Cover to Cover
Construction Extension to the PMBOK ® Guide —
Third Edition
by Project Management Institute
onstruction managers were building
C things—really big things—long before
project management became popular.
So, who needs a new construction
extension to the PMBOK® Guide? Well, proba-
bly construction managers. To be sure, con-
struction projects are often scheduling prob-
lems of Brobdingnagian proportions. But such
projects include matters more than scheduling
that come into play in complex ways.
The Construction Extension to the PMBOK®
Guide—Third Edition, published by the Project
Management Institute, addresses the full range
of issues important to construction managers
Project Management Institute, 2007,
and describes generally accepted good prac-
ISBN: 9781930699526, paperback,
tices for consideration and use by construction
190 pp., $33.95 Member,
managers. Construction projects share many
$39.95 Nonmember.
common aspects with projects in other
domains. They also include unique aspects within common
knowledge areas such as quality and risk management and some
unique aspects that are specific to the construction industry.
The greatest strength of this extension is that it lays out the dif-
ferences from the norm in an easy-to-follow way. It is these differ-
ences that are of most value to readers. Each Knowledge Area of the
PMBOK® Guide and this associated extension includes a graphic
that summarizes the contents. The graphic shows a box for each
process that lists the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for
the process. In the Construction Extension, changed items are
shown in italics and new items are shown in bold italics. Readers
can, at a glance, identify things that are new or different from the
basic PMBOK® Guide—things that merit special attention.
The Project Time Management Knowledge Area includes sig-
nificant new material related to linear scheduling, activity
weights, progress curves, and progress monitoring. Project
Quality Management includes new material across all three
processes of Planning, Quality Assurance, and Quality Control
that takes into account contract requirements, stakeholders,
and site characteristics and constraints. Project Human
Resource Management should not be overlooked, as it includes
construction-specific information on resource leveling, labor
force issues, and closing the project team.
Project Communications Management contains important
information that addresses unique aspects of construction man-
agement and ties back into previously described processes relating
to contracts, scheduling, and stakeholders. Readers will begin to
Project Management Journal, Vol. 39, No. 1, 98
© 2008 by the Project Management Institute
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)
DOI: 10.1002/pmj.20029
98 March 2008 ■ Project Management Journal ■ DOI: 10.1002/pmj
see the utility of this Construction Extension as
the integration of interrelated matters becomes
clear.
Readers may find the greatest value not in
the tweaking of existing PMBOK® Guide
Knowledge Areas, but in the elucidation of
four new Knowledge Areas germane to con-
struction management. Project Safety Mana-
gement is a matter of no small concern. The
extension lays out a comprehensive Know-
ledge Area that includes planning, assurance,
and control in a way similar to quality man-
agement, but much more complete.
Project Environmental Management is
another new Knowledge Area. It too follows
the quality management model of planning,
assurance, and control, and, like Project Safety
Management, provides an extensive array of
inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs that home in on the
special needs of construction projects.
The extension includes a new Knowledge Area, Project
Financial Management, that is fundamentally different from tra-
ditional cost management. Construction management projects
now more and more rely on long-term financial management by
the project organization. This requires a codified process for
planning, control, and recordkeeping. Readers will not become
certified accountants but will gain an essential capability to
manage the financial aspects unique to construction projects.
Last, the extension includes a Project Claim Management
Knowledge Area. A claim is a demand for something due or
believed to be due. Claims are a normal part of construction pro-
ject performance. Similar to risk management, this Knowledge
Area includes identification, quantification, prevention, and res-
olution. All processes include brief but practical guidance on
handling this inevitable aspect of construction projects and pre-
venting it from disrupting project performance.
The Construction Extension to the PMBOK® Guide—Third
Edition provides additional relevant information for managing
projects in a major domain of general project management. It is
not the whole story or the last word. Much focused and specific
literature already exists, and the history reaches back thousands
of years. The extension offers a foundation; that is, common
ground on which the experienced may hone their skills and the
beginners may get off to a good start. ■
Reviewed by Kenneth H. Rose, PMP, Director, Peninsula Center for Project
Management in Hampton, VA, USA, and winner of the 2006 PMI David I. Cleland
Project Management Literature Award.