Behaviors That Make Civil Engineering and Construction Site Supervisors Unpopular [Part 2]
Last time,10 Things Civil Engineering and Construction Site Supervisors Do That Make Them Unpopular [Part 1]We covered that in the first part, and this is the second part. If you haven't read the first part yet, I recommend starting there first!
This is the second part of the series, and I’ll be explaining the following four points. While this is quite subjective, I’d appreciate it if you’d stick with me until the end (lol).
Part 2 (For Clients)
- If anything goes wrong, they're quick to blame the design or the blueprints.
- Delegate all local support tasks to the client
- They say they don't have enough money right before completion
- He said he had received verbal approval from his predecessor.
For Clients: (1) If anything goes wrong, they immediately blame the design or the drawings
Complaining won't make the situation any better. It will only give the client a bad impression of you.
For example, if you’re working on a construction site, I think it’s a daily occurrence for the actual site conditions to not match the blueprints—discrepancies are par for the course. If you go around complaining about every single one of these to the client, things are never going to move forward (lol). If you do that, people will end up hating you!
Key Points to Explore
As the person on the receiving end, I totally understand the urge to vent (lol). But venting just makes the atmosphere worse.
So,You can only say that the design or drawings are subpar once—and only once—at the very beginning of the project!From here on out, let’s make sure to include these changes during design reviews and discussions. If we don’t take a proactive approach like this, people will end up disliking us!
For Clients: (2) Delegate All Local Matters to the Client
While it depends on the situation, the general rule is that the contractor is responsible for handling it.
For example, there’s a site supervisor who passes on all the complaints and other issues from local residents who come to the site to the client (^_^;)Of course, it’s necessary to report this to the client, but how to handle the situation is where the contractor and site supervisor really get to show what they’re made of!
This is just my guess, but I’m sure the client who was assigned to handle this is thinking, “That’s the contractor’s job!” Sorry if I’m wrong (lol).
Key Points to Explore
I totally understand why you’d want to pass this off to the client (lol). But, as I said earlier, handling local matters is really where you get to show what you’re made of! That’s because it’s all about people, so there’s no single right answer!
So, the site supervisor and contractor really get to show their personalities!Let's look at this as a positive opportunity and respond accordingly!If you pass the buck to the client, they'll get mad at you (lol).
For Clients: (3) Claiming They Don't Have Enough Money Just Before Completion
Since construction costs and other financial terms can’t be changed without amending the contract, it’s obviously not that simple, is it?
For example, in the case of a contract amendment, the client and contractor mutually agree to amend the contract to revise the construction costs, schedule, and scope of work.
But sometimes, right around the last week or two of a project after we’ve signed a change order, when I receive an invoice from a subcontractor and look at the total amount we’ve paid so far,I realized I don't have enough money!There are sometimes site supervisors like that (；´Д｀)
Key Points to Explore
As part of a site supervisor’s duties, they should first create an actual budget, monitor site progress, and track the cumulative monthly payments and outstanding balances.But there are some site supervisors who just can't seem to do this sometimes!
Even in a situation like that, if you report it to the client without giving it a second thought, they’ll hate you!
For Clients: (4) Claiming that the previous person gave verbal approval
It goes without saying, but design changes cannot be made based on verbal agreements alone!
A common scenario is construction projects that span fiscal years (projects whose construction period extends past March 31)! It’s usually the case that the client representative leaves on March 31, and a new person takes over on April 1.
And starting in April, there are site supervisors who casually mention to the new client, “My predecessor had verbally approved the change, though…”! Changes cannot generally be made based solely on a verbal discussion!
Key Points to Explore
If you're going to make a change, you absolutely must either "consult" or get "instructions"!
This is just my personal opinion, but if nothing else, make sure to take minutes of the meeting, “report” them in the construction meeting log, and keep a record of the discussion. ♪ If you don’t have any written records and rely solely on verbal communication, people will get annoyed with you!
It is not easy to communicate with people from various backgrounds.
In this post, we’ve gone over the “Top 10 Behaviors That Make Civil Engineering and Site Supervisors Unpopular [Part 2].”
At a construction site, there are people in all sorts of roles—craftsmen, clients, site supervisors, and so on—so it’s not easy to ensure good communication! To be honest, it’s really tough (lol).
But it’s also true that simply putting yourself in the other person’s shoes for a moment can lead to better communication!
Try to keep the "Top 10 Things Civil Engineers and Site Supervisors Do That Annoy People" in mind, even just a little, and put that knowledge to use in your meetings and other interactions starting today!
