Four schemes on one site, all due this week
Your practice designs temporary works for several contractors. On one site this month there is a backpropping scheme, a trench support design, a crane base and a facade retention scheme. Each came in as a brief by email, some with the information you needed and some without. Each needs designing, checking and a certificate issued back to the contractor's temporary works coordinator.
The engineers know their own items. Nobody has a list of every item across every site with its status, and when a contractor calls asking about the crane base certificate, someone has to go and find out.
Why the admin around temporary works slips
- Briefs arrive in varied formats, often missing information the design needs.
- Short timescales mean items are started before the brief is complete.
- Check categories and independent checkers need recording, and this is done inconsistently.
- Certificates are produced from Word templates and filed in different places.
- Contractors' coordinators each have their own registers and chase separately.
Industry guidance such as BS 5975 sets out how temporary works should be managed, and contractors run their own procedures. The difficulty for a design practice is keeping its own records in order across many small, urgent items.
Temporary works also run on shorter clocks than permanent design. A contractor may need a propping scheme in days, not weeks, and that urgency pushes the paperwork to the end. Designs get done; records of briefs, checks and issues are tidied later, or not at all.
What the mess costs
| Gap | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Incomplete brief not challenged | Design based on assumptions, rework later |
| Status unknown | Contractor waits, calls, loses patience |
| Check records inconsistent | Weak evidence of your process |
| Certificates hard to find | Delay when site needs them |
How we build a temporary works tracker
- Briefs from a dedicated mailbox or a web form for contractors create a tracker entry per item, with site, contractor, coordinator and required date.
- A brief checklist, based on your own procedure, shows which information is missing so the engineer can request it straight away.
- Each item records the designer, the check category decided by your engineer, and the checker.
- Design and check documents are attached as they are produced, with revisions.
- Certificates are generated from your template with the item's details, for the engineers to review and sign.
- Issue to the contractor is logged, with the documents sent.
- A dashboard shows every item by site and status, and each contractor can be given a status report.
The tracker records the decisions your engineers make. It does not set check categories, approve designs or replace the contractor's own temporary works procedure.
We usually set up the brief checklist and certificate templates from your existing procedure documents, and test them on the items currently open. Contractors can keep sending briefs by email if they prefer, and the tracker still picks them up.
How the week runs with it
Engineers see their items and deadlines in one list. Incomplete briefs are sent back quickly with a clear list of what is missing. When a coordinator calls, the answer is on screen.
Certificates are consistent and easy to find, and the record of who designed and who checked each item is complete.
Are you handling temporary works like this?
- Temporary works briefs arrive in all formats by email.
- Nobody has a list of every item across sites.
- Check categories and checkers are recorded inconsistently.
- Certificates are typed from templates each time.
- Contractors call to ask about status.