Construction management (CM) saves clients time and money by providing effective, centralised management of all the consultants and contractors involved in a building project.

So says architect Winston Modise, who is one of dozens of South African building professionals newly exposed to the CM method of procurement in the past year, while working on projects with specialist CM company ASA Construction Services.

Another is land surveyor Alfeus Nonyane, who notes that CM also promotes good working relationships between professionals and contractors, and a spirit of teamwork that is also beneficial to the client.

"However," says ASA Construction Services MD Simon Harwood, "most professionals we surveyed recently said they had found that the appointment of a construction manager at an early stage of a project also meant significant savings for their own practices."

Such savings arise, firstly, from the CM practice of carefully defining a particular project before sourcing a professional team from among those with the most relevant skills or expertise. This facilitates the preparation only of appropriate proposals, and speeds up both evaluation and implementation - which obviously has positive cashflow implications for the professionals involved.

Then, CM also cuts down on wastage of professional manpower and resources generally, because it puts paid to the situation in which a client may cast about for ideas by seeking several different proposals for each professional aspect of a project - although intending ultimately to select only one in each field.

In addition, notes structural engineer Tendayi Chiro, the construction manager has the practical construction knowledge to bridge any gap between the client's concept and the professionals' proposals, and thus enable the rapid formulation of a clear and detailed project brief, as well as agreement on a budget - before the professional practices commit costly resources to the project.

And even further savings derive from the fact that CM significantly reduces the time and manpower that professional practices must devote to project adminstration, and to on- site monitoring during the construction phase. Or, as electrical engineer Richard Nzuza says: "Now the construction manager is responsible for all quality control, and the professional only for quality assurance."

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