The Civils Side of Life

Since the down turn in the housing markets we have only been coasting along, working on design & build projects and local council works. This is not work to be turned down as it has so far kept the company turning over enough money to limit the number of redundancies and kept us out on site.

To try and improve our ability to win new contracts and to bring a much-improved system of work we set about implementing quality management procedures. Back in April 2009 we got ourselves accredited for ISO 9001 Quality Management System. This system allows us to work through a contract using a standard set of forms, allowing us to keep track of most events and developments. With us all working to the same system it also means that any time the management on site is changed, due to holidays or scheduling needs, the new person can quickly see the history of the contract and continue from where it was left.

Of course there has been some grumbling about ‘more paperwork‘ and ‘inefficient procedures‘, however we were already using the majority of the forms within our previous record keeping practices. All the QA system has changed is that our procedures are now set out more clearly with key areas of responsibility highlighted.

Since gaining the ISO 9001 accreditation we have pushed forward. We are now working towards getting accredited under ISO 14001 Environmental Management. We hope this will bring a better understanding of the environmental impacts we have on site and improve our environmental performance.

This has added a few more form to our list contract forms and highlighted a number of key legal requirements when it comes to how we as a company interact with the environment, both on site and at our head office.

We have also taken the opportunity to implement our procedures for OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health & Safety. This phase of our works collates all the required permits and method statements to enable us to work safely whether it is on site or within our own offices.

With a little extra work and attention to detail from each of us we hope to open up opportunities for plenty more work in the future.

Having been a little unsure as to where my next contract would be based it seems that I have been settled up in Crewe until further notice.

We are working on the behalf of the local council to help regenerate one of Crewe’s main high streets. The purpose of this contract is to replace all the existing footpaths and kerblines with a patchwork mix of granite paving slabs. The kerblines are mostly being replaced to match the existing lines and levels, with a small exception design to standardise the road width along the street. The granite paving slabs are a little more difficult to place.

With most block paving you work with 1 or 2 block sizes and can get yourself into a rhythm, whichever pattern you are laying. With the granite slabs specified we have 4 colours (proportioned 35%, 30%, 20% & 15%), 2 widths and 4 lengths of slab. These must be placed ‘randomly‘ to create the required blend of paving. This of course has given us a slight headache to sort. Given that the granite has been quarried in China we have a tight wastage policy and each slab counts.

Due to the site being on a public highway we have to keep a close eye on our works with little more than a few cones separating us from Joe Public. Work can be awkward at times, even though the footpath is closed with big red signs at both ends we still get people wandering around us, past cutting equipment and heavy plant. This will only get worse as we progress past shop fronts that we must maintain access to at all times.

Some tidying up of the street furniture, painting the lighting columns and adding some fancy brackets, will help the new benches, cycle stands and bins fit in nicely. Due to Crewe’s railway history we are also placing some decorative nameplates into the footpath. These have been designed with name of steam locomotives previous stationed at Crewe and cost a sizable chunk each.

When all the footpath works have been completed we shall be resurfacing the road to provide a fresh new look to a currently tired looking street.

Over the previous week I’ve had the pleasure of doing two jobs instead of just one. With my site manager on holiday I was left holding the reins. It was an interesting week with a simple aim, to pour the structural floor slab to block C.

Thankfully being a bank holiday I only had to cope for 4 days. It all started with blustery showers and a sense that all could be achieved if only the weather treated us kindly. I knew that I could cope with having to do both the engineer work and also do enough planning and organising to keep the job progressing.

All I had to do was to tell people to wait and if necessary to stop until I had time for them. This may seem a little odd but I know that I can handle the pressure of multiple tasks as long as I keep in mind the end goal. I tend to treat each task with the same priority unless something is going to lose us time and/or money. This strategy usually keeps me sane and in control.

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Everywhere you look these days construction companies are ripping up the grass, trees and natural landscape, only to replace them with large areas of concrete, tarmac and roofs. When it rains the water would soak into natural landscape and work its way to through the ground. With all the hard landscaping on housing projects and cap parks all this water can not soak in and runs off to the lowest point. To control this storm water drainage is designed to channel the water into pipework and outfall it into a watercourse. In built up areas this often mean adding to an already over capacity system. 

To get round this problem the use of soak-away and attenuation systems are becoming more prolific in new builds;
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