Page 40 - Urban Construction Project Management

Project Organization 15
Assistant Superintendent (AS)

The assistant superintendent (AS) works under a superintendent assigned to a specific
area or technical discipline of the project. The AS will assist the superintendent with
performing their duties and responsibilities on a daily basis. The AS becomes another
set of eyes and ears for the superintendent, who cannot be in more than one location at
a time. An AS is usually a person with a limited amount of experience in the construc-
tion industry, and may have worked as a plan clerk, time keeper, and labor foreman pre-
viously on other projects. The AS is usually not involved in the preconstruction phase
of the project, and is assigned to the construction site during the project’s construction
and close-out phases.

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing,
Sprinkler (MEPS) Engineer
The mechanical, electrical, plumbing, sprinkler (MEPS) engineer is responsible for the
technical support of the project team for the planning, coordination, construction, start
up, and turn over of the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, sprinkler, life safety, elevators,
security, and telecommunications of a project. They are usually graduate engineers
and/or personnel who have had extensive experience in the design and installation of
these technical systems. It is important for this individual to be able to interface with
the design team to ensure that the design and engineering intent of the construction doc-
uments is being built and properly incorporated into the project. The MEPS engineer
also has to have a sense of all aspects of the project and how the engineering is incor-
porated into the overall infrastructure of the project. The MEPS engineer is involved in
the budget process, bid evaluations, value engineering, quality assurance, and system
start up and commissioning of systems. Without the proper infrastructure, the systems
will not operate properly and will not fulfill the needs of the project and program
requirements.

Project Engineer

The project engineer title is used by some companies to describe an entry level admin-
istrative position that supports the PM in tracking submittals, schedules, shop drawings,
RFIs, and other project documentation.

Labor Foreman
The labor foreman is a key person to the construction phase of the project. He is respon-
sible for the assignment of all laborers working on the project to ensure that the proper
protection is in place for safety, keeping the hoist log for all deliveries, ensuring that the
construction areas are kept clean, and arranging for all trash removal. In addition, the
labor foreman is a focal point of communications at the field construction level for all
other foremen working for the subcontractors at the project construction site. The labor
foreman helps the subcontractors communicate and resolve matters related to logistics,
and the need for protection, storage, staging, clean up, power, and water.