Qualifications and Training Requirement for a Construction Supervisor

In view of the position a construction supervisor occupies in the management organisation of a construction project and the responsibilities he has to shoulder, the supervisor must be equipped with the appropriate qualifications and training. 

A successful supervisor must have adequate technical knowledge of the tasks he is to supervise and get them accomplished through the workers. Supervisor should therefore have a formal technical qualification. Engineering education in our country is imparted through the training programmes at two levels. 

1)  Diploma in Civil/Constriction Engineering offered in polytechnics affiliated to the State Board of Technical Examination. These courses are usually of three year duration and students who pass secondary school certificate examination (10th level) are eligible to be admitted for this course of studies.

2)  Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering offered through four year courses after Higher Secondary School examination (12th level). The degree courses are offered by 

• Engineering colleges affiliated to the various universities, and 
• Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) which are autonomous institutes. There are a few Professional Institutes like Institution  of Engineers (India) who conduct qualifying examination for the candidates who study on their own and on passing the examination are qualified as professional engineers. 

A first-line Manager or a Supervisor should have any one of the fofrnal qualifications mentioned above. 

There is yet another channel available to a person to reach the position of a supervisor. Some Industrial Technical Institutes (ITIs) offer one or two year programmes in various engineering trades. Those who qualify in these courses join the industry and eventually rise to a supervisor's post. Short term courses (with a duration of about six months) are also offered by some private institutions and those who complete these programmes join the industry as supervisors. 

Finally, a few enterprising skilled workers also are given supervisory work after they work for long duration in the industry. Thus, the supervisory cadre in the construction industry, at present is built up by persons coming through various streams as shown in the following diagram. 

In addition to the technical qualifications, a good supervisor must possess managerial skills in the areas of effective planning, controlling, organising, co-ordinating and directing the work of  his employees. Since he is continuously in direct contact with the labour force, he must also have adequate skills in matters related to the human relations such as motivation and effective communication. 

As a matter of fact supervision is done at all levels of management. However, supervision done by the first-line management is the most important  job. It is demanding and not an easy task. It has many challenges but at the same time it has its rewards. A good effective supervisor must therefore have technical as well as managerial competence. He must also update his knowledge in the relevant fields to be aware of the latest advances.