Site management for a self-build or major project

A project manager plans and coordinates the whole project for you: programme, budget, trades, suppliers, approvals and the handover. A site manager does the day-to-day running of the site, and in a builder's firm works for the builder, not for you. A clerk of works inspects the work on your behalf and reports what is right and wrong, without running the site. On architect-led projects, the architect may also administer the building contract, checking progress and certifying payments.

The question to ask is whose side the person is on. If you are employing trades directly, a project manager or site manager you pay works for you. If a main contractor runs the site, an independent clerk of works or contract administrator gives you your own eyes on quality and valuations.

Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, the HSE explains that domestic clients' duties normally pass to the contractor, or to the principal contractor on projects with more than one contractor. A domestic client who has appointed an architect or other designer on a project involving more than one contractor can ask the designer to manage the project and take on the client duties instead, as principal designer, with a written agreement confirming it. Without such an agreement, the client duties pass to the principal contractor.

On a self-build where you hire trades yourself, this is easy to overlook. Whoever manages the site should be clear about which CDM role they hold, who prepares the construction phase plan, and who controls access, welfare facilities and scaffolding inspections.

Source: legislation.gov.uk

Most defects in new houses and extensions are hidden within weeks: cavity insulation behind brickwork, fire stopping above ceilings, the air barrier behind plasterboard, waterproofing under a shower tray, drain connections under the slab. Good site management schedules checks before each of these is covered and photographs them. Building Control and the warranty provider inspect at key stages, but they are not on site every day and do not work for you.

Tolerances matter as well. A floor out of level or a wall out of plumb becomes the next trade's problem, and the arguments about who pays for correcting it start there. A site manager who checks and signs off each stage prevents most of them.

Valuations of completed work are the basis for stage payments to trades and for releasing money from a self-build mortgage. Someone should measure progress honestly, check invoices against the work done and keep a record of variations and their prices. Paying ahead of progress is the fastest way to lose control of a build.

At the end, the site manager should assemble the handover file: Building Control completion certificate, warranty certificate, electrical and gas certificates, commissioning records, manuals and as-built drawings. Without it, selling or remortgaging later becomes difficult.

• the role: project manager, site manager, clerk of works or contract administrator
• whom the person represents, and their authority to instruct trades
• CDM role and who prepares the construction phase plan
• site visits: how often, and the stages that must be inspected
• reporting: photographs, written reports, valuations
• fee basis: fixed fee, day rate or a share of the build cost, and what ends the appointment

Businesses offering site and project management in your area see the project without your name or contact details. One business, and only one, can buy the request; it pays Offrano, while for you the service is free. We email you its name, address and phone number before it can see who you are.

No business has to take the request; it is withdrawn after 21 days if nobody buys it, and you can turn down any proposal. Offrano checks only that the buyer is a registered business, so ask for projects the person has managed and speak to those clients.