What Are the Different Types of Construction Supervisor Jobs?

Construction supervisor jobs range from general contractors to individual supervisors in charge of separate work crews. Typical construction supervisor jobs include flooring, decking and wall construction supervisors, who are all tasked with making certain all construction is up to code and a safe work environment is maintained. Electric and plumbing crews can often benefit from the knowledge and guidance offered from experienced people filling construction supervisor jobs. Drywall crews, painting crews and carpet and tile installers all have supervisors who answer to the general contractor to keep the job on schedule, on budget and up to designated standards.

It is not uncommon for a home or other structure to be assembled in stages, with several smaller contractors each completing part of the process. Each of these smaller contractors typically specializes in one or more areas, so people filling the roles for several construction supervisor jobs are often found operating on a single construction job site. The purpose of operating with several individual construction supervisors is to provide a closer level of supervision over the different aspects of the job. Occasionally, construction supervisor jobs will be filled by the most knowledgeable or most senior employee of a work crew. Other times, the construction supervisor jobs are usually filled by individuals who own the contracting businesses.

After the general contractor has been awarded a construction job, the business of hiring sub-contractors begins. The general contractor will share job details, deadlines and other pertinent information with the sub-contractors, explaining any missed deadline penalties. The job of those individuals assigned to the construction supervisor jobs is to make certain no penalties are assessed to their individual companies. Typical penalties are very expensive and can range from several thousand US dollars for every half-day the crew falls behind schedule to the ultimate forfeiture of all pay should the crew fall too far behind.

The general contractor will often offer an incentive plan that commonly involves money to be divided between everyone holding construction supervisor jobs. This incentive is paid to the supervisors providing their crews meet or beat the project deadline. The incentive is often divided into different packages, with some offering more money for the greatest amount of time shaved off of the deadline. Some supervisors will offer their crews time off or a small party to be held provided the deadline is beaten. Other supervisors will offer their crews nothing and threaten to terminate any crew members responsible for missing a critical deadline.