Anywhere you visit throughout the world today, there is a very good chance you will come across some type of construction taking place. It could be the construction of new schools, roads, buildings, bridges, shopping centers, restaurants, or subdivisions. Construction has become a complex process, which involves different levels of education and experience. The construction worker must be ready to work around the clock because of problems such as bad weather, delays, and project deadlines. A person who works in construction could be a machine operator, job supervisor, project planner, safety supervisor, materials manager, contractor, or have a number of other duties. One very important worker in the construction field is the construction manager. The construction manager plots and administrates all activities for each project, usually works over forty hours per week from a central office or field office, and has to have hours of work experience and education in the construction industry.
Construction management is the term applied to the technique of managing the various designs and construction processes of a building project on behalf of an owner or client (Volume 2). Construction management became a formal construction concept in the 1970's by the Public Building Service of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Before then, when an owner wanted to start a new project, he would call upon an architect. Usually chosen on the basis of reputation and status, the architect would handle every aspect of the construction process from start to finish. For many years, this construction process worked just fine. However, as buildings and their systems became more complex and as costs rose rapidly in the 1970's, this way of handling construction began to fail. In 1971, the GSA found that the federal government could no longer afford to rely on the traditional bidding process for larger, complex projects, and therefore the need of a construction manager came into play (Volume 2).