A project org chart can make names, roles, and the primary chain of coordination easier to find. It should reflect the project's actual contracts, safety program, and assigned responsibilities. The diagram does not establish legal authority or prove compliance on its own.
Choose company or project scope
A company chart shows the standing organization across jobs. A project chart shows the team assigned to one site. Keep them separate when project managers, superintendents, safety staff, and trade partners change from job to job.
For the project chart, decide which groups belong in view. A useful starting set may include the project executive, project manager, superintendent, project engineers, safety contacts, foremen, and named contractor leads. Use the titles and reporting relationships from the project documents rather than a generic industry hierarchy.
Studio stores one manager for each record. If a safety professional or trade lead has separate administrative and site coordination relationships, choose the primary relationship for this chart and document the other in the safety plan, responsibility matrix, or another approved project record. Studio does not support a second dotted-line manager.
Start with the construction template
Open the construction org chart templates. Choose Small Crew or Mid-Size Firm, then choose Edit in Org Chart Studio.
The template is a starting structure, not a rule for where a Safety Officer or Superintendent must report. Replace its roles and reporting lines with the arrangement approved for your company or project.
Show contractors and open roles accurately
Open People. In the desktop table, expand the person's row to reach the role fields. On a phone, open the person's actions menu and choose Role details. Set Engagement to Contractor only when it accurately describes that person's engagement. The other choices are FTE, Intern, and Part-time.
For a subcontractor company or crew shown as a collective role, use a clear title such as Electrical Trade Lead and a custom field such as Company or Trade. A collective card is a visual summary, so keep the authoritative contact and responsibility records elsewhere.
Use Open or Planned under Position status for an unoccupied project role. Studio asks before clearing an existing occupant's name and email. See how position and worker fields behave.
Import the project roster
Create an XLSX or CSV with one row per person or role. Include Name, Title, Manager Name or paired employee and manager IDs, and Department. Useful departments might be Project Management, Field, Safety, or a trade, provided those labels match how the project is organized.
Import the spreadsheet and map its columns. Review suggested manager matches rather than assuming they were applied. After import, open People and use Needs manager to repair unresolved rows. For example, if a project engineer reports to the Project Manager while coordinating daily with the Superintendent, choose the documented primary manager for this chart and keep the coordination duty in the project record that defines it.
For later roster changes, use Update from spreadsheet. Review additions, removals, and reporting changes before applying them. Studio does not live-sync with payroll, scheduling, or project-management systems.
Separate the project view from a field branch
Consider a fictional project led by Alex Rivera, Project Executive. Casey Lee, the Project Manager, and Morgan Chen, the Superintendent, both report to Alex. A Project Engineer reports to Casey. Morgan's direct reports are Sam Okafor, Assistant Superintendent; Avery Brooks, General Foreperson; Riley Diaz, Electrical Trade Lead; and Cameron Kim, Mechanical Trade Lead. Drew Wilson, Field Coordinator, reports to Sam. A Safety Manager also reports to Alex in this example.
The entire chart shows how project management, field operations, safety, and trade partners connect. A field handout may need less. In Export, choose Manager, set Morgan as Starting manager, and check the people count in the preview. That produces a Superintendent branch without changing anyone's saved manager or creating another reporting line.
Choose Entire organization when relationships between groups matter, and Manager when the reader needs one branch.
Make the site copy readable
Choose card details for the reader. Name, title, company, and trade may be useful for a project team; private contact details may belong in a controlled directory instead.
Use Layout to compare spacing and team arrangements. Choose Fit to recover the complete canvas. If the chart remains crowded, export a branch or use page settings appropriate to the final output.
Open Export and inspect the preview. PNG is useful for a screen or a single placed image. PDF suits documents and printing. PowerPoint provides editable presentation objects. An eligible free PNG includes a watermark; clean PNG, PDF, and PowerPoint require a suitable active pass. See the current export rules.
Review the exported chart against the current project roster before posting or distributing it. Add a revision date in the surrounding document or posting process if your team relies on one. Studio's chart does not replace required emergency, hazard-reporting, or safety documentation.
Frequently asked questions
Does a project org chart satisfy OSHA requirements?
An org chart can support communication, but it does not by itself establish compliance. Use the responsibilities, plans, postings, and records required for the actual project and jurisdiction.
How do I show subcontractors?
Add the people or lead roles needed for the chart's purpose, set Contractor where it accurately describes an individual's engagement, and use custom fields such as Company or Trade for project context.
Can one person have 2 reporting lines?
Studio stores one Reports to relationship. Choose the primary line for this chart and record other contractual, safety, or coordination relationships in the appropriate project document.