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Building site facilities

The layout of the building site is important for a functional and safe building site. The main contractor is responsible for everyone present at the building site, even if they are not building personnel. It goes without saying that unauthorised persons should not enter the building site. 

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Wondering what choices you have to prevent unauthorised people from entering your building site and to optimally regulate traffic? Make an appointment with our advisers.

 

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Chapter 1

What are building site facilities?

Building site facilities involve the setting up of an operational and safe building site. This ensures that the construction project is executed as efficiently as possible with minimal standstills and frustration. A construction site often starts with breaking ground and preparing an area to quickly build a small ‘construction village’ that has its own (temporary) infrastructure. You need to allow for a variety of factors, such as the type of construction project, location and environment, materials to be used, required utilities, legislation, and, of course, building site safety. Each of these factors can cause standstills.

 

Building site components

Every building site is unique. Nevertheless, some components are invariably on every checklist. For example, temporary fencing to keep out loiterers, construction of a sewerage system, equipment security, and site lighting. Toilets and site huts are also indispensable for creating a decent work environment. Lifts and cranes are also indispensable during the workday. We have summarised the most practical matters below.

 

Construction site fencing

As a building contractor, you are responsible for the safety of your staff, passers-by, and local residents. You must restrict the nuisance and traffic congestion to a minimum at and around the building site. You want to deter intruders and safely store materials and equipment. Only authorised persons may enter the terrain. At the same time, your terrain must be easily accessible for your staff and supplier. You also want to ensure that your terrain is tidy and clean. You can deal with all issues in one go when you use the right temporary fences and gates.

 

Power, water, gas, and sewer connections

Naturally, you want to request the right amenities - in a timely manner - to avoid delays. For example, power, water, sewer, phone, internet, etc. You can manage this yourself with the utility companies or subcontract the work to a consulting firm. Heras Mobile is happy to introduce you to such a firm.

 

Lighting

Lighting is essential for all building site facilities. Professional lighting deters unauthorised persons entering your building site at night. It also ensures that there is plenty of light at the physical workplace. You should install temporary lighting at strategic locations, both direct and indirect. In brief, turn on the lights!

 

Safety and security

Building site safety and security is a double-edged sword: it optimises a safe work environment for staff and visitors and it minimises vandalism and theft at your building site. Presently, the bar is set very high for safety at construction sites. So, make sure this component has a high priority for your building site facilities. You cannot avoid taking this seriously because appropriate measures are easy to implement. For example, use a sliding gate, which is easy to install and a simple means of reducing the risk of theft.

 

Construction lifts and cranes

You need the right lifts and cranes to move heavy objects and materials to the right place, including to great heights. Such heavy equipment is indispensable for all building site facilities whether for the short-term or long-term.

 

Toilets and site huts

Make sure you install enough toilets and site huts for your staff and visitors. A site hut is a unique place where workmen gather and relax after working hard. Site huts are available with a toilet, storeroom, kitchen block with refrigerator, roller shutters, additional office space, etc.

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Chapter 2

Building site safety

It was noted that one major cause of accidents is poor communication, which is due in part to the large diversity of nationalities and the need to ensure people are supervised sufficiently in a timely manner.

 

Personal protection

As an employer, you are required by law to provide safe working conditions and personal protective equipment, e.g. safe work clothes, shoes, and head and hearing protection. This is an absolute given as the building industry is beset by hearing damage.The latest figures show the seriousness of the problem, namely, one in five construction workers has poor hearing. In fact, 13 per cent have been made permanently deaf due to building site noise. This is why the labour inspectorate will perform additional inspections in the building industry.

When noise exceeds 80 dB(A), it can cause hearing damage and the employer must provide ear plugs or ear muffs for hearing protection. It is even better when a machine is shielded using a sound barrier. This soundproofing tarpaulin reduces ambient noise up to 32.8 dB.

 

Danger of falling, stumbling, and slipping

You can limit the number of stumbles and falls by keeping building site facilities orderly and ensuring that it is neatly cleaned up. You can use temporary fences to shield off dangerous areas and restrict stumbles and falls.

 

Facilities and logistics

You can install access control, for example, a sliding gate (based on temporary fencing), at a strategic location to keep undesired visitors outside the building site and maintain insight into who is located on your building site. Vandalism and theft can be reduced by using ‘smart’ logistics, namely, the just-in-time delivery of materials. This fosters a safe work environment.

Chapter 3

Requirements for a safe building site

This involves legislation and legal requirements, such as the health and safety legislation, the Buildings Decree, and the Environmental Permitting Decree 2010. Your building site facilities must comply with all of these laws and regulations down to the last detail. The municipality monitors whether you observe these laws and regulations. So, it is important to comply accordingly. 

 

How do you implement proper building site facilities?

You have now arrived at the practical part of this page. You are going to start working on your building site facilities, so we can now provide you with a variety of useful tools. Construction site fencing ensures that your site facilities are as sound as a bell.

Fencing is the foundation for all site facilities. It is important to be really thorough when you start determining and calculating the right fencing and that you install it in a timely manner.

 

Determine which and how many temporary fences you need

Determining the number of proper temporary fences is not rocket science. However, you must take some important factors into account: 

  • You must comply with all kinds of regulations and legislation.
  • You are responsible for the safety of your staff, visitors, and local residents.
  • You must restrict the nuisance and traffic congestion to a minimum at and around the building site.
  • You want to keep intruders out.
  • You want to store your materials and equipment safely.
  • You want your terrain to be easily accessible for staff and suppliers. To do so, you need to ensure that all traffic flows in an orderly manner and that the terrain is kept neat and tidy.

Installing the right temporary fences and entrance gates make juggling everything easy and safeguards. In this way, you create an orderly building site.

 

Purchasing or hiring construction site fencing

While you are determining what fencing you need at your site, you also decide whether you want to purchase or rent it. We are happy to provide you with some tips so you can methodically make your choice. Contact us or check out our product range.

 

Fencing required urgently

An urgent situation can always occur when you are caught short at the eleventh hour with respect to fencing. And with respect to purchasing or hiring at a particular time, you really want a supplier that is flexible in working with you on your choice and that also has the inventory and logistics resources to provide a solution within a few hours. In such urgent cases, you want to have your fencing delivered the next day. At Heras Mobile, you have come to the right place for that.

 

Access and gates for more safety

Gates are your building site gatekeepers and thus are indispensable for your building site facilities. You can keep unauthorised persons out of your building site by using a sliding gate or pedestrian gate

 

Indispensable accessories for your building site facilities

These are sometimes called ‘forgotten’ accessories, i.e. small extras that ensure you can use your temporary fences for a longer period of time. Our accessories ensure that your fencing is more stable and limits vandalism and theft. There are diverse temporary fence accessories that will save you money.

  • Temporary fence rack for horizontal transport: Fencing will last longer if you transport it correctly. Use a temporary fence rack to limit damage and loss of your fencing. 
  • Couplers: Connect your temporary fences together using couplers to ensure you know who enters your building site. 
  • Struts: struts offer a stable solution for your fencing. Our recommendation is to install one strut tube per 3 fences for maximum stability. 

Do you need advice on setting up your construction site?

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Chapter 4

Buy or hire temporary fences?

To simplify whether to hire or purchase temporary fencing, you consider the fencing properties that you believe are important, such as price, flexibility, service life, or maintenance. People often believe that renting fencing is more expensive than purchasing it. But, is that really true? 

 

Three key questions to ask

To answer this question, we recommend you consider three factors that are important when weighing up your answer:

 

Price

Naturally, you can consider price when making the right choice on whether to hire or purchase construction site fencing. Keep in mind that an average temporary fence retains its high quality for three to five years. And, make sure you compare apples to apples with respect to prices and quality.

 

Project duration

The duration of your construction project is important in weighing your answer. If you only need fencing for a short period of time, hiring is the obvious choice. On the other hand, if you need fencing for a long time for consecutive projects, purchasing is the best choice.

 

Service life

If you are prudent with your property, purchasing fencing is a better choice than hiring. And this is certainly a good choice when you obtain high-quality fencing with a corrosion-resistant layer of zinc. This choice has less impact on the environment and increases the service life of the fencing.

 

Tip: hire or buy rule
In general, the turning point for a construction project is two and a half years. This means that it is more expensive to hire temporary fencing after two and a half years than to purchase it. Are you looking for fencing that you want to use for one and a half years? If so, hiring construction site fencing is the best solution. Do you need fencing for three to four years? If so, purchasing Heras temporary fencing is the best option.

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We will be happy to tell you more about the different options for buying or hiring building site facilities.

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