Site supervision in public procurement

On public works the specification almost always asks the designer to provide site supervision (asistență tehnică, AT) until handover. On paper it is standard. In practice it is where you see whether the office knows the building or is only ticking a contract.

What AT is

Site supervision is the designer’s duty to follow the works against the permitted technical documentation: the technical design (PTh) and the construction details (DDE). The frame is Law 50/1991, Law 10/1995 on construction quality, and the technical rules for the building type.

In practice: visits at a rhythm that follows the site, attendance at decisive stages, written site instructions when the work and the drawings diverge, and signatures on the completion records.

Why it matters on public sites

Access to many institutional sites is restricted. If something does not fit, the chain is contractor, client’s site inspector, designer. The designer has to be reachable and has to know the project.

Over a long institutional job, dozens of decisions appear: a duct that will not pass where it was drawn, a foundation level that moved, a material that is no longer available and must be replaced by an equivalent. A late or wrong decision costs time.

Formal supervision and real supervision

Formal AT is a monthly visit, a note that “the works are in progress”, and a signature at partial handovers. Real AT answers a technical question within one or two days, comes when the site needs it, and issues numbered written instructions, with a sketch when one is needed. Changes are recorded for the building’s technical file.

That is the standard we use on public buildings. A missing decision can stop a site.

Questions at tender

“How many visits a month?” The useful answer follows the pace of the site, not a fixed boast.

“Who is responsible for AT?” A name and a role. If supervision is handed to someone who did not coordinate the design, that is a problem. With us, a senior architect from the design team does the supervision.

“How are site instructions issued?” In writing, numbered, with a sketch if needed, sent with a receipt to the contractor and the inspector. Not verbally.

AT is the phase in which a good project is actually delivered. It is principle 03: we do not hand over the DTAC and disappear.