Clerk of works
occupation
A clerk of works or clerk of the works (CoW) is employed by an architect or a client on a construction site. The role is primarily to represent the interests of the client in regard to ensuring that the quality of both materials and workmanship are in accordance with the design information such as specification and engineering drawings, in addition to recognized quality standards. The role is defined in standard forms of contract such as those published by the Joint Contracts Tribunal. Clerks of works are also the most highly qualified non-commissioned tradesmen in the Royal Engineers. The qualification can be held in three specialisms: electrical, mechanical and construction.
Historically, the clerk of works was employed by the architect on behalf of a client, or by local authorities to oversee public works. The clerk of works can also be employed by the client (state body/local authority/private client) to monitor design and build projects where the traditional role of the architect is within the design and build project team.
Maître d'oeuvre (master of work) is a term used in many Francophone jurisdictions for the office that carries out this job in major projects; the Channel Tunnel project had such an office. In Italy, the term used is direttore dei lavori (manager of the works).
Origins of the title
The job title is believed to derive from the 13th century when monks and priests (i.e.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5131886. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Clerk of works” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.