Who Does What: The Roles on a Building Project
Lesson 2 of 18 · 7 min read
A building is made by many hands. Most problems on site are not about skill. They are about hand-offs: one person assumed the other had the latest drawing, or the rate, or the decision.
So it helps to know who does what, and exactly what each person passes on.
The roles
| Role | Main job | Common tools | Hands over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner / client | Sets the brief and budget, takes decisions, pays | Phone, WhatsApp, Excel | Brief, approvals, payments |
| Architect | Layout, look, municipal approvals | AutoCAD, SketchUp, Revit or Archicad, a render engine | Plans, sections, elevations, renders |
| Structural engineer | Makes it stand up safely | ETABS, SAFE, STAAD.Pro, AutoCAD, Excel | GA and reinforcement drawings, BBS |
| MEP consultant | Power, water, drainage, fire, air-conditioning | AutoCAD or Revit, HAP, DIALux evo, ETAP | Services layouts, load and size calculations |
| QS / estimator | How much, at what cost | Excel, Bluebeam Revu, CostX, SOR books | BOQ, rate analysis, RA bills |
| Planner | Sequence and time | Microsoft Project, Primavera P6 | Programme, look-ahead plans |
| Contractor / site engineer | Builds it and measures it | Drawings on phone, WhatsApp, site apps, Excel | DPRs, measurement book, bills |
| Thekedar (labour contractor) | Supplies and runs a gang for one trade | Phone, a notebook | Labour, daily work, his bill |
| Interior designer | Finishes, furniture, lighting | SketchUp, 3ds Max, AutoCAD | Concept deck, shop drawings, material list |
| Modular factory | Makes kitchens, wardrobes, panels | Factory design software such as Cabinet Vision or imos, CNC | Cut lists, CNC files, installation drawings |
App names here are common examples, not a full list or a recommendation. Many small offices use just AutoCAD and Excel for everything.
Who is busy when
The matrix below shows a typical pattern. A filled dot means main work in that stage. A hollow dot means the person reviews, answers queries or takes part.
Notice two things. The architect has the longest line: from brief to handover, as designer and then as the person who answers site queries. And the QS has two peaks: the estimate before work starts, and the bills while work goes on.
On a small Indian site
On a house or a small builder's project, one person often wears several hats.
- The architect may also prepare the structural drawings through an associate engineer.
- The contractor may do the estimate, the schedule and the billing.
- The owner may act as project manager, buying cement and steel directly.
- Each trade (shuttering, bar bending, masonry, plaster, tiles) may be run by a separate thekedar, paid per sq ft or per day.
None of this is wrong. But when one person holds many roles, the hand-offs become invisible. Nobody writes down which drawing the bar bender used, or which rate the tile thekedar agreed. That is where disputes start.
A worked example: one decision, five people
The owner wants a larger window in the living room, 1.8 m wide instead of 1.2 m.
- Architect revises the plan and elevation. Revision R2.
- Structural engineer checks the lintel and the beam above. The lintel goes from 150 mm to 230 mm deep.
- QS updates the BOQ. More aluminium window, less brickwork, a bigger lintel.
- Contractor updates the order for the window frame and tells the masonry thekedar.
- Owner approves the cost change.
Say the change adds 0.72 sq m of window at ₹6,500 per sq m (₹4,680), removes about 0.17 m³ of 230 mm brickwork at ₹7,650 per m³ (₹1,270), and adds a little lintel concrete and steel (say ₹900). The net extra is about ₹4,300. Small money. But if step 2 is skipped and the old lintel is cast, fixing it later costs far more. These rates are illustrative.
Common failure points
- Drawing sent to one person only. The architect sends R2 to the owner on WhatsApp. The site keeps building from R1.
- Verbal rate agreements. The thekedar's rate is agreed on a call and remembered differently at billing time.
- No owner for a decision. Everyone assumes someone else told the structural engineer.
What comes next
People hand over information. The gates decide when that information is final. That is the next lesson.
Key takeaways
- Most site problems are hand-off problems, not skill problems.
- Each role hands over specific outputs: drawings, calculations, BOQs, programmes, DPRs or cut lists.
- The architect is involved from brief to handover; the QS peaks at the estimate and during billing.
- On small sites one person may hold several roles, which hides hand-offs. Write them down.
- One design change can touch five people. Check each of them got it.
Verify on site
- Make a one-page contact list: each role, the person, and what they send you.
- For the last design change, confirm that the structural engineer, QS and contractor all received it.
- Put every thekedar rate in writing, even as a WhatsApp message.
Check your understanding
3 questions. Answering them marks this lesson complete — results stay on your device.
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