Project planning is a crucial step when it comes to the success of any construction project. As such, a project planner is a necessary professional concerned with outlining the project’s time plans. They are there to make sure that it is done safely, efficiently and within budget. Failure to account for all aspects of the project can result in costly delays.

Any construction project’s planning stage requires outlining the feasibility of tasks regarding the timeline set, the budget given, and personnel available. At this time, the project goals have been established and communicated to all people involved in the project, ensuring the tasks are accomplished as planned with no foreseeable problems.

The main goal of project planning in construction is to breakdown the tasks for each entity involved, such as subcontractors and department managers. Doing so allows the whole management team to map out the relationships between the work tasks and those designated to accomplish them.

At this stage of the project, a list of needed equipment types and quantities for the project should be available. Ideally, planners should estimate the materials and man-power required as closely as possible to consider the estimated costs.

Project planning needs to be done in close coordination with the overall project director to determine a viable timeline and budget for completion without resorting to delays, which can be costly and time consuming to address.

Construction project planning needs to determine the accurate budget and its timeline of completion at a function level. These two aspects are usually what the employer is after to make necessary plans and adjustments as necessary. It is not uncommon for the costs and timeline to change during a project. Having a strategic plan in place, however, aims to reduce the chances of this happening. On an operational level, the project plan provides a roadmap detailing the exact tasks that need to be prioritised and in what order.

In the construction industry, a project planner organises and tracks all the project resources. Such resources include the equipment to be procured, sub-contractors to work with, and the workforce required to get the job done. The plans must reflect the client’s stipulations in terms of time and budget allotment and consider the construction team’s capabilities to abide by those stipulations.

During the actual construction, the project planner monitors contractors and other building professionals to ensure that it moves according to the given budgets, schedules and plan.

Planners also manage regulatory issues regarding constructions like environmental impact reports, land entitlement, feasibility reports and risk management reports. Project planners usually work closely with the project manager to ensure a smooth workflow to support the team effort.

As with any career professional, a project planners job description comes with its list of required skills to effectively carry out duties. These include:

The qualities listed above are necessary for a project planner to be able to conduct their jobs thoroughly. As they will be working with multiple teams and professionals, project planners must have an analytical mind that can foresee the project’s path and create contingency plans as necessary.

When it comes to project planner responsibilities, they directly relate to the skills necessary. Project planners need to know how to work with teams and individuals of varying knowledge backgrounds and consolidate their input into a concise communication strategy that the whole project team can understand. The construction industry usually requires the following responsibilities to be accomplished by the project planner:

Because planning construction projects have many moving parts, the job description for project planners is very detailed. Their role wears many hats, and they have to be versatile individuals able to adapt to situations quickly. In most cases, their role will be more extensive than what was stated explicitly in their responsibilities.

In some cases, the project planner and project manager are one person. Usually, this is true for small scale projects. But when it comes to large scale projects, the roles are separated. In this case, the project manager is responsible for the overall success of the construction project. They oversee the planning, execution, control, monitoring, and closure within the specified timeframe and budget.

The project planner is then responsible for gathering project requirements such as necessary licenses, creating project update reports throughout the project’s different phases. Additionally, they are responsible for staffing oversight, ensuring they receive the essential information, schedules, and resources to accomplish the job.

The cost factor is the main distinction between the project planner and the project scheduler. At the same time, project planners must take into account the budgetary requirements given. Project schedulers are more concerned with maintaining the critical path in scheduling and are usually not involved with the cost. Though they are aware of scheduling requirements, their main focus is providing information on how feasible it is to complete the project in a given time frame.

The project planner’s role is to consider these inputs and integrate them into the project implementation processes and methods. Project planners should consider the project scheduler’s recommendations as they use software that accurately calculates expected durations based on a given set of codes and situations.

Planning construction projects involve the expertise of industry professionals. All their roles and responsibilities work towards ensuring management remains on schedule and steps are taken to create viable completion methods.

Linking to that, another crucial professional whose experience is necessary is the project engineer. The project engineer generally works on the construction site overseeing on-the-ground project management. Their role is vital because they are the ones who can immediately identify a problem and report it to project management personnel to be addressed.

The project engineer takes a hands-on approach to implement the project plan. Meaning they must react quickly to issues while also providing on-site training and managing front-line workers.

A career in construction project management opens many opportunities as the industry has experienced a high demand for skilled planners. You must be a graduate of any specific course. Still, it is a plus if you come from an engineering or management background. Such a background will make it easier to find a role in the industries.

It would also be beneficial to garner a PMP Certificate from the Project Management Institute, Malaysia. To apply, you must have completed a four-year degree programme that provides you 36 hours leading projects and 35 hours of project management education and training. Such a course will give you an advantage in industries like construction.

In Malaysia, a junior project planner with less than two years of experience can expect to get salaries within the range of MYR 2,960 per month, working at 35-40 hours a week. Simultaneously, those with two to five years of experience can expect wages to be between MYR 3,810 per month.

Take note that the salaries and benefits package may vary depending on the company and the scale of the project itself. It is always good to gain work experience and build your career step by step to grasp the roles that a company expects planners to handle.