Last edited 24 Feb 2022

Site manager for construction sites

The site manager is the senior construction company representative on site. The site manager will generally be responsible to an office-based ‘contracts manager’.

The site manager’s role is the supervision and management of all site-based staff employed by the company to ensure that the project is delivered within their contractual obligations. The major responsibilities of the role are to:

The contractor's other site-based staff will consist of some or all of the following personnel:

  1. Bonus surveyor.
  2. Contractor's cost controller.
  3. Buyer.
  4. Clerical staff.

The text in this article is based on an extract from HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION, by David Eaton, Salford 2008. It was developed as part of the Construction ManagersLibrary – created within the Leonardo da Vinci (LdV) project No: PL/06/B/F/PP/174014, entitled: “Common Learning Outcomes for European Managers in Construction”. It is reproduced here in a slightly modified form with the kind permission of the Chartered Institute of Building.

NB Roles in construction projects: analysis and terminology, by Hughes, W. and Murdoch, J. R, published in 2001 by the University of Reading, defines the site agent as: ‘The builder’s representative on site’. It defines the site manager as: ‘A builder’s employee responsible for co-ordinating the work on site.’

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