Thesis: Construction Manager Role and Impact on Site Disputes

This thesis investigates the crucial role of construction managers in construction sites, particularly focusing on how their performance impacts disputes between clients and contractors. The research employs a qualitative approach, combining theoretical analysis with empirical data collected through questionnaires administered to project managers. It identifies the essential skills, qualities, and competencies that project managers should possess, highlighting the importance of leadership in achieving project objectives. The study reveals that while the construction industry often relegates project managers to administrative and supervisory roles, their presence in leadership positions is vital for project success. However, underperformance in this leadership role can exacerbate tensions and disputes. The thesis delves into various aspects of a project manager's role, including communication, empowerment, influence, problem-solving, conflict resolution, planning, and time management, and examines critical success factors for construction projects. It emphasizes the need for effective planning, control methods, and transparent communication channels to ensure project objectives are met, ultimately aiming to provide insights into how construction managers can effectively contribute to project success and minimize disputes.

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
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The Role of a construction manager in construction sites
Executive summary
The construction industry plays an essential role in the economy of a nation in different parts of
the world. The industry employs a sizeable portion of the workforce , acts as the main
catalyst for the development and growth of the economy and largely contributes to the gross
domestic product (GDP) of the nations. The construction industry is nevertheless, is beset
with many problems, which includes the inability to deliver the projects within the specified
timeframe and the specified budget and at the required quality. These challenges are
continuously discerning clients who are planning to invest in this industry. It is due to that that
the project management has assumed so much the significance with the project managers
seen to be a very essential resource in the project delivery and achieving the project
objectives. Nevertheless, the role of the project managers in construction sites is still unclear.
These research hypotheses that the role of the project managers in the construction sites should
be the leadership role. Usually, it is only when the project managers are in leadership positions
that the project objectives are achieved. In this research, a qualitative approach was followed
whereby both theoretical and analytical methods were used. The findings from the theoretical
studies cleared revealed the skill, qualities and the competencies that the project managers
ought to possess and the links between the project achieving its objectives and the project
manager assuming the leadership position. The key data collection tool which was used in
the analytical method was the questionnaires which were administered to different project
managers who are involved in the construction of the project. It was found out that while the
construction industry in different parts of the world does not recognize the importance of the
project managers , their role in the construction sites is relegated to the monitoring,

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administrative and supervision works. Even though the project managers ensure that all the
construction activities in the construction sites are carried out according to the CBA as well as
other construction documents, But in the construction projects where the project managers
underperform, their presence in the leadership position turns to be the foundation of the tension
and dispute between the contractor and the client.
Introduction
The construction industry plays Avery important role in the economy of many countries, it is
Avery essential employment generator. It is a highly diversified industry which ranges from the
infrastructure projects which includes airports and highways, commercial spaces which include
the malls and offices, residential apartment and houses, as well as the industrial facilities.
Currently, the construction industry is facing a lot of challenges and highly fragmented.
The project managers in construction sites will have an overall role for the successful planning,
execution, control, monitoring and closure of the construction projects. Project managers must
have a combination of skills which will include the ability to detect unstated assumptions, ask
penetrating questions and resolve conflicts within the construction sites as well as the
management skills. The project managers are key figures in the project delivery. They will be
responsible for the overall success of delivering construction projects within the specified
budgets and timelines.
The project managers in construction site must be able to perform effectively within the
given time-scales and strictly adhere to the specified budgets and at the same to work to
ensure that they create positive conditions between the client and the contractor and to ensure
that they create a good relationship through the contract. The project managers will be

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responsible in managing a set of services deliveries , which on the other hand must be
achieved on the given time to ensure that all the activities in the schedule are completed
within the given time. In order to overcome some of the certain tasks , project managers will
be required to show initiatives and be able to find ways which are best to adapt given
situation and to offer a successful critical path analysis.
Aims and objectives
The main aim of this research is to find out the role of the construction managers in the
construction sites and to establish how their underperformance causes disputes between the
clients and the contractors. With that specific objectives were set to assist in achieving the main
aim of the study and they include;
1. Finding out the role of the project managers in the construction industry
2. Determine the qualities of a good manager
3. Discussing the importance of including project managers in construction project
4. Establishing the poor practices by the construction managers which can cause
disputes between the contractors and the clients (Berkun, 2018, p. 89)
Literature review
Importance of project managers in construction
A construction project can be quite challenging and stressful, even for the seasoned project
management professional. The successful project management in constructions needs a wide
range of skills and qualities. Not only that the project will be required to be completed on
time and within the specified budgets, but they will need to adhere to specific building
regulations . Strong communication skills are very important, as is the ability to solve

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problems, make decisions and solve conflicts. Cost control, time management, knowledge of
health and safety on the construction sites and the experience of the construction process are
all important and necessary prerequisites in a project manager (Bill Scott, 2010, p. 782).
One of the main importance of having the project managers in the construction sites is that they
have knowledge and skills on planning, budgeting, designing, programming and monitoring
the overall project. Involvement of the project managers in the construction process can greatly
benefit from doing away with unnecessary delays and costs.
The responsibility of the project managers in the construction industry extends beyond the
project itself to the management of other construction workers and the daily activities which are
carried out in the construction sites. For instance , the project managers will be required to
check the correct building materials which have arrived in the construction sites and to ensure
that the materials arrive on site on time .As part of project monitoring , project managers must
regularly report on the progress of the project to the client and the sector management.
Content support is a big part and role (Institute, 2010, p. 892). The project managers will plan
and arrange regular visits to the potential new clients.
Roles of a project manager in construction site
i) Communication
In the construction sites, project managers’ acts as a link among different parties in the
construction sites. Hence there is a need for the project manager to have good communication
skills. The decision-making ability, communication skills, and intelligence are very important
traits for any project manager. Communication id this scenario is defined as the ability of the
project manager to listen, understand and persuade others. The exchange of information usually

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determines the effectiveness of the communication. Effectiveness of communication refers to the
act of transmitting information either verbally or in a written form. Overall for the project
managers to work effectively they should have listened, oral and good writing skills (Hess, 2018,
p. 667).
ii) Empowerment
The ability of project managers to empowering other is very important for them to work
effectively in the leadership positions, this is because , they then do not play the roles of
implementers or the managers only, but also the ability to delegate and make decisions.
Project managers have improved roe to play in the regulating and the distribution of the
resources and give them more flexibility and freedom of action. By empowering the project
managers , the project standards can be enhanced , discipline with the construction site can
be maintained in high levels and all the aspects of the projects can also be monitored
accordingly.
iii) Influencing
Project managers are required to have the ability to influence other members of the construction
team in a very personal way. The project manager can influence others through the use of
feedback on the activities which are carried out. Regular site visits are recommended , which
will indicate interests, appreciations, and concern for the performance in order to increase
loyalty and a sense of belonging to the project team. It is through this influence the standards
for the work and the key expectation may be communicated appropriately through different
levels of the project (Chartered Institute of Building, 2017, p. 82).
iv) Problem-Solving Skills

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Problem-solving is the ability to analyses adverse conditions and the sources of conflict , and
identifying the practical solutions to the conflicts and at the same ensuring that the solutions
to that problem are implemented. The ability to solve problems is a very essential skill for
any project manager to perform well, where there is a regular eruption of problems in the
project. All the project managers must have the ability to make informed judgment where
they make application of data and experience to draw conclusions and to make decisions
which can lead to solutions of different problems when they arise in any construction project.
v) Conflict Resolution
vi) Planning and Goal Setting
vii) Time Management (Davies, 2018, p. 90)
Effective time management by the project managers is very important for completing different
tasks within the set deadlines. Effective time management is very important in reducing the
overall time of the project without necessarily compromising the quality of the project.
Critical Success Factors for Construction Projects
An analysis of the literature regarding the important success factors for the construction
project only confusion, ambiguity and underscores prevail on this subject. For the
construction projects to be successful planning and control methods are very crucial. (Chartered
Institute of Building, 2017, p. 318) States that improved scheduling, control mechanism and
monitoring of the construction projects can be able to positively impact the construction projects.
(Berkun, 2018, p. 410) also considered that the aforementioned aspects as being very crucial
but he also added feedback, project philosophy, review, resources allocation, project
organization and the project composition and selection as other factors which determines the

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success of the construction project. (Razalli, 2018, p. 32) Found out that a list of essential factors
for the construction projects includes; training, client characteristics, labour management,
logistics, and finance. (Davies, 2018, p. 431)Deliberated that the management of transparent and
information communication channels are essential factors of ensuring that the construction
projects objectives are achieved. (Hess, 2018, p. 92)stated that the budgeting, cost estimation
and enough funding to the project are the most significant and at the same time they add
project team competence and qualifications as extra factors.
(Neckband, 2015, p. 331)from there analysis which was carried out in many construction
projects found out that setting of clear project goals and aims opens up a channel of
communication as an essential success factor.
(Klinger, 2013, p. 752)Pointed out that the scope of the project determines the project duration and
therefore it has an impact on the overall success of the project.
added to the project scope, size and project complexity as other important factors which
determine the success of the project. According to the management of tendering and
procurement processes, including a selection of suppliers ,contractors, sub-contractors, vendors,
and consultants to be essential factors. (Bill Scott, 2010, p. 768)Focused mainly on the influence
of the client on project feedbacks.
From the above-discussed factors above that, the views given summarizes the common
understanding of the important success factors of the construction factors. An analysis of
other works which have been carried out by other scholars in the past shows that the shift
towards the consideration of the project management as the most significant success factors
in addition to all other factors which have been discussed above. (Ranns, 2015)found out four

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essential factors which directly related to the projects and they include; project manager,
project organization, project management, and the external environmental factors. The project
management which was identified was directly related to life cycles of the project, size of the
project, skills, and competencies of the project team members, organizational structures and
the economic, political , technological and social issues. (Minchin, 2012, p. 78)greatly
believed project management is a single and the biggest factor in achieving project success,
combining and controlling , management actions, organization structure, safety management,
and quality control. The latest view is that of (Soucar, 2016, p. 879)Figure 1 below indicates a
typical construction project activities without a project
Fig 1: Construction of a project with a project manager

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Fig 2: Construction project with a project manager.
Research Methodology
All the research methodologies can either be classified as quantitative or qualitative. The
Qualitative research is normally based on the theoretical study and in most cases it is applied
in the identification of patterns, themes or data which contains recurring features . The
Quantitative research is usually based on the accurate measurement and experiments and in
most cases used to find out the statistical relationship among a set of variables .The Qualitative
research makes application of the exploration process in order to construct and explain a
hypothesis (Billing, 2017, p. 642). Equally the quantitative research makes of use of
mathematical models and other forms of calculations to predict the possible outcomes. The
qualitative research is the best technique when it is employed in explaining social
phenomena, The qualitative research is a research which deals with the subjective assessment

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of the opinions, attitudes, and behavior . Carrying out research in such a situation is just a
function of a researcher’s impressions and insights. As much as qualitative research can be a
subject to prejudice and bias of the interpreter. The use of qualitative research collects data
either in a non-quantitative form or any other form which will not be subjected to rigorous
quantitative analysis. The quantitative research is usually based on figures and statistics. This
type of researches used in testing the hypotheses, at the same time to look at the cause and
effects, and then make predictions. This type of research is used to find out statistical
relationships between the variables and then delivers objective results.
In this study, different data collection methods were used to collect data and they include;
i) The use of questionnaires
The application of questionnaires will involve the use of set close-ended questions which
will be responded to by the selected respondents. The closed end questions that will be used
can be able to yield objective answers which can be used for statistical analysis. Thus in the
interest of obtaining objective outcome and reduce the ambiguity in the data collected. Close end
questions will be selected. All the participants who will take part in the study will be required to
respond to the questions in the questionnaires based on a four-point liker scale. The preferred
selection of the answers will be represented by a number one to four which will be collated
together to be used for statistical analysis (Tomasin, 2017, p. 112). All the questionnaires that
will be administered to the project managers will evaluate the role they play in their
respective projects and what bearing role have on the delivery of the project.
The questionnaires will be used as the primary data collection method as it will be possible to
offer many advantages.in most cases the questionnaires are considered as the quickest ,

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practical and most economical data collection method. This is specifically when it is compared
to the personal interviews or focus groups. The questionnaires that will be used can be answered
at the convenience of the respondents. Furthermore, the respondents can be able to respond to the
questionnaires without necessary disclosing their identity (Klinger, 2013, p. 87).
ii) Interviews
The questionnaires will be administered to collect the main data sets. Nevertheless, the
researcher will require extra clarification on some issues regarding the role of the project
managers in the construction industry and how their underperformance can fuel conflicts
between contractors and clients. In this study, both face to face interviews and phone
interviews will be used. The phone interviews will be prioritized over the personal interviews
since it is much convenient in clearing doubts, quick, cheap and flexible.
iii) Review of secondary sources
This will involve the review of secondary sources which contains data relevant to the research
topic. The research will review books, journals, magazines and any other secondary source
which will contain relevant data to the research topic (Soucar, 2016, p. 778).
Poor construction management skills
For the construction management practices to be termed effective, the construction manager
must be able to manage the construction project to be completed to meet the expected level
of quality and to meet all the contract terms which include the specified project costs and
the given timeframe. Unfortunately, the majority of the construction companies in different
parts of the world engage in repeated ineffective practices which results to suboptimal results
such as the conflict between the client and the contractors, poor quality work, injuries and

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accidents in construction sites. Some of the poor management practices by the construction
managers which leads disputes between the clients and the contractors to include;
i) Ineffective risk assessment
Some of the risks are typical, while others which are encountered are very unique to a given
construction project. The outcomes of all the incidents which are associated with increased risks
are not fatal to the project, but some of them do have some adverse effects. Some of the issues
which were not addressed in the risk assessment will result in more issues which will cause the
project to develop many complications. Some of the risks which were not addressed by the
construction manager during the assessment will lead to conflicts between the client and the
contractors (Minchin, 2012, p. 237).
ii) Inferior planning
Planning is much more than creating a schedule. Planning which is done by the construction
manager involves logistics-proactively addressing the impacts of the potential changes ,
drawings up recovery plans on how to deal with the activities which have to be carried out in
the construction site. Poor planning by the construction manager in the construction site will
lead to some of the activities being left out and due to that, there will be the possibility of
some disputes and conflicts between the client and the contractor regarding on the project
deliverables (Razalli, 2018, p. 267).
iii) Poor preconstruction practices
In scenarios where the construction managers allow poor preconstruction practices to be
practiced in the construction site, they lay a bad foundation for the construction of the actual
project. This will lead to the poor quality project which will not be able to meet the expectations

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of the client and with that, there is likely a dispute to arise between the client and the contractor
who is responsible with the construction works (Ranns, 2015, p. 78).
Other practices by the construction managers which will facilitate dispute between the client and
the contractor include;
Conclusion
In conclusion, The construction industry is nevertheless, is faced with many problems, which
includes the inability to deliver the projects within the specified timeframe and the specified
budget and at the required quality. These challenges are continuously discerning clients who are
planning to invest in this industry. It is due to that that the project management has assumed so
much the significance with the project managers seen to be a very essential resource in the
project delivery and achieving the project objectives. Some of the roles played by the
construction managers n the construction industry include; empowering other construction
workers, ensuring there is proper communication within the construction sites, solving
problems within the construction site among others. However poor practices by the construction
managers will result in conflicts and disputes between the client and the contractors. Some of the
practices which will lead to the disputes include; Misaligned systems and little cross-functional
communication among others.

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References
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Bill Scott, 2010. Negotiating Skills in Engineering and Construction. 1st ed. Chicago: Thomas
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Billing, B., 2017. The Owner's Role in Project Risk Management. 5th ed. London: National
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Chartered Institute of Building, 2017. Code of Practice for Project Management for
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Davies, K. T., 2018. Construction Safety Handbook. 2nd ed. London: Thomas Telford.
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Neckband, A. a., 2015. Construction Management: Principles and Practice. 3rd ed. Chicago:
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Ranns, M., 2015. Practical Construction Management. 2nd ed. Sydney: Taylor & Francis.
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