Construction Manager vs. General Contractor: What’s the Difference?
Construction management is a vast and exciting field, offering powerful opportunities to shape built environments and entire communities. Numerous career opportunities within this far-reaching field encourage passionate professionals to craft their careers as they see fit. Exciting roles are available for all types of individuals, encompassing numerous niches and strategies.
When you are in the early stages of planning a career in construction management, the diverse fields can often be difficult to understand. We will delve into a difficult decision — construction manager vs. general contractor — revealing what makes these roles so compelling and what it takes to succeed as a leader in the construction industry.
Overview of the Construction Industry
The construction industry encompasses various specialties like residential, commercial, civil, and industrial projects. It also includes key players such as owners, designers, general contractors, specialized contractors, material suppliers, and trades personnel.
Construction teams rely on a clear hierarchy to ensure every member understands their role and contributes effectively. Within this hierarchy, there are many levels and designations, with everyone from laborers and tradespeople to foremen, safety officers, and construction managers contributing to the success of any given project.
The Importance of Management Roles
With so many moving parts, it can be easy for ambitious construction projects to be derailed by unexpected events. Challenges related to budgets, scope of work, or resource allocation can be navigated with proper planning and coordination. This is where project managers, construction managers, and general contractors come into play. These professionals use a broad skill set to deliver projects smoothly and address daily site safety and productivity.
Key Players in Construction Projects
While all team members and stakeholders contribute to the construction process, a few key players have a significant impact on maintaining high-quality standards while keeping projects on schedule and within budget.
Each project is created by an owner who defines project goals and objectives and usually provides financial backing. Projects may be commissioned by corporate entities, government agencies, or nonprofit organizations.
The project manager role centers around long-term planning and coordination, with the project manager acting as a key liaison between the client and various construction, engineering, or architectural teams. Larger firms may hire project directors to oversee multiple project managers.
Next up in the construction project hierarchy are construction managers and general contractors. Construction managers focus primarily on field operations including planning and quality control, providing broad oversight while also reporting to owners, p, and project managers, and their firms. General contractors focus on immediate concerns in the physical construction environment and with team members such as laborers, tradespersons and designers.
Growth and Opportunities
While construction’s hierarchy may seem complicated at first glance, it affords many advantages beyond sheer efficiency. From the construction professional’s perspective, this hierarchy is useful because it provides a clear pathway for career advancement. With the right degree and exposure to various facets of the construction industry, ambitious professionals can move into mid-level and, eventually, senior-level management roles.
Below, we will explore two of the most compelling pathways in detail while also revealing what a construction manager does and what a general contractor does.
What Is a Construction Manager?
Directing the coordination and delegation of diverse construction tasks, the construction manager plays an instrumental role, beginning with the Notice to Proceed (NTP) and extending through closeout and turnover to the owner’s facilities management (FM) team.
The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) explains that this professional represents the owner’s interests and has a mandate to “work with all parties to deliver the project on time, at or under budget, and to the owner’s expected standard of quality, scope, and function.”
- Elevate Construction’s Jason Schroeder adds that these leaders act as “advisors and overseers,” striving for “successful execution.” Priorities identified by Schoeder include “mak[ing] sure [construction] stays within budget and mak[ing] sure it stays on schedule.”
- Typical Projects. Construction managers oversee diverse projects across industries, playing a vital role in residential developments, from single-family homes to apartment complexes, and in commercial projects like retail centers and office buildings. Some projects may also involve industrial construction, including warehouses, manufacturing facilities, oil and gas projects, and power plants.
- Employment Settings. Construction managers can frequently be found in the office, where they handle big-picture concerns involving planning, coordination, or budgeting of the work performed in the field. They may also conduct site visits. Their onsite presence helps to ensure that projects abide by strict quality standards, budgets, and timelines.
It is important to note that these responsibilities differ somewhat depending on whether a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) delivery system is used; in this situation, the construction manager will hold a higher level of authority and oversight and represent the Owner team during the beginning of the project.
Responsibilities and Duties
Construction management responsibilities can vary somewhat depending on the Owner’s experience and staff size as well as the type of projects, but Jason Schroeder highlights a few key priorities: planning, scheduling, cost control, and safety compliance.
- Project Planning and Scheduling. Construction managers take a proactive approach to help maximize productivity while preventing bottlenecks or other issues. Critical Path scheduling is essential for construction managers as tasks are sequenced to ensure work is done in the correct order. The schedule is a critical tool that helps coordinate labor and materials to be available precisely when and where needed.
- Budget Management. Strict budgets can be difficult to maintain, and cost overruns occur frequently due to labor shortages or supply chain issues. Construction managers help plan for and overcome these issues by negotiating with vendors, tracking construction costs meticulously, and using specialized software to enhance cost forecasting.
- Coordination and Communication. As a key point of contact for numerous team members and stakeholders, construction managers strive to maintain open lines of communication.
- Quality Control and Safety. Construction managers work alongside safety officers to ensure that job sites comply with strict safety standards. Should safety concerns arise, the construction manager can take prompt actions to safeguard employees and promote mitigation of key site risks.
- Risk Management. Every construction project involves risks. Construction managers play a key role in identifying and understanding these risks and taking proactive steps to minimize or mitigate them whenever possible.
Required Skills and Qualifications
Calling for a diverse array of skills and knowledge, construction management draws on numerous technical competencies and leadership skills to ensure that projects are completed safely, on time, and on budget.
- Educational Background. Construction management increasingly requires graduate-level credentials. Programs like a master’s in construction management provide comprehensive training in key areas, including scheduling, cost estimating, and project management.
- Technical Skills. While pursuing an online construction management degree, aspiring construction management professionals can develop a wide range of technical skills that they will use for real-world problem-solving purposes. These skills include cost estimating and cost monitoring, scheduling, and advanced project management techniques..
- Soft Skills. Critical to success in construction management, soft skills allow construction professionals to convey their vision and interact effectively with a variety of clients or team members. Communication consistently ranks as the most important skill, although construction managers must develop and use high-level critical thinking skills.
What Is a General Contractor?
So, what is a general contractor, and what does a general contractor do, exactly? General contractors share many skills and employ construction managers but a construction manager employed by a GC will have emphasis on the day-to-day work performed on the actual construction site. Typical Projects. General contractors are involved in diverse projects ranging from small-scale residential builds (such as single-family homes) to large-scale commercial pursuits such as office buildings. Across numerous types of projects, general contractors provide the activities, materials, personnel, and onsite coordination and oversight necessary to build the facility.
- Employment Settings. Although general contractors may spend some time in the office as they coordinate construction activities or interact with stakeholders, they are located at the construction site where they provide direct oversight for construction teams.
Responsibilities and Duties
General contractors can hold a diverse range of responsibilities, which may differ according to the goals or scope of any given project. In general, this role involves, as Jason Schroeder explains, hiring subcontractors, procuring materials, personnel safety, and addressing any issues that may arise during construction.
- Project Execution. Above all else, general contractors are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day workflows of dynamic construction sites, where a variety of team members and tasks can influence progress or challenges. This may involve arranging for materials, labor, and equipment while also promptly handling any delays that may arise.
- Subcontractor Management. Tasked with handling specific aspects of construction, subcontractors lend their expertise to anything from plumbing to carpentry, electrical work, HVAC, and security systems. General contractors are tasked with choosing the best subcontractors and coordinating their efforts to ensure alignment with the construction schedule.
- Procurement of Materials. Procurement, a key responsibility of general contractors, starts with reviewing specifications to identify the required materials. These may include structural materials like steel, and concrete, as well as finishes such as flooring. General contractors develop strong relationships with suppliers, often requesting bids from multiple parties to locate the best value. Following negotiations, general contractors finalize the purchase of materials and may also inspect deliveries or arrange for appropriate storage.
- Compliance and Permits. Working closely with legal teams or insurance companies, general contractors must understand federal, state, and local building codes and permit requirements and perform their work in strict compliance. This means adhering to labor laws, environmental regulations, and safety standards. General contractors are sometimes responsible for securing permits, which may call for modifications and periodic inspections.
- Site Safety. Maintaining overall responsibility for ensuring the safety of construction sites, general contractors develop safety plans that comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. General contractors also ensure that necessary safety protocols and personal protective equipment are available and being used at the site.
Required Skills and Qualifications
General contractors must develop a thorough understanding of the construction landscape and relevant rules and regulations.
- Educational Background. General contractors can benefit from enrolling in career-focused degree programs. A bachelor’s or master’s degree can be helpful and can facilitate a shift from general contracting into higher-level management roles within the industry.
- Technical Skills. General contractors and agency construction managers share many technical skills. The GC will focus on the intricacies of controlling the site and building the facility, requiring greater emphasis on the nuances of construction, such as material selection, blueprint reading, and construction techniques.
- Soft Skills. General contractors need many soft skills with their counterparts in construction management but apply them in the context of the construction job site. Communication skills are especially important, with general contractors expected to shift their style of communication to suit different team members or stakeholders. General contractors should also be highly adaptable and adept problem-solvers, as they may need to shift their strategy based on emerging challenges.
Construction Manager vs. General Contractor: Key Differences
The main differences between construction managers and general contractors are the level and breadth of oversight. Construction managers, who work for the owner team, focus coordination and overall execution. Agency construction managers are not responsible for the performance of the work required to build the project. General contracting involves more of a hands-on approach, emphasizing seamless workflows on a day-to-day basis. These core differences can play into the more specific nuances of these roles, such as their differing work environments and responsibilities.
CMAA’s Northern California Chapter clarifies, Agency “CMs are not general contractors or constructors and typically do not perform the actual construction tasks themselves, but rather act as an advisor to or agent of the owner.”
Scope of Responsibility
Agency construction management is practice that assists the owner team in completing the project successfully, while general contracting emphasizes seamless, day-to-day execution. These differing priorities play out in distinct scopes of responsibility:
- Agency Construction Manager. Although they may report to construction directors, construction managers hold broad authority over the construction process. They take a big-picture view, working with stakeholders and owners while handling general coordination and risk management. Their goal is to work on the owner’s behalf to assure the project’s ongoing progress, and, as CMAA explains, “control a project’s time, cost, and quality.”
- General Contractor. Featuring a narrower and more targeted scope of work, general contracting delves into the hands-on elements of construction. General contractors hold some autonomy, but this primarily relates to how construction sites are run, which materials, methods and equipment used.
Relationship with the Client
While both construction managers and general contractors may have the opportunity to discuss key concerns with owners, communications are normally routed to the construction manager and then to the owner team. Beyond this, the nature of client interactions may differ considerably between these two roles:
- Construction Manager. Interacting extensively with clients, construction managers act as key liaisons to streamline and coordinate overall communication.
- General Contractor. Compared to construction managers, general contractors maintain a more structured relationship with clients. Their primary point of contact tends to be the construction manager, although they will have regular contact with the owner team through structured project status meetings including discussions regarding delays or other urgent concerns.
Project Involvement Timing
Beyond differences in how daily responsibilities play out between these two roles, distinctions may also emerge regarding when these key players get involved in the construction process. These timing differences largely relate to their unique focus on either strategic management or project execution.
- Agency Construction Manager. Highly involved between the NTP and closeout, the construction manager sets the tone and structure for the construction effort.. They are heavily engaged earlier on to provide critical input into the design, budget concerns, and scheduling.
- General Contractor. General contractors take the majority role in building construction projects. They are most relevant during the execution and turn over phases, ensuring that construction adheres to the contract documents.
Financial Arrangement
Financial risks are inherent in all areas of construction management, but they tend to play out differently for construction managers and general contractors, who assume different roles and types of risk.
- Construction Manager. Fixed fees or hourly rates may be assessed for construction management services. The construction manager reports to and is often integrated with the owners team.
- General Contractor. Working under contractual agreements that may involve fixed prices, general contractors take on the financial risk of completing the construction work. Because they handle procurement and manage subcontractors, they are responsible for the costs related to materials and labor.
Risk and Liability
Moving beyond financial risks, construction managers and general contractors must manage a diverse array of other risks, which could involve everything from safety to timing and scope of work.
- Construction Manager. Although they play a higher-level role in risk management, construction managers assume no liability for work quality issues or construction defects. They may still be held accountable if there are issues with scheduling or coordination.
- General Contractor. Tasked with ensuring exceptional quality of work, general contractors assume all responsibility for work quality issues and construction defects in the event that projects do not meet the contract terms and clearly defined standards.
Similarities Between Construction Managers and General Contractors
Despite the many differences described above, many shared passions and goals link construction management and general contracting. Ultimately, both types of professionals are crucial to success in the construction industry.
- Shared Goals. Focused on promoting cost-effective and timely work along with high quality standards, construction managers and general contractors share the broad goal of satisfying clients as they plan and implement impactful construction projects.
- Essential Skills. Both construction managers and general contractors need to possess a thorough understanding of the modern construction industry and similar soft skills such as communication, critical thinking, adaptability, and problem-solving.
- Collaboration. As a highly collaborative field, construction calls for extensive interaction with many types of professionals or stakeholders. While construction managers and general contractors may collaborate with different types of professionals, both need to work effectively within diverse teams.
The Role of a Construction Management Degree in Career Advancement
There are many paths to advancement in the diverse construction field, but a targeted degree can provide one of the most efficient and reliable opportunities to climb this field’s unique career ladder. A graduate degree in construction is especially valuable, offering a solid foundation in management concepts specific to the dynamic construction environment.
Importance of Education
Don’t underestimate the value of a formal education in preparing for the construction industry’s most impactful roles. This can provide a strong foundation in key areas such as project planning, budgeting, and scheduling while promoting soft skill development. Credentials also matter, with employers and clients enjoying greater confidence when working with well-trained management professionals.
Benefits of a Master’s in Construction Management
While multiple degree programs can promote relevant skills, few offer comprehensive preparation, quite like the master’s in construction management. A Master’s in Construction Management offers:
- Advanced Skills Development. Offering a deep dive into project scheduling, risk management, and construction law, a master’s degree in construction management can equip students with the understanding and expertise needed to tackle the variety of emerging challenges in the construction industry.
- Competitive Edge. Offering a distinct advantage in a competitive job market, a construction management degree can help aspiring professionals stand out as they submit resumes and interview for top jobs.
- Networking Opportunities. Offering opportunities to connect with a vast network of industry professionals, construction management degree programs help students develop crucial contacts that make it easier to get compelling jobs and continue to advance in the construction industry.
- Flexibility. A master’s in construction management is an excellent pathway for aspiring construction managers, general contractors, and project managers. It prepares professionals for diverse roles while offering flexible coursework and can be tailored to the students’ particular interests. This may appeal to working students, who can craft their schedules to accommodate professional obligations.
How a Master’s Degree Prepares You for Both Roles
At first glance, the master’s in construction management may appear more closely aligned with construction management or project management roles. In reality, however, this degree can also set aspiring general contractors up for success. Shared advantages include:
Comprehensive Skill Set
The master’s in construction management covers essential skills like budgeting, scheduling, and contract negotiation, providing valuable knowledge for both construction managers and general contractors. This degree can also be valuable for developing widely applicable soft skills.
Leadership Development
Both general contractors and construction managers are expected to make difficult decisions, often while navigating ethical or compliance requirements. Through master’s programs, they can gain hands-on practice with decision-making initiatives, learning how to anticipate challenges and assess multiple factors as they make -decisions and provide oversight for diverse teams.
Strategic Thinking
Although construction management involves different responsibilities and focus than general contracting, general contractors can benefit from applying a strategic approach to their day-to-day efforts on the modern construction site.
Texas A&M University’s Online Master of Science in Construction Management
Whether you aspire to become a construction manager or a general contractor, you can benefit greatly from pursuing your Master of Science in Construction Management with Texas A&M University. Offering an accessible and immersive online format, this program can set you up for success in several construction-oriented career paths. Reach out today to learn more.
