Those looking into building a career in the building and construction industry are afforded a lot of options they can pursue, with responsibilities often being as diverse as the projects themselves. A construction supervisor is one such option, and can provide those interested in a lot of very rewarding responsibilities and ways to expand their building and construction knowledge. In essence, a construction supervisor will oversee many jobs on a construction site, which might mean they keep an eye on people such as plumbers, concreters, electricians, painters, plasterers, and many more, depending on the job. In this article, we take a look at a few more responsibilities of a construction supervisor to give you a better idea of what the role is all about.

What a construction supervisor does on a work site

If you’re looking into doing a diploma of building and construction management or have just completed your studies, a construction supervisor role might be one of the career trajectories you’re interested in. Studying may have even been one of the reasons you decided to look into being a construction supervisor, as many of the teaching modules give you a good idea of what to expect as a construction supervisor. Applying this knowledge isn’t always the easiest, however, as when thing go wrong on the construction site it will be the responsibility of the construction supervisor to fix it as quickly as possible. For this reason, it is required that a construction supervisor be quick to think on their feet, as well as being able to stay calm under pressure. It also requires that these responsibilities be balanced well, as there are usually quite a lot of things going on within a job site and being able to oversee and process them in the right way can occasionally be taxing. With that in mind, the opportunity for construction supervisors to be there every step of the way will inevitably mean that they see a project from the planning to the completed stages, which absolutely can be a reward in itself.

The various responsibilities of a construction supervisor

There are many responsibilities that a construction supervisor is required to undertake that some people might be unaware of. These responsibilities might include helping teams work together to deliver superior work in the face of strict deadlines, potentially providing training and team building sessions, closely following and demonstrating health and safety regulations, performing regular inspections of the work site and taking the time to perform equipment and material inspections. They will also require good people skills, as a construction supervisor will often be charged with scheduling regular meetings with an assortment of different stakeholders, such as vendors, site inspectors, managers, and staff, and they might even be needed to recruit and train staff in some instances.

Thinking about a construction supervisor role?

If you’re interested in a long-term career in the construction industry, a construction supervisor is a great place to start as it can organically lead to more senior roles, such as constriction management or general management. It can also be an excellent primer for how an entire job site works and the function of everyone’s roles in relation to a project, so it can give insight into a lot of aspects of a construction site that were not previously know. If this sounds like something that you’d like to learn more about, perhaps look to becoming a construction supervisor!