Not always. If you’re repainting a few rooms or replacing a bathroom vanity, a good contractor and a clear quote are all you need. Paying someone to manage that would be a waste of money.
It changes once a renovation involves several trades, building plans and approvals, a fixed moving or opening date, or a budget with no room for surprises. Then somebody has to own the whole project. If that isn’t a project manager, it’s usually you, on top of your actual job.
What does a renovation project manager do?
On our projects, the project manager is the client’s single point of contact from the first plans to the handover. In practice that covers:
- Costings and budgets, with a breakdown you can follow
- Building plans and approvals, where the work needs them
- Finishes schedules, so every tile, light fitting and tap is specified before anything is ordered
- Procurement of suppliers and installers
- Running the installation teams and supervisors on site
- Checking quality and finishes
- Handing over the keys
Our project managers are on call 24/7, because building sites don’t keep office hours.
Most renovation problems are communication problems
The tiler doesn’t hear that the floor level changed. The electrician wires for last week’s layout. The client finds out about a delay when nobody turns up. None of that is a building problem. It’s a communication problem, and fixing it is the main thing a project manager is for.
When we redesigned Interim Solutions’ offices on a very tight budget, their director thanked the team for exactly that:
Thank you Carlos and your team for your honesty, integrity, constant communication, and follow-ups and making the re-design of our new offices a seamless and pain-free process.
Rob Mailich, Director, Interim Solutions
On a tight budget, that communication is what stops cost-cutting from turning into corner-cutting.
Budgets and time frames, upfront
Before any work starts, you should know what the project will cost and how long it will take, broken down so you can see where the money goes. We give clients a detailed, transparent cost breakdown and time frame when we plan the project. If a contractor can only give you one number, ask what’s in it.
Changes happen on almost every renovation. Agree how they’ll be priced and approved before the project starts, not halfway through.
Project manager or main contractor?
A main contractor builds. They price the work, bring in the trades and get it done. A project manager looks after your interests across the whole project: the design, the approvals, the budget, the suppliers and the builders.
On a small job the contractor can do both. On an office fit-out with a designer, several suppliers and a council submission, you want someone whose job is the whole picture. With a design-and-build team like ours, the design, the project management and the installation sit under one roof, so one person is accountable when something needs sorting out.
How our renovation projects run
Every project goes through the same three stages:
- Visualize: we start with your brief, your space and what the project has to achieve.
- Design: we design the layout and finishes, then give you a detailed cost breakdown and time frame.
- Execute: your project manager runs the build with our installation teams through to handover.
Fit-out project management in practice
Three of our projects show how different the job can be:
- HRW Recruitment Group, Rosebank Mall: a turnkey 600 m² office fit-out with five themed boardrooms, glass-partitioned offices and a secure server room, delivered by one team from concept to keys.
- G&G Digital, Highlands North: a heritage Cape Dutch house converted into offices, with heritage and council approvals, a committee inspection on site, a finishes schedule and procurement before the build.
- Diamonds & Pearls, Springs Mall: a 280 m² jewellery store where the lighting and displays had to be exactly right.
Questions to ask before you hire a project manager
- Who will be on site day to day, and who do I call when something goes wrong?
- What’s included in the cost breakdown, and what isn’t?
- How are changes priced and approved?
- Who handles building plans and approvals?
- Do you use your own installation teams, or subcontract everything?
- How often will I get updates, and how?
If the answers are vague, the project probably will be too.
Need a project manager in Johannesburg?
Planning an office move? Start with our office fit-out checklist. Renovating an older house? Read about the 60-year heritage rule. Or tell us about your project and we’ll give you a clear plan, cost breakdown and time frame.
