The three titles are often used loosely, and they overlap. They are different roles with different accountabilities, and a project can need one, two or all three.
Development manager
- Accountable for: the whole development, including whether it should go ahead.
- Covers: feasibility, the brief, planning strategy, the consultant team, the budget and cashflow, builder procurement and the contract, and oversight through to handover.
- Acts for: the owner, and carries the commercial outcome with them.
- When you need one: from the first feasibility question on a site.
Project manager
- Accountable for: delivering a project whose direction is already set.
- Covers: contract administration, cost control, variations and claims, the program, and reporting to the owner and financier.
- Acts for: the owner, on the owner's side of the table during delivery.
- When you need one: approvals in place and a builder signed or about to be.
Superintendent
- Accountable for: administering the building contract under its own terms. On the Australian standard contracts that includes assessing progress claims, variations and extensions of time, and certifying practical completion.
- Acts for: the owner on some matters, but must act honestly and fairly when certifying under AS 4000 and similar standard forms.
- When you need one: whenever the building contract names one, which most do.
How they fit together
On many projects the development manager runs the project from the start, and the same firm, or a separate project manager, carries delivery. The superintendent role is often filled by the project manager or a specialist. What matters is that one person is accountable for the whole outcome, and that the contract roles are clear before the builder is signed.
Vettex provides development management and project management, and many projects move from one to the other.