Supervision & Coordination
18% of this examRunning the field: coordination meetings and look-ahead planning, manpower math, long-lead procurement, and the documentation — daily reports and RFI logs — that wins or loses claims later. Questions reward the answer where the GC plans ahead and writes it down.
Core concepts
Coordinate before the conflict reaches the field
The pre-construction meeting sets communication procedures, reviews the schedule, and assigns responsibilities before work begins. When trades will collide in the same area, the GC re-sequences through the look-ahead schedule and coordination meeting — trade stacking wrecks productivity and safety, and 'let them work it out' is always a wrong answer.
Manpower math drives durations
Crew labor-hours per day = workers × hours; duration = total labor-hours ÷ daily output (360 labor-hours ÷ 40 per day = 9 days). This is how the estimate feeds the schedule and manpower loading.
Long-lead items are scheduled backward
Identify long-lead equipment at job start, prioritize its submittals, and release purchase orders working backward from the required-on-site date. A procurement log tracking submittal, approval, fabrication, and delivery dates for each item is a core PM tool.
Documentation is your evidence
The superintendent's daily report — manpower, weather, work performed, delays — is a contemporaneous record with real evidentiary weight in claims. RFIs get written clarification of the contract documents and are logged with dates; if an answer changes scope, cost, or time, follow it with a change order request. Change order pricing itemizes labor (with burden), material, equipment, and subs, plus the contract's allowed overhead and profit markup.
Key facts to know cold
Where it lives in your books
The real exam is open book. Knowing which book — and which tab — answers this domain is worth as much as memorizing it.
Lookup strategy
- · Supervision questions are judgment questions — the right choice plans early, coordinates in meetings, and documents in writing. Eliminate any answer that reacts late or skips the paper trail.
- · The PM text's documentation chapter covers daily reports, RFI logs, and procurement logs in one place — one tab covers the domain.
Reading isn't learning — retrieval is.
11 questions in this domain, each with an explanation and source.