What does a Construction Superintendent do?
A construction superintendent's role is to oversee all construction plans and operations, ensuring quality completion within a specified timeframe. Some of their responsibilities are to inspect all sites, coordinate with contractors and engineers, manage the budget and expenditure, purchase necessary materials and equipment, and make schedules. Aside from producing daily progress reports, a construction superintendent also addresses issues and concerns should there be any. Furthermore, they must implement all safety regulations and policies to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone.
Construction superintendent responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real construction superintendent resumes:
- Manage crew on apartment, condo and town-home remodel and restoration projects.
- Manage the MEP coordination meetings, as well as performing mechanical superintendent duties.
- Manage the supervising of construction and installation of HVAC restoration in historical government hospital buildings.
- Manage complex logistics, including procuring materials and navigating space constraints, to successfully complete project amid concurrent construction of building.
- Communicate with EOR/Architect/Construction PM/Superintendent/fab shop on all shop drawings as needed to resolve RFI's and change orders.
- Avoid disputes & claims through comprehensive proposals, email correspondence, RFI's, & daily reporting.
- Read and interprets instructions and documentation and plans work activities, review of HVAC prints for various sites.
- Consult with inspectors as to any issues with code violations and provide the steps to bring project up to standards.
- Complete interior renovation, including carpentry, electrical and plumbing.
- Conduct on-site safety inspections and enforcement of OSHA standards in cooperation with corporate guidelines.
- Sole individual providing ongoing leadership to ensure ISO certification are updated as required and maintain.
- Conduct regularly schedule safety meetings and closely monitor site operations to maintain compliance with OSHA mandates and company-define operational protocols.
- Manage complex logistics, including procuring materials and navigating space constraints, to successfully complete project amid concurrent construction of building.
- Possess a season knowledge of plumbing/electrical systems and blueprint reading.
- Dismantle devices to access and remove defective parts, using hoists, cranes, hand tools, and power tools.
Construction superintendent skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Construction Superintendents are proficient in OSHA, Construction Management, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Business skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Construction Superintendents that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- OSHA, 13%
Conduct regularly scheduled safety meetings and closely monitor site operations to maintain compliance with OSHA mandates and company-defined operational protocols.
- Construction Management, 8%
Conducted on-the-job training and demonstrated principles, techniques and procedures of construction and maintenance and many aspects of construction management.
- Project Management, 6%
Project management responsibility for scheduling equipment, supplies, materials and sub-contractors ensuring on-time and within budget completion of all projects.
- Construction Sites, 5%
Supervised workers and contractors on multiple construction sites including public works projects and ensured projects met all required specifications.
- Safety Program, 5%
Implemented job-specific safety program, including daily safety talks, checks of subcontractor compliance and review with company safety director.
- Quality Standards, 5%
Coordinated subcontractors and trades to ensure efficient, accurate installation meeting quality standards, codes and specifications.
"osha," "construction management," and "project management" are among the most common skills that construction superintendents use at work. You can find even more construction superintendent responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a construction superintendent to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "construction managers must be able to plan strategies, investigate project cost variances, and solve problems over the course of a project." Additionally, a construction superintendent resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "performed wide-ranging projects from tenant improvement build-outs to critical environmental construction for tier-rated data centers. "
Business skills. Many construction superintendent duties rely on business skills. "construction managers need to prepare and follow project budgets, hire and manage staff, and coordinate with other workers and managers," so a construction superintendent will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways construction superintendent responsibilities rely on business skills: "organize and schedule sub-contractors and inspections *schedule and meet with inspectors *work with business owners; communicating throughout construction process. "
Technical skills. While "technical skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to construction superintendent responsibilities. Much of what a construction superintendent does relies on this skill, seeing as "construction managers must have an applied knowledge of concepts and practices common in the industry, such as construction technologies, contracts, and technical drawings." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of construction superintendents: "possess technical knowledge and experience with construction administration, contract/bid planning, shop drawings, submittals, permits and inspections. "
The three companies that hire the most construction superintendents are:
- GPAC233 construction superintendents jobs
- CyberCoders105 construction superintendents jobs
- Horizon Retail Construction85 construction superintendents jobs
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Compare different construction superintendents
Construction superintendent vs. Field manager
A field manager is an individual who manages a staff of field representatives that travel to customers' sites to promote their products or services. Field managers must hire new employees and arrange in-house and vendor training programs to ensure they have a full understanding of their responsibilities. They must evaluate all their field employees and generate reports highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each member of the team. Field managers may work in different industries that have outside sales representatives such as pharmaceutical companies, computer repair companies, or HVAC companies.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, construction superintendent responsibilities require skills like "construction management," "construction sites," "safety program," and "punch list." Meanwhile a typical field manager has skills in areas such as "minor maintenance," "patients," "medicare," and "rental equipment." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Field managers tend to make the most money working in the telecommunication industry, where they earn an average salary of $91,615. In contrast, construction superintendents make the biggest average salary, $99,237, in the energy industry.The education levels that field managers earn slightly differ from construction superintendents. In particular, field managers are 3.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a construction superintendent. Additionally, they're 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Construction superintendent vs. Site manager
The tasks of a Site Manager may vary, but the responsibility will always revolve around supervising the construction project and its employees, making sure that the project is completed within the allotted time, budget, and quality. Site Managers are required to have great communication and leadership skills as they are often the ones to engage with the clients and coordinate with the employees. Moreover, It is also the Site Manager's responsibility to ensure the safety of employees, prepare site reports, conduct quality control procedures, assess and solve problems, negotiate contracts, and secure permits needed for the project.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real construction superintendent resumes. While construction superintendent responsibilities can utilize skills like "construction management," "construction sites," "safety program," and "punch list," site managers use skills like "oversight," "logistics," "continuous improvement," and "iso."
On average, site managers earn a lower salary than construction superintendents. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, site managers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $88,272. Whereas construction superintendents have higher pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $99,237.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Site managers tend to reach similar levels of education than construction superintendents. In fact, they're 4.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Construction superintendent vs. Owner/project manager
An Owner/Project Manager is responsible for delivering every project on time within the budget and scope of the company. They are also in charge of the overall management of the company.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, construction superintendents are more likely to have skills like "osha," "construction sites," "safety program," and "customer service." But a owner/project manager is more likely to have skills like "construction projects," "project scope," "real estate," and "scrum."
Owner/project managers typically earn higher educational levels compared to construction superintendents. Specifically, they're 6.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Construction superintendent vs. Site/project manager
Site/project managers are professionals who are responsible for managing construction projects and ensuring that these projects are completed on time and within budget. These managers must make sure that the projects are following the specifications and requirements of their clients while liaising with quantity surveyors to monitor costs. They must supervise construction as well as select tools and materials to be used in completing construction projects. Site/project managers must also conduct safety inspections to ensure that construction sites are following health and safety protocols.
Types of construction superintendent
Updated January 8, 2025
