Читать книгу Construction Management JumpStart - Barbara J. Jackson - Страница 39

Whether the residential construction firm is a small mom-and-pop operation or a huge publicly owned enterprise, there are certain characteristics of this market that anyone contemplating a career in building should understand. Home building is personal. Your client is usually an individual family with individual personalities. This is probably not the sector for you if you are not a people person. Home buyers are spending their personal funds on these projects, and usually it is the single largest amount of money they have ever spent.

As a construction manager, you will be directly involved with the owner on a regular basis. You will get to experience the full range of emotions and temperaments associated with the home-buying public. There is a great deal of personal service and hand-holding that will be required of you. Many construction professionals delight in this aspect of the business, anxious to address every detail and concern that an owner might have regarding the building process, while others cringe at the thought of having to deal with someone at such an intimate level.

Residential construction companies come in all sizes. Some limit their service area to a local market, others might expand operations regionally or nationally, and a few are even building overseas in Europe and South America. Of all the construction industry sectors, the residential sector probably requires the broadest scope of knowledge. Construction is only one facet of the home-building business. An understanding of sales, marketing, financing, land development, entitlement, building codes, purchasing, construction operations, customer service, and warranty are all needed to participate in this sector of the industry.