An overview of Temporary Works by Associate Trainers Chris Bennion CEng FICE

Among the CITB’s Site Safety Plus suite of training courses are: 

• 2 day Temporary Works Coordinator Training Course (TWCTC)
• 1 day Temporary Works Supervisor Training Course (TWSTC)
• 1 day Temporary Works Co-ordinator Refresher Training Course (TWCTC-R)

What is Temporary Works

Temporary Works (TW) is the name applied to certain essential items that contribute to and enable the construction, maintenance or demolition of a client’s asset. Common items of TW include formwork to concrete, excavation supports, structural propping and access scaffolding.  Other items may be to maintain stability of a permanent structure during its construction or items to control a structure during its demolition. Site set-up items may include hoardings, cabin foundations, access roads and segregation barriers.

Safety related items may include guardrails, cover panels to floor openings and goal post frames beneath overhead cables. Other TW items include reinforcement cage stability, crane outrigger pads, piling platforms, battered excavations and spoil heaps. There are further TW items used in specialised sectors of the industry such as tunnelling, marine, power transmission and rail environments. 

Dependent upon the type of project, a perhaps surprising portion of the overall cost is attributable to TW. While it can be said that the best TW is no TW, for most if not all projects some element of TW is essential and unavoidable. Both safety and commercial risks are frequently identifiable during operations involving TW. These risks can be significantly reduced by adopting a process whereby appropriate control of the design, design checking, erection, inspection, use and dismantling of the TW is maintained at every stage. 

The role of a Temporary Works Co-Ordinator

The Health and Safety Executive note the following in their FAQs on TW “British Standard 5975 sets out one way of managing temporary works (TW) that has been found to work well on medium and large projects and uses the job title Temporary Works Co-ordinator (TWC).  There is no legal requirement to use this job title or the BS recommended process, but you should remember that BS5975 provides an industry consensus view on what is considered to be good practice.  The legal requirement is that the party in control must ensure that work is allocated and carried out in a manner that does not create unacceptable risk of harm to workers or members of the public.  On projects with relatively simple TW needs, you may choose not to appoint a TWC. However, you must still make sure that TW are properly managed to ensure safety.”

For these reasons, industry best practice for many years has been to formally manage TW by the adoption of company specific procedures. The roles of the Temporary Works Co-ordinator (TWC) and Temporary Works Supervisor (TWS) were first advocated in 1975 and 2008 respectively and are now widely accepted by industry. Both of these roles, as described in detail in BS5975-1:2024, are key in what is termed the Procedural Control of Temporary Works. 

What tasks can you expect to be carried out by a Temporary Works Co-Ordinator?

Essentially the TWC, as appointed by the contractor’s Designated Individual, ensures all relevant procedures are followed - along with maintaining an auditable trail from inception to completion for each item of TW. This will include ensuring a design and appropriate design check are carried out and that the as-built TW adheres to the agreed design. There will likely be numerous interfaces that require co-ordination and for this reason the TWC is considered a managerial role to be undertaken by a senior person. There may also be a technical element relating to the role. The TWC is not necessarily a site-based role, so long as a competent TWS resource is based on site. One person may act as TWC for more than one project, and may have other roles, so long as they have sufficient resource to undertake these roles.

The role of a Temporary Works Supervisor

The TWS is a site-based role reporting to and assisting the TWC, especially in the inspection of the works for compliance with the design. A Principal Contractor’s TWS may be a site engineer and a Sub-Contractor’s TWS may be the person in charge of a team erecting the TW. At all times when TW are being used, there should be either a TWC or a TWS on site.

Both roles carry significant responsibility, and formal appointments are normally made.

CITB Courses for Temporary Works Co-Ordinator and Supervisor

The CITB courses for TWC (Temporary Works Co-Ordinator) and TWS (Temporary Works Supervisor) were initiated by the Temporary Works Forum

(TWf) about 10 years ago and are now firmly established within the industry. The 2023 course updates were developed with assistance from the TWf, HSE and other industry experts. For many contractors in the UK, successful course completion is mandatory prior to consideration for either of these roles.

The course syllabus concentrates on the Procedural Control recommendations contained in BS5975, rather than on technical aspects.  

CITB’s 3Ps ie. People, Process and Product are introduced as prime reasons for failure of TW. These are described with examples.

CITB’s 4Cs ie. Communication, Co-ordination, Co-operation and Competence are introduced as key aspects in the management and control of TW.

Successful completion of the exam concluding these courses does not in isolation confer competency in the roles of TWC or TWS, as competency is not gained by training alone. This is determined by the delegate’s employing company appointee.  As an associate trainer, I have a whole career spanning 45+ years of experience in all aspects of Temporary Works and am well known in this sector. Previous roles have included TW Designer, TW Design Checker, Engineering Manager and Temporary Works Co-ordinator in both the civil engineering and building construction sectors of the industry.

What to expect during the CITB Temporary Works Courses

During a temporary works training course, delegates benefit from exposure to many actual events that the trainer has personally been involved with. The scenarios leading up to and following these incidents are discussed in detail, in order that the importance of appropriate control is actively brought to life.

A member of the Temporary Works Forum, our trainer is co-author of TWf’s Sample Procedure TWf2019.03 (right) intended for small to medium sized construction companies. This document is recognised by both HSE and CITB. Much of this document’s content was subsequently incorporated into the CITB’s 2023 syllabus for TWCTC, TWCTC-R and TWSTC as supporting information.

Delegates will benefit from real world information with examples on how to undertake both TWC and TWS roles in the manner intended by BS5975-1. 

Worthy of note is the 2-day TWC (2- day Temporary Works Co-Ordinator) course is also considered acceptable for the TWS (Temporary Works Supervisor role) role, under the proviso that the nominee is considered by the appointing person to be sufficiently experienced in the type of TW being supervised.

All the CITB TW course certificates are valid for 5 years. The 1-day TWCTC

Refresher course must be taken prior to the expiry of an existing TWCTC certificate.

Read more about Temporary Works in our blog - CITB Temporary Works Co-ordinator and Temporary Works Supervisor Training with Pragmatic Consulting Ltd.

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