Job Site Organization

Few things that give a project a better start than good job site organization. Anything you can do to organize your own efforts and coordinate them with other trades will go a long way toward eliminating confusion and improving the efficiency throughout the project.

Two Basic Goals:

1. Organize your own efforts.
2. Coordinate your efforts with the general contractor and the other trades.

Both goals demand that the project manager and the job supervisor assume responsibility for organizing the job site.
The aim of coordinating your efforts with the GC and the other trades is to eliminate confusion and improve efficiency and security.  It’s an effort that requires you and your project team to stay abreast of the other trades schedule.
In addition, you and your on-site supervisor have to establish a good working relationship with the GC and the other trades. Maintain a cooperative relationship that can be used to mutually solve scheduling and organizational problems as they arise.
 
Organizing a job site requires a step by step approach:

1. 1. Inspecting job site conditions
2. Assessing facilities for material handling
3. Identifying suitable trailer and storage areas
4. Meeting with the GC to finalize job site arrangements
5. Implementing a system for:

• Filing job paperwork
• Maintaining as built drawings
• Receiving deliveries
• Handling material and equipment
• Renting construction equipment
• Controlling tool use and storage
• Housekeeping
• Systemization of coordination drawings
• Systemization of job site safety requirements

 
Inspecting Job Site Conditions
Pay particular attention to:

• Existing services (water, sewer, gas, electrical, telephone, fiber)
• Temporary Utilities
• Access to and from the site
• Parking areas
• Trash disposal areas
• Security arrangements

 
Accessing Facilities for Material Handling
Review the material handling strategy for the project and inspect the job site with that strategy in mind.
 
Identifying Suitable Trailer and Storage Areas
Pick areas that are:

• Near the work area or inside the job building
• Convenient for all stages of material handling, from unloading through installation
• Permanent for the duration of the project and
• Secure

 
Meeting with the GC
Set up a meeting with the GC to discuss your inspection results and your team’s evaluation in detail
 
Implementing Job Site Systems
Prepare file folders for all filing categories.

Examples:

• Accident Reports
• Approved inspection prints
• As-built drawings
• Correspondence
• Daily Job log
• Equipment Rentals
• Job Meeting Minutes
• Purchase Orders
• Receiving Reports
• Safety Reports
• Schedules
• Time Cards
• Warranty Information

 
AS-Built Drawings
Everyone should clearly understand that accurate as-built drawings are not only a requirement of the job contract but also an opportunity for obtaining service work after construction is completed.
 
Receiving Deliveries
Specify and enforce procedures for inspecting delivered materials and equipment, comparing the packing slip to a copy of the purchase order, signing the shipper’s bill of lading, reporting damage and shortages to the office, moving deliveries to the installation site or to storage, and submitting paperwork to the office.

Handling Material and Equipment
The organization of material and equipment is a prerequisite for reducing double handling and ensuring safety.
 
Housekeeping
Good housekeeping isn’t just a matter of aesthetics. Keeping work areas and material handling paths free of clutter is essential to job safety and avoiding back charges.
 
Coordination Drawings
Establish procedures that will initiate, develop, and distribute coordination drawings.
Scope and Purpose
Activity levels
Schedules and review
 
Job Site Safety
A job site safety file should be established to retain safety documents and respective forms and reports.
 
Conclusion
If the project team isn’t organized from the beginning, it will never be organized.
 
 
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