What construction project management covers
A house is a project with many participants and a long sequence of dependencies. The permit depends on the designs. The designs depend on the soil study. The budget depends on the designs. The schedule depends on the budget and on the contractor’s capacity. When one piece slips, the others move too.
The project manager holds those pieces together for the owner. The work is organised into the four phases we use for every client.
The four phases
| Phase | Main tasks |
|---|---|
| 1. Site search and due diligence | Property search in the Valle del Cauca, drone imagery, title study with an attorney, zoning verification |
| 2. Design and permitting | Architectural design and 3D renders, structural and electrical designs, building permit, environmental authorisations when needed |
| 3. Construction and cost control | Contractor selection support, contract review, schedule and budget control, independent oversight, progress documentation |
| 4. Delivery | Final walkthrough, pending items, as-built drawings, permits, warranties and insurance-backed handover |
What the manager does day to day
- Planning and scheduling. Builds a schedule that shows the sequence, the dependencies and the critical points, and updates it as the work progresses.
- Budget control. Tracks costs against the budget, reviews changes and reports variances in COP, USD and EUR.
- Coordination. Keeps architects, engineers, the contractor, the attorney and the insurance broker working from the same information.
- Procurement support. Helps define scope, compare proposals and review contract terms.
- Risk and issue log. Identifies problems early and records decisions.
- Reporting. Sends regular reports with photos and video, written so that you can decide quickly.
Why an industrial engineer
Project management is at the centre of industrial engineering: planning processes, controlling cost, schedule and quality, and improving how work is done. John is an Industrial Engineer with a specialization in Project Management and more than ten years of experience managing infrastructure, energy and construction projects.
His current role gives an idea of the scale of the discipline: coordinating a portfolio of 50 contracts and 43 contractors in a municipal public entity, in Palmira, Pradera and Tuluá. That experience is in the public sector, so it is not the same as a private client project, but the tools are the same: contract control, cost control, schedule verification and technical compliance.
Who this is for
- Foreign owners who want to build a house or a small project in Colombia but cannot be on site.
- Owners who have land and designs, and need someone to organise the construction stage.
- Families who want one point of contact rather than four separate professionals.
What you receive
- A project plan with schedule, milestones and budget.
- Regular written reports with photo and video documentation.
- Budget-versus-actual reports in three currencies.
- A decision log and an issue log.
- A closing package: as-built drawings, permits, warranties and the final walkthrough.
Scope and limits
Legal, architectural and insurance services are provided by licensed, independent professionals from our network, coordinated by us. Independent oversight is part of our work, and where you want the strongest separation between the person who runs the project and the person who verifies it, the two functions can be assigned to different professionals. We do not sell or promote property.
Start with our guide to building a house in Colombia, or read about construction oversight and the owner’s representative.