Temporary works
Structures needed during construction but not part of the finished building: formwork, falsework, excavation support, propping, scaffolds, hoardings and crane bases, managed under BS 5975 with a temporary works coordinator.
Temporary works carry real loads and fail like permanent structures, but they are designed quickly, built by people who did not design them, and taken down under time pressure. BS 5975 sets out the management procedure: a temporary works coordinator appointed by the principal contractor with the authority to control temporary works on the site; a register of every item of temporary works with its design category; designs checked to a level matching their risk; a permit to load issued only after the coordinator has confirmed the works are built to the design; and a permit to dismantle. Temporary works supervisors run individual items under the coordinator.
The commonest failures are informal: props "just for now" that carry a slab pour, trench support that was never designed for the depth it reached, a hoarding that becomes a sail, a scaffold loaded with materials it was not handed over for. The CDM duty to plan and manage means the principal contractor cannot leave temporary works to whoever happens to be doing them; even on a small job, someone competent has to be named as responsible, and the loading of anything structural has to be signed off.
Where it comes from
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 reg.19 (stability of structures) and reg.15.
- BS 5975 (Code of practice for temporary works procedures and the permissible stress design of falsework).
- HSE guidance on temporary works and the Temporary Works Forum guidance.
Questions people ask
Do I need a temporary works coordinator on a small site?
BS 5975 expects someone to hold the role on any site with temporary works, scaled to the risk. On a small job that may be the site manager with the right training, and the register may be one page. What you cannot do is have nobody.
What is a permit to load?
The coordinator's written confirmation that an item of temporary works has been inspected against its design and may be loaded (a slab poured onto falsework, a trench entered). Until it is issued, nothing goes on it or in it.
Temporary works, handled on a phone
SiteLynx puts the RAMS, permits, inspections, audits, plant checks and records behind every term in this glossary on the crew's phones, signed on site, with a PDF at the end. 14 days free, no card.
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