I’ve been in this industry long enough to see the typical production builder wrestle with the superintendent-to-homes-under-construction ratio in times of plenty, and in times of struggle.
Prior to the downturn of 2008, the builder I was working with at the time typically had about three field staff personnel for every fifteen homes. I’ll pause here while the superintendents reading this blog catch their breath. Today, I’ll admit that at that time, we were overstaffed, and that is not a common ratio in today’s production environment.
Following the downturn of 2008, the builders who survived pared down the staff in all departments to the bare bones. The market rebounded so slowly that builders were cautious about the rate at which they added more staff. In doing so, they began to see how much could be done with a much smaller number of people in the field. While that was a good thing, the question remains, “what is the right ratio to deliver high quality homes on time?”
The answer of course is “it depends.”
It depends on what is expected from the daily schedule of the superintendent. Here’s a common list:
Most builders want the super to be closely involved in working with the buyer to build relationships and inspire confidence. The super usually takes the buyer on a frame walk and the final walk, as well as communicates with the buyer on the progress of the home.
Quite often, the buyer’s involvement results in having to manage change orders.
For many builders, the super needs to schedule the trades and ensure that they show up.
The super must manage and verify the work that the trades are performing. At the very least, this means a visit to every home with any construction activity… at least twice a day.
As each home progresses, there is a myriad of inspections that he or she must either attend or respond to.
On top of these primary responsibilities, there are dozens of little issues and details that happen almost daily.
So, for builders who want to deliver high-quality homes with minimal issues at closing as well as employ field staff who enjoy their jobs and have a proper work/life balance, a fair ratio needs to be established. Given the diversity of expectations that each builder has, this ratio would be best established through a transparent discussion with senior field staff. If you’re a builder and you find yourself churning through field staff, I would suggest you do this sooner rather than later.
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