Temporary works are the structures that hold a permanent structure up while it is being built or altered: falsework, formwork, propping, excavation support, facade retention, scaffold design. They are engineered structures that exist for weeks and are usually designed and taken down under commercial pressure, which is why collapses of temporary works have killed people on projects whose permanent design was faultless.
What the coordinator does
The role is set out in the industry standard BS 5975 rather than in regulations. The coordinator makes sure the temporary works are designed by someone competent, that the design is checked to a category proportionate to the risk, that what is built matches the design, that loading is not applied before the design says it can be, and that nothing is struck or dismantled until a permit to load or permit to strike has been issued.
Why the role is appointed even though no regulation names it
CDM 2015 requires the principal contractor to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase, and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require suitable and sufficient risk assessment. Temporary works fail through gaps between designers, suppliers and the site, and the coordinator exists to be the single named person who owns that gap. Clients and principal contractors ask for one because it is how the duty is actually discharged.
The permit discipline
The permit to load and the permit to strike are the two moments where the role bites. Both are written, both are issued by the coordinator, and both depend on somebody having physically checked that what is on site matches the drawing. Most temporary works incidents trace back to one of those checks being assumed rather than done.
Questions people ask about temporary works coordinator
Is a temporary works coordinator required by law?
Not by name. The requirement comes through the CDM duty to plan, manage and monitor and through the risk assessment duty, with BS 5975 as the recognised way of meeting it.
Who appoints the temporary works coordinator?
Usually the principal contractor, from within their own organisation or as an external appointment, with the appointment recorded in writing.
Is a scaffold design part of temporary works?
Yes where the scaffold is not a basic configuration covered by a standard specification. A designed scaffold falls within the temporary works procedure like any other engineered temporary structure.