What Does a Project Coordinator Do?
A project coordinator organises the process around the work: visits, paperwork, communication and dates. What it includes depends on who's using the title, so ask.
The short answer
They organise the process around the work. Exactly what that covers depends on who's using the title.
A project coordinator organises the practical side of a building project: arranging visits, keeping paperwork moving, passing information between the people involved and making sure dates and decisions don't slip. They don't usually carry out or direct the building work itself. Because the title is used loosely in construction, the useful answer is always a specific one: before relying on a coordinator, ask what they handle, what they don't, and who is responsible for the work.
Ask those three questions and the title becomes something you can check, not just a label.
Two common meanings
Where you might meet a project coordinator
Inside a construction firm. On larger projects, a project coordinator is often a support role working alongside a project manager or site manager. They keep schedules and documents up to date, chase orders and deliveries, organise meetings and make sure information reaches the right people. The building contract, and the running of the site, sit elsewhere in the firm.
As a separate service for homeowners. Some companies sit between the homeowner and the contractor and organise everything around the job: arranging the contractor's visit, preparing or presenting the quotation, handling communication, organising start dates and, in some arrangements, administering payments. The contractor carries out the work and holds the building contract.
In both cases the coordinator's job is the flow of information and arrangements, not the construction.
The usual boundaries
What coordination typically includes, and what sits with the contractor
A coordinator typically handles
- Arranging site visits and appointments
- Preparing or passing on quotations and paperwork
- Keeping everyone updated
- Organising start dates
- Chasing delays and unanswered questions
- Payment administration, in some arrangements
The contractor typically handles
- Carrying out the building work
- Running the work on site
- Technical decisions and methods
- The building contract with you
- Insurance for the work
- The workmanship warranty
Telling the roles apart
Coordinator, project manager and main contractor
A main contractor carries out the work and answers to you for it; our answer on what a main contractor is explains the role. A project manager acts for you on larger projects, directing the programme and costs and sometimes checking the work before payments. A project coordinator keeps the process organised and the communication flowing, without directing or checking the construction.
Titles also overlap in practice. A building firm may call its office staff coordinators, and a coordination service may talk about managing your project when it means managing the arrangements around it. That is why the questions below matter more than the label on the door.
On a small job you rarely need a project manager, as our answer on project managers for small jobs explains. Coordination is lighter, and it's aimed at the part of a small job that most often goes wrong: getting hold of people and keeping things moving.
"Project coordinator" isn't a regulated title, and there's no single standard for what the role must include. That's not a reason for suspicion, just a reason to ask. A good coordinator will describe what they do in concrete terms, and will be just as clear about what sits with the contractor.
Questions to ask
Six questions that pin the role down
Who carries out the work?
And are they named before you commit? You should know the business that will be at your property.
Who is my contract with?
The coordinator, or the contractor? It decides who you'd take a problem with the work to.
Who holds the insurance and warranty?
Usually the contractor. Get the warranty terms in writing, whoever gives them.
Where does my payment go?
Ask who it's legally paid to, who handles it, and whether the coordinator holds your money or passes it on. See paying an agent vs paying the contractor.
Who do I call with a question?
A coordinator's value is in answering. Ask how they keep you updated while the work is going on.
What happens if something goes wrong?
Ask what the coordinator will do, and what stays with the contractor. Clear answers here say a lot.
Where Mortaro fits
What coordination means at Mortaro
Mortaro is a project coordinator in the second sense above, and we set out exactly what that covers. We appoint a contractor from our network, arrange the site visit, prepare the written quotation naming them, handle the communication, organise start dates and act as payment administration agent for the deposit and balance. If something stalls, we chase it and escalate.
We don't carry out, supervise or inspect the building work. Your named main contractor does the work, holds the insurance and provides the warranty, and your construction contract is with them. What Mortaro does and how it works set it out stage by stage.
Straight answers
Questions about project coordinators
Is a project coordinator the same as a project manager?
No. A project manager directs a project on your behalf and may check the work. A coordinator organises the process and communication around it. Always ask which one you're getting.
How is a coordinator paid?
It depends on the arrangement. Some charge a separate fee; others are paid through the price in your quotation. Ask how it works and whether there's anything on top of the quoted price.
Does a coordinator check the quality of the work?
Not usually, and a good one will say so. Checking the contractor before the job is a different thing from inspecting the work during it. Our guide on how to vet a builder covers the checks you can make yourself beforehand.
Start here
Tell us about the work you have in mind
We will confirm we cover your postcode, arrange a site visit with a contractor from our network and send you a written quotation. No charge, no obligation.