Every building and renovation project within the Diocese of Charleston must have a dedicated Project Manager. This assures that the building or renovation project is executed well. A successfully executed project allows parish life to continue with minimal disruption.
Who can be a Project Manager? There a number of options for who should manage your project. You can hire a professional project manager, a qualified parishioner*, or have a member of your staff** dedicated to the project. Also, you can hire a Project Manager from the Diocese of Charleston.
*Qualified as determined by the BRAC.
**Parish staffers are able to manage small renovations. However, larger renovations and all new building projects need significant management. Contact us for recommendations on who can best manage your new project.
Project Management Services from the Diocese
To help building and renovation projects go well, we have an internal Project Management team to help our parishes and schools. We can manage projects throughout South Carolina.
Benefits of Project Management Services
- Peace of mind.
- Aligned priorities.
- Experience.
Features of Project Management Services
- Assistance with managing the diocesan contract and BRAC process for designing and planning a project.
- Coordination and alignment of goals between the parish and architects, engineers, contractors.
- Consistent and easy communication between parish and the staff, and diocesan leaders as needed (e.g. Finance, Stewardship, Catholic Mutual Insurance.)
- Biweekly site visits coordinated with the architect and the contractor. More as needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you define who gets a free PM?
Parishes of a certain size do get free Project Management services. Parishes who qualify for Parish Accounting Services also qualify for free project management services.
When does a parish reach a size that requires that they have a dedicated Project Manager?
Needing a project manager is less about the size of the parish and more about the size of the project.
Does this Project Manager have to be someone who is not on the staff?
Not necessarily. We want your project to be successful. If your staff has the capacity and experience to manage a project well, we encourage this for smaller projects. For larger renovations and all building projects, we required a dedicated project manager.
Do Project Managers from the diocese serve schools too?
Yes. We help schools with renovations and building projects.
How close will our project managers be to our parish or school?
We have project managers in Columbia and Charleston. This allows us to support projects throughout South Carolina.
How often does a Project Manager from the diocese get on site?
At least every 2 weeks. More frequent visits as needed.
What does it look like to have a Project Manager as a member of a parish team?
- Do they meet contractors regularly? Yes.
- Do they watch budgets? Yes.
- Timelines? Yes.
- Do they implement our parish vision? Yes.
- Do they manage work order change requests? Yes.
If our parish hires a Project Manager, what are the responsibilities for the current parish staff? What does the pastor do? The parish council?
Invite any/all. We CC on all emails and. We keep you in the loop. We will count on your for sure for the bi-weekly meetings with the architect and the construction. Communicate well their vision on what they want. Closely involved with Budget and Timeline.
At what phase of a project does a parish need a Project Manager? Early on, during feasibility discussions? Early planning? During budgeting?
As early as possible. We’ll help guide you. Don’t hesitate us to call!
Need Answers?
Do you have questions about budgeting, vision, or building support within your parish? We are here to help!