Site hut & storage

[worldwidewebs]

Fingers crossed we'll be breaking ground next month so I'm planning what I'll need on site. Electric and water supplies have been ordered and the groundworker is waiting for the nod, but what about site hut and/or storage? What is normally expected and what must I supply?

We don't live on site and as it's an MBC timber frame I'm expecting it to go up very quickly, but I realise that at the moment I've not made provision for the guys to store anything nor make a brew.

Thanks in advance
www

[ProDave]

I think you are supposed to supply a toilet.

I got around that because I live just 2 doors down the road and the toilet in our existing house was available for them, but few took up that option. There are a lot of trees on the site and most "made their own arrangements"

[Jeremy Harris]

Yes, there's a requirement that you provide a site toilet and hand washing facilities.  Whether workers use it or not is up to them, a bit like wearing PPE.  You also have to put up site signage indicating the PPE that might be needed and also warning the general public that building sites are dangerous and they should keep out.  An adequate level of fencing is needed in order to ensure that access to the public is restricted - in effect you must provide a barrier that removes the common law right of access.  Generally, this means having fencing and gates that are around the same effectiveness as the standard Heras stuff, but you don't have to use that particular fencing.  The main issue is that you have to be able to close off the entrance with a secure gate that is enough to make it clear that any access has been restricted.

You're not required to provide a site hut, and in the case of a quick build like an MBC prefabricated frame the house will be up and watertight in days, and then the inside of the house can be the site hut.

I made the mistake of hiring a portaloo for far too long, at £25 a week, inc VAT.  I should have bought a cheap cassette loo from ebay and plonked that somewhere in the house as soon as it was up, together with a water container and bowl for hand washing.  I think I had the portaloo on site for around 3 or 4 months longer than needed.

Providing a fresh water supply for making tea is a good idea, I had no drinking water on site so ferried over 25 litre containers from home.  Having an extension lead set up in a handy corner to run a  kettle is also a good plan.  I provided a kettle, but IIRC the MBC lads had their own they brought with them.  None of the other people working on site brought along their own kettle, though, so the cheap one I provided did get well-used.

I also provided a first aid kit and an eyewash station, simply because I had both to hand (I have around 4 spare first aid kits that I've maintained ever since I used to be in the cave rescue team - never knew when you might have to grab one in a hurry and go on a shout and it was handy having them already in either car and at home).  I'm not sure if you are required to provide a first aid kit or not, but it seemed to make sense to me to have one on site. 

The final thing I did was print and laminate some emergency contact phone numbers and addresses for things like the local GP surgery, the local A&E department, contact numbers for me and a nominated key holder and a few other ones that might be handy, like local pubs and the village shop.

[worldwidewebs]

Cheers guys. What did the MBC guys do with their gear whilst on site, for example while doing the slab?

[ragg987]

I take the view that these guys are working hard and it is important to provide the facility to warm up, make a brew etc (esp in winter). So I hired a 20' cabin with kitchenette one end and plugged it into the temporary builders electircal supply. Plus kettle, fridge, microwave, first-aid kit, fire extinguisher, table, chairs, most of this I had lying around rest I picked up some cheap stuff with intention of eBaying once done.

Now that house is watertight and we have moved electric supply we use the house and the mobile hut got picked up today.

For storage, it will depend on risk you are willing to take - i.e. value of materials, area etc.

For the MBC portion of our build, we stored outside - low value and high weight / volume to nick, but once our garage was available we used that for higher value stuff like bathroom fittings. Our area is fairly quiet and peaceful, not sure I would do the same in a busy town.

[ragg987]

I think MBC stored some of it in the welfare hut, but mostly just carted it away.

[RandAbuild]

I was about to go buy a secondhand caravan when the bricklayer suggested we buy a shed for them to use for 'welfare'.  They've taken to it like a duck to water - it gives them their own dry space when it rains and they've even bought in their own chairs to sit a read the paper and have their breaks. I've put up a couple of noticeboards for H&S, drawings and messages etc.

Good news is we can dismantle it and relocate it somewhere in the garden.

We also have a portaloo at £25 a week, but this will go when we have the frame up and can provide a temporary toilet in the house. I hope to use the house for some secure storage too.

[worldwidewebs]

I'm liking the shed idea!

[ProDave]

Okay, I have to mention it. My static caravan.

It's primary purpose will be somewhere for us to live when we eventually sell the old house, while we finish the new one. But I thought ahead, and bought one that has a more useful layout to later become a studio and workshop / storage space. Then I put it on my planning application that it was to be retained after the build was finished as a "garden outbuilding" . The planners were initially against it, until I ponted out on the day of completion (when permitted development rights come into force) I could remove it from site, and immediately replace it with an identical one in the identical position and it would qualify under permitted devemopment rights as a garden outbuilding.  They then saw sense and the only planning condition relating to the static 'van is that residential use of it will cease within 1 month of completing the house.

Of course to do that I had to ensure it's position was indeed within the permitted development rules, i.e in my case alongside but not in front of the house, and 1 metre away from the boundary (otherwise a very low eaves height would have applied)

Although we are not living in iit yet it has been a very handy tool and material store, particularly in the early stages before the house was build when I was doing ground work.

[Jeremy Harris]

1 hour ago, worldwidewebs said:

Cheers guys. What did the MBC guys do with their gear whilst on site, for example while doing the slab?

They put it back in their van at night and took it back with them. 

I had a general rule (well, strong advice, rather than a rule) that no tools etc were to be left on site overnight. 

The reasons were twofold; I had no site insurance cover for any tools over £500 in total value, and wanted to encourage a culture of people taking tools off-site so that the site was less of a magnet for thieves.  Tools are the stuff that's easiest to sell on if nicked, so are targeted, and whilst the thieves are in their nicking tools they will probably take copper pipe and cable etc as well.  Take the tools away and breaking in for a few rolls of cable seems less attractive. 

The only time we had intruders on site was when the ground works guys were there, and they had a 10ft steel container on site for their tools, and that's what was targeted.  The thieves did nothing more than add more scratches around the lock, as the ground works guy had obviously had problems like this before, and had welded up the locks on the doors so they were like Fort Knox.