Temporary Works — What Trade Businesses Need to Know About Props, Shoring and the Temporary Works Coordinator (2026)

What Are Temporary Works?

Temporary works are the parts of a construction project that are needed to support, protect or provide access to the permanent works during construction — but which do not form part of the finished structure. They are designed to be removed once they have done their job. The permanent works are everything that stays: the foundations, walls, beams and roof the client paid for. The temporary works are everything you put in to make that possible safely.

Common examples on a typical UK site include:

• Excavation support and shoring — trench sheets, trench boxes, hydraulic frames and drag boxes that stop the sides of a dig from collapsing.
• Formwork — the moulds that hold wet concrete in shape until it cures.
• Falsework — the temporary structure (props, towers, beams) that supports formwork or a partially built structure until it can carry its own load.
• Propping — Acrow props, strongboys and adjustable steel props used when removing a load-bearing wall, taking out a chimney breast or supporting a floor above.
• Needling — inserting temporary beams (needles) through a wall to carry the load above while you work below, supported on props each side.
• Façade retention — the steel framework that holds a building's front wall upright while everything behind it is demolished and rebuilt.
• Scaffolding used as access — and any working platform, edge protection or temporary support relied on during the works.

The defining test is simple: if it holds something up or holds something back during the build, and it comes out at the end, it is temporary works — and it needs to be designed, checked and managed like any other engineering risk.

Why a Small Builder Still Needs Proper Propping

The most common temporary works failure on small domestic jobs is propping. A builder removing a load-bearing wall or a chimney breast to open up a kitchen-diner is carrying out structural alteration, and the load above has to go somewhere while the new beam is installed. Eyeballing the number of props you need is not good enough, and it is not legal.

For a load-bearing alteration you need a structural engineer to calculate the beam (steel, padstones and bearing) and to specify the temporary propping arrangement — how many props, where they sit, what they bear onto top and bottom, and what spreads the load through the floors below. On a terraced or semi-detached house the load you are temporarily holding can run into several tonnes, and props placed on a suspended timber floor with no spreader can punch straight through.

On top of the propping design, structural alterations to a dwelling almost always require Building Control approval under the Building Regulations. Building Control will want to see the engineer's calculations and will inspect the beam and its bearings. Skipping this is a false economy: it can void the homeowner's insurance, surface on a future sale through the conveyancing search, and leave you carrying the liability if anything moves. Treat the engineer's drawing and the Building Control sign-off as part of the job, not an optional extra.

BS 5975 and the Temporary Works Procedure

The recognised code of practice for managing temporary works in the UK is BS 5975. It sets out the procedural control of temporary works — how they should be planned, designed, checked and managed — and it is the document HSE inspectors and the wider industry refer to when judging whether a contractor got it right.

BS 5975 introduces a clear management structure built around two key roles:

• Temporary Works Coordinator (TWC): the person responsible for coordinating all temporary works activities on a project. They make sure a temporary works register exists, that designs are produced and checked, that the right permits are issued before loading and striking, and that everything is removed in a controlled way. The TWC is a competent, appointed individual — not just a job title on a wall chart.
• Temporary Works Supervisor (TWS): on larger or more complex jobs the TWC may appoint one or more supervisors to oversee the temporary works on the ground, reporting back to the coordinator. The TWS role supports the TWC; it does not replace the need for one.

BS 5975 also describes the use of a temporary works register and a documented procedure so that nothing relied on for stability is installed, loaded or removed without someone competent signing it off.

When Do You Need a Temporary Works Coordinator?

There is no clause that says "jobs above £X need a TWC." The expectation under BS 5975 is risk-based: the more significant the temporary works, the more formal the control. In practice:

• A principal contractor running a project with falsework, deep excavations, façade retention or major propping should have an appointed TWC and a documented temporary works procedure as a matter of course.
• A small contractor doing a single load-bearing wall removal will not usually appoint a formal TWC, but still needs the underlying discipline — an engineer's design, a method statement, and a check that the props match the design before any wall comes out.
• Where you are a subcontractor on a managed site, the principal contractor's TWC will normally control the process, and you must work to their register and permits rather than freelancing your own propping.

The principle that scales down to every job is the same one BS 5975 builds in for big ones: design it, check it, and do not load or strike it until a competent person has confirmed it is right.

Design Checks and Check Categories

A temporary works design is only as safe as the independence of the check behind it. BS 5975 sets out design check categories that match the rigour of the check to the consequences of failure. The higher the category, the more independent the checker must be from the original designer.

For most domestic propping the design and check sit at the lower categories, but the point stands at every level: someone other than the person under pressure to get the job moving should confirm the numbers add up before any load goes on.

Permit to Load and Permit to Strike

Two of the most important controls in any temporary works procedure are the permit to load and the permit to strike. They exist because the two moments of greatest danger are when you first put load onto a temporary structure and when you take it away.

• Permit to load: a competent person inspects the installed temporary works against the design and formally authorises it to carry load — for example, signing off that the falsework is complete and braced before concrete is poured, or that the props are in place before the wall comes out.
• Permit to strike: a competent person confirms the permanent works have gained enough strength or support to stand on their own before the temporary works are removed — for example, that the new steel beam is bearing correctly and the mortar has set before the props come down.

Striking too early is a classic cause of collapse. Concrete that has not cured, a beam that has not been padstoned and pinned correctly, or props pulled in the wrong sequence can all bring the structure down on the people removing it. The permit system forces a deliberate, signed decision rather than a verbal "yeah, that'll be fine."

CDM 2015 Duties

Temporary works do not sit outside the rest of construction law — they are squarely within the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015). The duty holders all have a part to play:

• Client: must make sure suitable arrangements are in place for managing the project, including the resources and time for temporary works to be designed and managed properly.
• Principal designer: plans, manages and coordinates health and safety in the pre-construction phase, including foreseeable temporary works risks.
• Principal contractor: plans, manages and coordinates the construction phase — which is where the temporary works procedure and TWC sit on a managed project.
• Contractors: must plan, manage and monitor their own work, which includes any temporary works they install, and cooperate with the principal contractor's controls.

The HSE expectation, reinforced across its guidance, is that temporary works are designed, independently checked to an appropriate category, controlled through a permit system, and inspected. A failure to manage temporary works is a failure to manage a foreseeable risk — and it is exactly the kind of thing that turns an accident into a prosecution.

Method Statements and Inspection

A temporary works design tells you what to build; a method statement tells you how to build, load and remove it safely, and a risk assessment identifies what could go wrong. Together they should cover the sequence of installation, the loads involved, the access and exclusion zones, who is competent to do what, and the striking sequence.

Inspection does not stop once the props are in. Temporary works should be checked on installation, before loading, at intervals during the works (especially after any disturbance, vibration or weather event) and before striking. Trench supports in particular need checking at the start of every shift and after anything that could affect ground stability. Keep records — a signed inspection register is both a safety control and your evidence of competence if anyone asks.

The Risk of Collapse

The reason all of this procedure exists is that temporary works failures are frequently fatal. An unsupported trench can bury a worker in seconds, and a cubic metre of soil weighs well over a tonne — enough to cause fatal crush injuries even at shallow depth. Falsework that buckles under a concrete pour, props that punch through a floor, a chimney breast left hanging on a single "gallows bracket" that was never designed for the load — these are recurring patterns in HSE investigations.

Small trade businesses are not exempt. A sole trader removing a wall has the same duty to manage that load safely as a tier-one contractor managing a multi-storey façade retention scheme. The scale of the paperwork differs; the underlying obligation to design it, check it, and control loading and striking does not.

Quick Reference: Common Temporary Works on UK Sites