Site compounds and set-up

Typically, a construction project manager may be responsible for completing the design and build of a new £40 million facility over a timescale of 2.5 years. In terms of their role and responsibilities, that makes them the equivalent of the CEO of a small to medium-sized ‘start-up’ enterprise, with revenue of £16 million in the first year. In most other industries, manufacturers already have their permanent, sophisticated, production facilities fully operational before they take on new orders from clients. However, upon award of a new contract, and within just a few weeks, builders and civil engineers have to first create their ‘temporary factory and welfare facilities’ on a distant site before they can start their client's work. They often establish (or set up) these concurrently with the commencement of delivery of the permanent works. Set-up requires management of a very large number of trades. This chapter provides advice on the range of items that may need to be designed, costed and included in the project preliminaries cost plan.