Whether or not to hire a dedicated project manager to oversee construction is one of the great dilemmas facing self builders. The reassurance of having a professional in charge makes the whole process more bearable, but they do not come cheap. On most builds, allocating even 10% of the average budget of £306,000 to pay for a manager means over £30,000 less for materials and labour – which is roughly what you’d expect to pay for a decent kitchen and bathroom.
Faced with such sacrifices, some people may well opt to self-manage. But on larger and more complex builds, a professional project manager or overseeing architect becomes more of a necessity, because basic errors can mean expensive bills. A compromise would be using a competent and well-established general contractor to undertake this role on relatively straightforward designs – but what exactly are the benefits of using a professional project manager on site?