Title: Jobsite communication: contacts and decisions | Cercha
Description: Set message routes for the super, sub, and crew lead. Record decisions, confirm schedule changes, and follow up on open site questions.
Canonical: https://cercha.pages.dev/guides/jobsite-communication/
# Jobsite communication between supers, subs, and crews
Crew starts and handoffs
Route the message to the person who can act on it. Separate site coordination from company commitments, and require acknowledgment when a start or instruction changes.
You need to keep the crew moving and keep the sub's owner and super informed. Send each jobsite message to the person who can decide or act. Record the final instruction and confirm receipt when the crew's start, scope, or work area changes.
Agree who receives each kind of message before the job starts. Use the suggested system below, with authority set by the company's contract and site procedures.
## Confirm who can give each instruction
Confirm the super's site role, the sub's business contact, and the decisions assigned to the crew lead. Ask what each person can approve. Keep a backup contact for time-sensitive issues.
[O*NET's construction supervisor profile](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/47-1011.00) includes coordinating work and conferring with managerial or technical personnel. That describes occupational functions. It does not establish a particular super's power to approve your company's price or changed scope.
Agree who receives each message:
| Message | First route to agree | Keep informed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gate, parking, or released room | Site contact and crew lead | Sub's contact if mobilization changes |
| Missing material or incomplete predecessor | Crew lead and site contact | Responsible company and trade |
| Revised scope or added work | Sub's authorized business contact | Crew lead and requester |
| Price or payment question | Company's commercial decision maker | Office contact as assigned |
| Technical detail conflict | Responsible company and designer or trade | Site contact and affected crew |
| Safety concern or emergency | Designated safety or emergency route | Employer and affected site parties |
| Changed start | Sub's scheduling contact and site contact | Crew lead and affected delivery contacts |
Make the table specific to the job. Replace job titles with names and list what each person can approve. [The crew lead guide](/guides/crew-lead/) helps define the lead's part.
## Choose a channel for each kind of message
Use the agreed immediate channel for a live safety issue. Use a reachable contact for a blocker that stops today's assigned task. Keep routine progress and administrative updates in the company's chosen record.
When an OSHA standard requires an emergency action plan, [1926.35](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.35) calls for emergency-reporting methods, escape procedures, and assigned contacts.
Ask where a phone decision gets documented. Identify who posts the written instruction and who checks that it matches the conversation. Do not make the crew reconstruct a final decision from several partial messages.
Keep formal notices and approvals in the process the agreement requires. A convenient group text should not replace that process by accident. If a message belongs elsewhere, send it there and record where you put it.
## Use group messages for a defined purpose
Agree who belongs in the thread and what it is for. Limit membership to people who need the information. Name who must resolve the question.
If someone posts a revised start without the sub's scheduler in the thread, the crew could still follow the old plan. Name who must receive the change and get an answer.
With two jobs in one thread, a delivery update can lose its lot or address. Put the job number and work area in every update that requires action.
Use [site readiness](/guides/site-readiness-checklist/) to define the checks behind a start message.
## State the condition, task, and answer needed
Begin with the job and location. State the observed condition, affected task, decision needed, and person responsible. Add the time constraint when it matters.
Use this message structure:
- **Job and area:** The agreed project identifier and location.
- **Condition:** What you observed or confirmed.
- **Effect:** Which assigned task waits or changes.
- **Request:** The specific answer required.
- **Owner:** The person who can provide that answer.
- **Next step:** What the crew does pending the answer.
Avoid a vague message such as the site is not ready. Identify the missing item. Distinguish an observed shortage from a delivery estimate or a report from someone else.
Use a permitted photo when it clarifies the location or condition. Label it. Include the scope reference, urgency, and decision needed in the message. Do not expect the photo to explain them.
## Keep acknowledgment separate from approval
Ask the recipient to confirm receipt of a blocker. Then ask the authorized decision maker for the instruction. Mark messages as received, awaiting decision, or approved to start the specified work.
Confirmation of receipt does not approve scope or price. If the company tells you to proceed, record which version and task it released. Read back the instruction when the request has changed several times.
Use [who approves extra work](/guides/who-approves-extra-work/) when labor, materials, or the package changes. Record what the crew observed. Let the company decide responsibility and cost.
## Get confirmation when a start changes
Identify the old start and the proposed new arrangement. Give the confirmed reason for the proposed change. Name the readiness conditions that still need checking.
Ask the sub's scheduling contact to confirm the crew's commitment. Ask the site contact to confirm the released work area. Notify affected suppliers and trades through the agreed project route.
Record the final arrangement and who acknowledged it. Tell the attending workers which instruction applies. If someone needed to confirm the change has not answered, say who is missing. Keep the change unconfirmed.
Review [trade handoffs](/guides/trade-handoffs/) when the change affects another crew's start. Update what must be ready as well as the date.
## Document technical and safety information correctly
Ask the responsible trade or designer to answer an unresolved technical detail. Keep the plan reference and resulting instruction together. Do not substitute a crew member's interpretation for required technical review.
[OSHA 1926.21(b)(2)](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.21) requires employers to instruct employees about recognizing and avoiding unsafe conditions applicable to their work. Keep chemical-hazard information in the employer’s [construction hazard-communication process](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.59), rather than leaving it only in a group message.
[NARI's designer-collaboration guidance](https://nari.org/nari-blog-main/4-expert-tips-for-remodelers-working-designers/) emphasizes documenting timelines, deliverables, and milestones across a design handoff. Keep the source of each instruction clear during the handoff. The guidance does not assign your job's contractual authority.
For safety, OSHA's [multiemployer guidance](https://www.osha.gov/safety-management/communication) describes sharing hazards, control measures, emergency procedures, and contact information. Confirm those routes before work and when conditions change. Keep this coordination tied to the employer's and site's actual procedures.
## Close the loop at the end of the day
Report completed areas, remaining work, open questions, and the next handoff. Identify which decisions are resolved and which still wait. Assign someone to each unresolved item.
Save the final instruction in the company record. Mark old plans so nobody mistakes them for current ones. Review recurring communication gaps at the next briefing and change the route or responsibility that caused them.
## Replace a thread when its context changes
When a contact leaves the job or a new lead takes over, review the recipient list and reporting route. Identify which record holds the current instructions. Give the replacement contact the open items and the source of each decision.
If you start a new thread, state the final status. Do not copy the whole conversation without explanation. Name the job, released work, remaining holds, and decision owners. Tell the affected parties which route now applies.
Keep the previous record in the company's files so the replacement can trace the decisions.
## Where Cercha fits
Cercha's direct messaging can help a member reach another member. Use profiles to establish the company and contact behind the conversation. Keep group coordination, formal approvals, and project records in the companies' agreed job process.
Published 2026.10.14. Updated 2026.10.14.
[More guides: Support trades and crews]()
## Related guides
- [What a crew lead owns on a residential job]()
- [What to confirm before a crew starts on site]()
- [Who approves extra work: sub, super, or crew?]()
- [Trade handoffs: who accepts the work before the next crew]()
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## Sources
1. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). *Communication and Coordination for Host Employers, Contractors, and Staffing Agencies*. Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://www.osha.gov/safety-management/communication
2. National Center for O*NET Development. (n.d.). *47-1011.00 - First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers*. O*NET OnLine. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/47-1011.00
3. National Association of the Remodeling Industry. (2024, December 9). 4 Expert Tips for Remodelers Working Designers. *NARI*. https://nari.org/nari-blog-main/4-expert-tips-for-remodelers-working-designers/
4. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). *1926.35 - Employee emergency action plans*. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.35
5. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). *1926.21 - Safety training and education*. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.21
6. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). *1926.59 - Hazard Communication*. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.59