Scaffolding, formwork, shoring, site cabins, a temporary electricity supply: without temporary works there's no construction site – yet they're the subject least discussed when structuring cover. Their loss is a double one, though: they need replacing, and until they're back, work stops. Let's look at how they come under CAR's umbrella.
- Temporary works are anything that serves construction but isn't built into the works: scaffolding, formwork, shoring, temporary roads, site facilities.
- Their cover is typically attached to the property section – with its own sum insured or a sub-limit.
- Loss to hired scaffolding or formwork can fall on the hirer under the hire agreement – this needs to be aligned with the cover.
- Scaffolding is the recurring lead player in storm losses: fixing it down, sheeting, and watching the forecast are the basics of protection.
What does this cover include?
Two broad groups. Engineered temporary structures: scaffolding, formwork, shoring, site hoarding, dewatering – these are designed, valuable systems, often from hired stock. And site facilities: site cabins, stores, fencing, temporary utilities, site access roads. What they have in common is that they're not part of the permanent works, so cover for the contract works doesn't necessarily cover them on its own – they typically go into the policy as a separate item, with their own sum insured.
The typical losses
Scaffolding is a recurring player in storm losses: badly fixed, sheeted scaffolding acts like a sail – and if it comes down, the loss is threefold: the scaffolding itself, the facade, and possibly the neighbour's car (the last of these is already a matter for the liability section). Formwork and shoring losses typically come with water or ground movement. The site-cabin compound, meanwhile, is theft's number-one target – from hand tools to the office laptop.
Hired stock: where two contracts meet
Under the hire agreement, loss to hired scaffolding and formwork typically falls on the hirer – regardless of whether it was their fault. The question then is: does the CAR policy's temporary works cover extend to the hired item, and at what value? Aligning the hire terms with the insurance cover is a job for before inception – the details: hired plant and equipment.
Setting it up in practice
Three questions at inception: what's the peak value of the temporary works stock (at the project's most intensive stage), how much of it is hired, and what protective measures are expected (fixing down, security, a storm protocol)? Storm readiness should be part of everyday site routine: loss-prevention checklist. That way, temporary works stop being a blind spot and become an orderly line item in the cover.
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