Where would I find a project manager?

• More and more architect companies are becoming affiliated with construction companies, and are taking them on in partnership. This means that if you take your idea to an architect to have him or her produce a design of it, they will often be able to give you a project manager and a construction company to carry out the production part of the project.
• Another place to look is on The Association for Project Management website. This gives a list of its members throughout the UK as well as some international members.
• The Project Management Institute is another accredited body which has a list of members all who have to meet and adhere to special education and experience prerequisites.

What qualifications should I look for?

The Association for Project Management and The Project Management Institute both offer some of their own qualifications which their members have to pass in order to join. Some of these are the equivalents of those offered by the International Project Management Association, and they are linear qualifications which depend on experience and the amount of time that has been spent in the trade. Initial requirements for entry into these institutes are SVQ/NVQs level 4 and 5 in Project Management. These are the basic minimums which all project managers should have.

Now there are also degrees (MSc) and diplomas available, and these are the two qualifications which you should make sure that the project manager has.

How much will a project manager cost?

The cost of a project manager is usually job specific, so that the greater the job the more they will cost as the larger their responsibility and job will be. However, on average the price that will be charged by the project manager's company will be around £100 - £200 an hour. This will be dependent on how much time they spend on site, so although paperwork appears not to be paid for, this area of the project manager's job is not as hard and therefore will cost less. This means that the total amount paid will cover all aspects of the job in general so that the project manager does not have to keep a constant tally of how much of which job he is doing. Thus, the initial wage is often high to make sure that this occurs.

What should I ask my project manager?

• How long will planning take?
• Have you done a similar project to this before?
• Do you already know of contractors which we will be able to use?
• How long will construction take/I want construction to be completed by … is this possible?