Course overview

The Superintendent in Practice is for people carrying out the superintendent’s role and project teams working with them. It focuses on the decisions the role requires, the information needed to make them and the procedures for communicating them.

The appointment needs to be understood alongside the construction contract. Participants examine authority, instructions, assessments and certification, including the distinction between acting for the principal and carrying out functions that require a fair or impartial assessment under the applicable contract.

Using a project scenario, participants work through a disputed instruction, a variation, an extension of time application and a payment assessment. They consider how to reach and record a decision when the information is incomplete or the parties disagree.

What the course covers

Topics include:

The role and the appointment

The superintendent’s appointment and the construction contract
Authority, delegations and communication with the principal
Identifying the requirements attached to different functions
Managing conflicts and internal approval arrangements

Instructions and change

Distinguishing directions, design advice and approvals
Recognising and recording variations
Assessing quotations and requesting useful supporting information
Keeping outstanding decisions under review

Time and payment assessments

Reading the programme and understanding the claimed delay
Testing the basis of an extension of time application
Assessing payment and explaining adjustments
Recording reasons and complying with notification procedures

Completion and disagreements

Preparing for practical completion and defects administration
Maintaining an intelligible decision record
Dealing with pressure from either party
Escalating unresolved issues through the agreed procedure

Course delivery

Training is delivered face-to-face, in-house, for organisations in Australia. The course runs over one day, with dates agreed before delivery.

The course can be delivered at entry or experienced level. We agree the level before delivery so that the examples and pace suit the group.

Examples are based on the Australian contract form used by your organisation, such as AS 4000 or AS 2124. We agree the edition and any project amendments before delivery.