AEC definitions
A foreman leads a single crew, usually for one trade. They lay out the day's work, read the drawings and shops for that scope, check quality as it goes in, and report problems to the superintendent. A general foreman coordinates several foremen. A foreman is not the project superintendent.
Definition
The foreman is the person who turns a subcontract into installed work. They know which drawing is current because they asked, not because they kept last month's plot. Directions from the architect or the owner should pass through the superintendent so scope stays with the prime. A working foreman also installs, which is efficient until the crew outgrows what one person can watch. Safety duties, including a competent person for the trade's hazards, often sit with the foreman by the employer's plan.
In depth
The foreman gets the sequence from the superintendent, staffs the crew, and confirms materials match the approved submittal. They mark problems before the work is covered.
Layout is their reputation. A wall in the wrong place is a foreman's miss if the control was there, and an RFI if the drawings conflicted.
Another trade's foreman is a peer. Conflicts go to the superintendent. An agreement between two foremen that contradicts the drawings is not a change.
Questions for the designer become RFIs through the prime, not texts to the architect.
Embeds, firestopping, and reinforcement are inspected before they are buried. The foreman who covers work to keep a date creates the opening-up cost later.
Punch at the end is the expensive version of checks the foreman could have made daily.
Extra work tickets, deliveries, and delays the crew actually suffered should be written the same day and signed as the subcontract requires.
The foreman is usually the person who saw it.
Examples
The electrical foreman holds a rough-in until the revised shop drawing arrives. The superintendent is told why the crew moved to another room.
Two foremen disagree about who owns a penetration. The superintendent decides from the scope sheets.
The foreman signs a T&M ticket at the end of the day, while the crew size is still obvious.
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