Who Supervises What
| Role | Typical responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Project manager | Contract, schedule, cost, changes, submittals and communication with the owner |
| Superintendent | Day-to-day direction of the site, trade coordination, safety, quality checks and daily reports |
| Trade foreman | Direction of a crew, layout, installation quality and coordination with the superintendent |
| Crew | Installation of the work according to the documents and instructions |
Actual responsibilities depend on the contract and the contractor's organization. Paul identifies who held each role on the project before evaluating how it was performed.
Superintendent Responsibilities
The superintendent is the general contractor's eyes on the site. Contracts often require a competent superintendent to be present when work is underway. Typical responsibilities include directing the daily work, coordinating trades, maintaining safety, checking work before it is covered, recording progress and problems in daily reports, and communicating issues to the project manager and owner. Paul looks at whether the superintendent was present, qualified for the work and actually performing these functions, using sign-in sheets, daily reports, photographs and testimony.
Foreman Responsibilities
Foremen direct the crews that install the work. They are responsible for layout, for following the drawings and product instructions, and for the quality of their crew's installation. Paul has been a foreman for decades and evaluates whether foremen had the information they needed, whether they raised conflicts, and whether their crews' work was checked.
Supervision and Workmanship
Many workmanship failures are supervision failures. Work that should have been caught before it was covered was not; a problem that appeared on the first floor repeated on every floor because nobody stopped it; a trade damaged completed work and nobody recorded it. Paul looks for those patterns in the record, and also for evidence that supervision worked: problems identified, recorded and corrected. See quality control responsibilities.
Supervision in Occupied Facilities
Supervising work in a building that remains in use adds responsibilities: protecting occupants and the public, phasing work around operations, controlling access and protecting existing finishes. Paul has supervised construction in occupied public buildings for nearly two decades, including at one of the busiest airports in the country, and evaluates whether supervision accounted for those conditions.
Records That Show Supervision
Supervision leaves a trail. Daily reports signed by the superintendent, sign-in sheets, safety meeting records, photographs taken during inspections and correspondence about problems all show that someone was watching the work. Paul reviews these records together, because each one alone can be incomplete.