final-report-of-the-advisory-committee-on-falsework-bragg-report - Flipbook - Page 65
5
Recommended Procedures
In the earlier parts of this report we discussed the technical faults which are sometimes found on construction sites. We also discussed the factors that should
be considered by designers and erectors so that they
can avoid these faults. It is, however, inevitable that
mistakes will occur, through ignorance or misunderstanding or carelessness. In this part of the report we
recommend procedures which are aimed at minimising the chance of errors being made and maximising
the chance of errors being discovered if they are made.
Such proper procedures include the checking and
cross checking of the design, the inspection of the
falsework and, above all, the maintenance of good
communications between all parties. This leads on to
the questions of responsibility and professional
indemnity. Finally, we confirm the proposal, made in
our "interim Report, that a Temporary Works Coordinator should be nominated for all construction
involving falsework: we outline his duties and consider how they might be carried out.
We believe that the use of proper procedures, with
clear descriptions of the duties of every individual
involved, will lead to improvements in safety and
economies in operation which more than repay the
trouble involved in their establishment.
Choice of parties
The client must select a contractor who can deploy
the resources needed to complete the project. If a
contractor does not have the resources himself,
does he have the organisation that ensures that he
will select and properly control competent subcontractors? Allowing for the fact that every job is
somewhat different from the last, has the contractor
experience of works of similar type to the one proposed? There is a big difference between the experience
needed in constructing a clover leaf road intersection
and that needed for a low rise column and slab building.
imply that clients should make indiscriminate comparisons of injury rates per hours worked, for
example, which may be a reflection on the relative
difficulty of the sites worked or jobs undertaken.
However, we would expect tenderers to be required
to support their claims for relevant experience by
reference to low failure rates. We would also expect
them to support these claims by reference to their
training programmes and this aspect is discussed in
Part 6.
We debated whether opportunities to tender for
certain types of jobs should be restricted to certain
approved contractors, as is the case for reservoirs. We
think however that this would unnecessarily restrict
the flexibility and growth potential of the existing
system. So we are content to advise that the client
should seek to establish that the contractor is likely
to have the experience and resources to undertake
the job in question.
The same rules must apply to the choice of subcontractors by the main contractor. They will also
apply to the choice of Engineer or Architect for the permanent works: but this only concerns us here in so far
as Engineers or Architects who have proved in the past
that they were capable of harmonious relationships
with contractors are likely to contribute to the maintenance of good communications and safe procedures.
The design brief
It is the duty of the client to specify to the contractor
the exact details of the permanent work he requires.
He must provide an outline of the philosophy of the
design and give details of any particular methods or
sequence of construction which must be used. He
must specify any particular environmental constraints,
for example the need to allow continued movement of
traffic during construction. He should also provide all
Finally, and most important, the record of the conthe information he has on soil or other conditions
tractor as regards safety and training must be
which were obtained in preparation for the design
considered. It was suggested that the system of
of permanent works.
competitive tendering for contracts might encourage
unscrupulous contractors to cut corners, to skimp on
falsework and so increase the risk of collapse. We From this information a brief is prepared by the
have no direct evidence that this has happened and contractor for the falsework designer. The brief must
we believe that the loss and delay arising from collapse refer to materials and equipment that are or are not
are such that market forces act on contractors to available and should provide all the information
preserve their reputations in this respect. Nevertheless needed to devise a complete plan of the method of
it is essential that a client should be free to prevent a construction of the permanent and temporary works.
contractor from tendering when he believes him to This may include extra information on site conditions
have too little regard for safety. By this we do not as already discussed in Part 2.
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