Temporary Works Explained: What Graduate Civil Engineers Need to Know
A practical introduction to design briefs, coordination, checking, permits and responsibility boundaries in UK construction.
Why temporary works matter
Temporary works are the engineered systems needed to build, support, protect or access the permanent works. They may exist for only a few hours or remain for much of a project, but their temporary nature does not make them less important. A collapse during construction can occur before the permanent structure has developed its intended strength, stability or load path.
The Health and Safety Executive includes excavation support, propping, falsework, formwork, scaffolds, haul roads, working platforms, hoardings and some temporary earthworks within this broad field. Some temporary works are later incorporated into the permanent works. The essential lesson for a graduate engineer is simple: if construction safety or stability depends on an arrangement, it needs to be identified, managed and, where required, designed and checked.
Temporary works management in the UK is commonly organised using BS 5975 and a contractor’s temporary works procedure. This article explains the usual principles, but the live project procedure, appointment letters, design brief and permits always govern the work in front of you.
Temporary works are a process, not just a calculation
A technically correct calculation can still lead to an unsafe outcome if it is based on the wrong loading, issued too late, built differently from the drawing or struck before the permanent works are ready. Good management connects the design to what actually happens on site.
1. Identify the temporary works and enter them on the project register.
2. Define the requirement, interfaces, loads, constraints and acceptance criteria in a design brief.
3. Appoint a competent designer and agree the design check category.
4. Complete the design and an appropriate independent check.
5. Issue approved information and confirm that the site team understands the sequence and restrictions.
6. Inspect the installed works and control loading, use, alteration and removal through the required permits.
7. Close the item on the register and retain the relevant records.
The temporary works design brief
The design brief is the controlled instruction to the temporary works designer. It should turn a site need into a defined engineering problem. “Design trench support” is not a useful brief because it does not describe the ground, geometry, loading or construction sequence. The designer should not have to guess the conditions that determine the design.
What a useful brief should contain
· Purpose, location, dimensions and required service life of the temporary works.
· Relevant surveys, ground information, groundwater conditions and existing services.
· Loads from construction plant, stored materials, wet concrete, wind, adjacent structures and traffic.
· Interfaces with the permanent works and any assumptions about their strength or stability.
· Construction, loading, alteration and removal sequences.
· Space, access, craneage, delivery and environmental constraints.
· Design standards, required outputs, checking category and programme dates.
· Residual risks, inspection requirements, hold points and permit requirements.
A graduate may be asked to assemble information for a brief without being the person who approves it. Record the source of each input, identify missing information and ask the Temporary Works Coordinator to confirm assumptions. Never turn an unverified site observation into a design parameter without agreement.
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The Temporary Works Coordinator
The Temporary Works Coordinator, usually abbreviated to TWC, coordinates the temporary works process for the organisation or project. The role is managerial and technical, but it does not automatically mean that the TWC personally designs or checks every item.
Typical TWC activities
· Maintain the temporary works register and ensure items are identified early.
· Ensure adequate design briefs are prepared and accepted.
· Confirm that designers and checkers are competent and properly appointed.
· Agree appropriate design check categories and control design information.
· Coordinate interfaces between contractors, specialists and permanent works designers.
· Ensure construction is inspected against the approved design.
· Control loading, use, alteration and dismantling through project permits and hold points.
On larger sites, Temporary Works Supervisors may support the TWC by monitoring specific areas or work packages. Their presence does not remove the TWC’s coordination function, and neither role removes the legal and professional duties held by designers, contractors or those carrying out the work.
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Design checking categories
The checking category should reflect the complexity, novelty and consequence of error. Under the common BS 5975 approach, higher categories require progressively greater independence. The table below is a practical summary only. The project procedure should define the exact appointment and independence requirements.
|
Category |
Typical application |
Typical checking approach |
|
0 |
Standard solutions or very simple designs with limited calculation. |
Check by another competent person, often using the standard solution and its limits. |
|
1 |
Simple designs using established methods and straightforward load paths. |
Independent check by a competent person who was not involved in producing the design. |
|
2 |
More complex or involved designs using established methods. |
Independent check by a suitably experienced person who was not involved in the design, commonly within the same organisation. |
|
3 |
Complex, innovative or unusual designs, or designs with significant departure from established practice. |
Independent check by an organisation separate from the original design organisation. |
Category is not determined by size alone. A small support arrangement may have unusual interfaces or severe consequences, while a large proprietary system may be covered by a well established standard solution. The decision should be justified, recorded and agreed by the TWC under the project procedure.
Permits and hold points
Permits provide a formal stop and release mechanism. They are evidence that defined checks have been completed before the work moves into a more hazardous or irreversible stage. A permit is not a substitute for competent supervision, and its exact title varies between organisations.
|
Control |
Purpose |
Typical evidence before release |
|
Permit to load |
Authorises the temporary works to receive the intended construction load. |
Approved design, check certificate, inspection record, correct installation and any specified test results. |
|
Permit to pour |
Controls placement of concrete onto formwork and falsework. |
Formwork dimensions, reinforcement interface, stability, access, pour rate and sequence confirmed. |
|
Permit to strike |
Authorises removal of formwork, falsework or props. |
Required concrete strength achieved, permanent load path available, agreed sequence and backpropping requirements. |
|
Permit to excavate |
Controls the start or progression of excavation. |
Services information, support method, access, exclusion zone, groundwater and inspection arrangements. |
|
Permit to dismantle |
Controls removal when the temporary function is no longer required. |
Permanent works stable, loads removed or transferred, safe dismantling sequence briefed. |
Responsibility boundaries
Temporary works are collaborative, but responsibility must not become blurred. A graduate should understand who supplies information, who makes design decisions, who checks them and who authorises work on site.
|
Role |
Primary responsibility |
What the role does not automatically own |
|
Designated Individual |
Establishes and maintains the organisation’s temporary works procedure. |
Day to day coordination of every site item. |
|
Temporary Works Coordinator |
Coordinates the process, appointments, register, interfaces, checks and permits. |
Automatic authorship or checking of every design. |
|
Temporary Works Designer |
Produces a design that satisfies the accepted brief and communicates risks and limitations. |
Approval of construction that differs from the design. |
|
Design Checker |
Provides the defined level of independent design verification. |
Site supervision or acceptance of unrecorded changes. |
|
Temporary Works Supervisor |
Supports implementation and monitoring of allocated works on site. |
Overall project coordination unless formally appointed to it. |
|
Site team |
Builds, inspects, uses and removes the works in accordance with approved information. |
Changing the design because an alternative is easier to construct. |
|
Permanent Works Designer |
Provides interface information and confirms effects on the permanent works where appointed to do so. |
The contractor’s temporary works design unless separately appointed. |
One organisation can hold more than one role, but the appointments and checking independence must remain clear. If site conditions differ from the design brief, work should stop at the appropriate hold point and the change should return through the controlled design process.
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Example 1 Formwork and falsework
Formwork shapes the concrete while falsework supports it until the permanent element can support itself
Formwork retains and shapes fresh concrete. Falsework supports the formwork, wet concrete and construction loads until the permanent structure becomes self supporting. The design must consider hydrostatic or fresh concrete pressure, pour rate, uneven loading, impact, access, stability, settlement and the sequence of striking.
A graduate reviewing this arrangement should check that the drawings match the actual geometry, prop extensions and foundations; that proprietary components are used within their limits; and that the pour sequence has not changed. Concrete strength, not simply elapsed time, should support a permit to strike. Backpropping may be required where lower floors cannot yet carry the transferred loads.
Example 2 Excavation support
A supported drainage trench must address soil, groundwater, nearby loads, access and the installation sequence
An unsupported excavation can collapse suddenly and without useful warning. HSE guidance says the need for support and the precautions should be decided before digging begins, with suitable equipment available on site. Design inputs can include soil profile, groundwater, excavation depth, surcharge from spoil or plant, adjacent foundations, buried services and the sequence used to install and remove support.
For a drainage trench, the support system must also allow safe pipe installation, jointing, testing and backfilling. Graduates should look beyond the calculation and ask practical questions: Can the ladder remain accessible? Is the spoil kept away from the edge? Can the struts be removed in the designed sequence? Has rainfall or groundwater changed the assumed condition?
Example 3 Structural propping
Temporary propping needs a complete load path through connections, props, bases and supporting structure
Propping is used when a wall, floor or frame temporarily loses support or stability. Common examples include forming a new opening in a masonry wall, supporting a floor during alteration and restraining a facade while the internal structure is replaced.
The design needs a complete load path. It should address the supported load, eccentricity, prop capacity and inclination, restraint against slip, connection details, local bearing, foundation or floor capacity, installation sequence and the condition of the existing structure. A prop positioned approximately as shown on a sketch is not a controlled design. Small changes in angle, bearing or restraint can materially alter performance.
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What graduates should do on site
1. Find the project temporary works procedure and understand the register, appointments and permit system.
2. Confirm that you are working from the latest approved drawing, calculation and design brief.
3. Compare actual conditions with the assumptions. Record differences with photographs and dimensions.
4. Do not approve, alter or instruct outside your competence or delegated authority.
5. Escalate missing information, damaged components, unexpected movement or changed loading immediately.
6. Record inspections and decisions clearly. A verbal agreement should be converted into the project’s controlled record.
7. Treat removal and alteration as designed activities, not as the informal reverse of installation.
A short graduate checklist
· Is the item listed on the temporary works register?
· Is there an accepted design brief with verified inputs?
· Are the designer and checker appointed and competent?
· Is the checking category recorded and appropriate?
· Has the design and check been accepted through the project procedure?
· Does the installation match the approved information?
· Are inspection, loading, alteration and removal hold points clear?
· Have changes in ground, water, loading or sequence been returned to the designer?
· Are permits signed by people with the required authority?
· Can the final record show what was built, inspected, changed and removed?
The main lesson
Temporary works safety depends on disciplined coordination between design and construction. For a graduate engineer, the most valuable habit is not trying to solve every issue alone. It is recognising when a temporary condition affects stability or safety, gathering reliable information, respecting responsibility boundaries and using the project procedure to reach a controlled decision.
A well managed temporary works item should have a visible chain from need, to brief, to design, to check, to installation, to permit and finally to removal. When one link is missing, ask before the work proceeds.
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References and further reading
· Health and Safety Executive, Temporary works View source
· Health and Safety Executive, Temporary works frequently asked questions View source
· Health and Safety Executive, Excavations View source
· Temporary Works Forum, Clients guide to temporary works View source
· Temporary Works Forum, Sample temporary works procedure View source
· BSI, BS 5975 Code of practice for temporary works procedures and the permissible stress design of falsework View source
What To Do Next
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