Superintendent Competencies and Attributes Required for Success: A National Study Comparing Construction Professionals’ Opinions

Abstract

This article describes the results of the culmination of three phases of exploratory sequential mixed methods research intended to determine the competencies and attributes required by a construction superintendent to be successful. In the third research phase, surveys were completed by 469 participants working in commercial, residential, heavy-civil, mechanical, electrical, metal stud and drywall aspects of the construction industry in the United States. The high response rate may indicate interest in the subject. Participants included superintendents, project managers, project engineers, vice presidents, presidents and others working in various positions in the construction industry. The results indicate there is very little difference in the perceptions of participants as to the most important competencies and attributes required for a construction superintendent to be successful. There are only nine out of the 42 competencies and attributes with any significant statistical difference in importance as perceived by construction professionals. There was no statistical difference in the first 23 ranked items. This reveals consistency in the opinions of people working as superintendents, project managers, vice presidents, or presidents.