The wide scope of the responsibilities meant that the superintendent of the Bâtiments du Roi was effectively a minister of the French king. The director general was assisted by the first architect to the King (premier architecte du Roi) and the first painter to the King (premier peintre du Roi), a staff of inspectors, architects and several hundred workmen. Much of the work was left to the director's first lieutenants, such as Robert de Cotte and Gilles-Marie Oppenord.
