and advocate for you. They’ll monitor your project while guiding you through decisions when the owner cannot decide on the project or program.
The project manager’s primary responsibility is to manage the project’s complete life cycle using a hybrid approach that combines elements of different project management methodologies. The project manager for the general contractor has different responsibilities than the project manager for the engineer. Their roles may intersect, but they focus on their particular discipline. However, each follows the same processes to complete the project successfully.
The owner’s representative and project manager work in tandem to ensure the project’s successful completion. Your owner’s representative is a liaison between you and the project management team, fostering a harmonious collaboration that assures you of a well-managed project.
Does the owner’s representative have a project manager?
Yes! We are the owner’s representative PM firm, and we are PMPs.
An owner’s rep will contract a project management firm to help execute the thousands of processes needed to complete a large-scale data center construction project. The project manager oversees the entire project, while the owner’s rep is responsible for the owner’s communications and discussions.
Some of the tasks the owner’s representative’s PM completes are:
Leading meetings
Forward-thinking processes
Conducting site visits
Managing invoices
Managing change orders
Reviewing schedules
Identifying project issues and risks
Reviewing best quality
Tracking scope
Reviewing and directing resources
Managing design changes from the owners
Reviewing the operations team request fits the budget and vision
Helping owners understand issues and providing strategies to solve issues.
They do all this while always keeping the owner’s representative informed daily.
Often, the managers, general contractors & their team of superintendents, other project managers, and so on will come to the owner’s rep or the PM team for any issues, clarifications, etc.
Professional Engineer vs. Project Management Professional
Many roles are used during a construction project. Sometimes, those roles can seem so similar and interchangeable that they can get confusing. For example, a professional engineer and a project management professional have vastly different roles, skills, and training.
What’s a professional engineer vs. a project management professional?
An engineer demonstrates competency and expertise in engineering land, roads, structures, MEP systems, or buildings.
When you hire engineers to design project management processes, they are not trained to see a larger, wider view of the project as a PMP will. A PMP will oversee the entire project life cycle and the processes involved in delivering the project according to the specs that project management professionals have learned.
When you hire a PMP, they will help protect all aspects of the project and keep its interests on track. A project management professional is responsible for managing the life cycle of the projects.
A project management professional (PMP) is contracted by the owner, developer, GC, engineer, or other discipline involved in the project. So, a construction project can involve several project managers: one for the general contractor, sub-contractors, one for the engineer, one for the architect, vendors, etc.
These project managers protect the project in its entirety so the project can meet the budget, deliver on time, consider risks, and understand the resources and quality of workmanship. The PM for the engineer is responsible for tasks assigned by the engineering firm. Nothing else. A project management professional oversees the project’s planning and delivery. They ensure work is completed on time and within budget, organize site logistics, delegate work, obtain equipment and materials, and communicate with other disciplines and vendors to arrange scheduling for different construction phases. Their comprehensive responsibilities instill confidence in the project’s execution.
What’s the difference between a professional engineer vs. a project manager?
Engineers go to school to specialize in technical areas; their understanding and purpose should never be discredited or disrespected. However, the PMP orchestrates the completion of the overall project. Offen time, the project managers for the engineering firms are not Professional Engineers; they are PMPs, and they manage the engineering scope and project processes.
The project manager’s primary responsibility is to manage the project’s complete life cycle using Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, Lean, as a hybrid approach, etc., that combines elements of different project management methodologies. The project manager for the general contractor has different responsibilities than the project manager for the engineer; their roles may intersect, but they focus on their particular discipline. However, each follows the same processes in each area of expertise to complete the project successfully.
The professional engineers and project managers work in collaboration to ensure the project’s successful completion.
What value do project management professionals bring?
We are PMPs. Not task managers! This means we manage processes; we don’t just check off tasks.
We plan, execute, and manage the thousands of processes to complete large-scale data center construction projects.
The PMP oversees the entire project while providing project leadership in communications and stakeholder discussions.
Some of the processes managed by the PMP are:
Reviewing, writing, and managing the Scope Of Works (SOW’s)
Project Planning, Executing, and Closing
Planning and Leading meetings
Articulating the vision of the stakeholders to the project teams
Forward-thinking processes
Conducting site visits
Write and execute the project governance phases
Managing and reviewing invoices, Managing change order costs, and schedule
Reviewing all project schedules
Identifying project issues and risks
Reviewing best installation and design/engineering quality
Deep understanding of project drawings, specs, and documents
Tracking, reviewing, and managing scope creep
Reviewing, enforcing, and practicing safety protocols
Communicating and collaborating with site utilities (power, water, fiber, solar, and gas)
Reviewing and directing resources
Forming a cross-functional project team
Managing design changes from the owners
Communicating with design/engineering teams
Understanding the operations team’s budget and vision
Helping owners understand issues and providing strategies to solve issues
PMPs do all this while keeping stakeholders informed daily, weekly, and monthly.
Some companies will use or confuse process and task management differences during a construction project. Process management is how project management professionals understand how to manage any project from start to finish; task managers work on a piece or part of the project, much like they build/manage a project component, and that’s all. Task management and project management stand as two distinct but closely related roles.
What’s a project/process manager vs. a task manager?
With over 150 years of educational knowledge in project management, The process manager will oversee the entire project life cycle and the processes involved in delivering the project according to the specs that project management professionals have learned using different methodologies throughout the project. They completed a series of tasks to complete the project, but they oversaw those tasks and managed the process to the end.
Task management usually belongs to one person. It is actionable, with a defined start and end point, and characterized by specific objectives. Tasks could include drafting a report, analyzing, entering project data, or following project leadership’s processes and deliverables. Task management is a crucial part of the process manager’s strategy for ensuring overall project success and managing other project components throughout the project’s life cycle.
A project/process manager is responsible for multiple project life cycle tasks.
On a Data Center construction project, a process manager is a project management professional (PMP) who is contracted by the owner, developer, GC, engineer, or other discipline involved in the project.
The process manager is the overall governing member of the project. They are responsible for planning, starting, and ending the project successfully and safely. Using project management tools is essential to keeping the triple constraints according to the initial SOW.
They are responsible for completing several tasks throughout the project, using project leadership and processes to manage them. These processes complete a larger goal for the stakeholders, such as a clear understanding of communication and project vision.
What’s the difference between a task manager vs. a project/process manager?
A task manager completes a piece of work that needs to be done within the project. It’s like the smallest unit of achievement. The task manager emphasizes completing discrete, self-contained, and independent tasks under a project manager or a PMP.
The process manager assigns tasks, sets deadlines, provides necessary resources, and meets regularly with the project members and stakeholders. Process management, therefore, may be defined as an approach used to strategize and align processes within an organization and projects.
The process manager’s primary responsibility is to manage the project’s complete life cycle using Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, Lean, as a hybrid approach, etc., that combines elements of different project management methodologies.
What value do project/process managers bring?
We are PMPs. Not task managers! This means we manage processes; we don’t just check off tasks.
We plan, execute, and manage the thousands of processes to complete large-scale data center construction projects. The PMP oversees the entire project while providing project leadership in communications with owner’s representatives and stakeholder discussions.
Some of the processes managed by the PMP are:
Reviewing, writing, and managing the Scope Of Works (SOW’s)
Project Planning, Executing, and Closing
Planning and Leading meetings
Articulating the vision of the stakeholders to the project teams
Forward-thinking processes
Conducting site visits
Write and execute the project governance phases
Managing and reviewing invoices, Managing change order costs, and schedule
Reviewing all project schedules
Identifying project issues and risks
Reviewing best installation and design/engineering quality
Deep understanding of project drawings, specs, and documents
Tracking, reviewing, and managing scope creep
Reviewing, enforcing, and practicing safety protocols
Communicating and collaborating with site utilities (power, water, fiber, solar, and gas)
Reviewing and directing resources
Forming a cross-functional project team
Managing design changes from the owners
Communicating with design/engineering teams
Understanding the operations team’s budget and vision
Helping owners understand issues and providing strategies to solve issues.
PMPs do all this while keeping stakeholders informed daily, weekly, and monthly.
