Temporary works
Temporary works records and BS 5975 documentation
The temporary works register drifts out of date faster than anything else on a civils site, because the works change weekly and the paperwork does not. Aldbry compiles the register from the design briefs, checks and permits in circulation and flags items with no current check. Design, the category of check and the decision to load or strike stay with your temporary works designer and coordinator.
The document set
Four things that must agree with each other
BS 5975 sets out the procedural control. The records are how you show it was followed.
01
Design briefs
What the temporary works must do, the loads and the constraints. The brief is where an assumption becomes a requirement.
02
Design and the category of check
The design itself and the independent check appropriate to its category. Both belong to qualified people.
03
The register
Every item, its status, its check and its permit. The single document most likely to be a week behind the site.
04
Permits to load and to strike
Issued by a person taking responsibility. A permit referencing a superseded design is a serious finding.
What we do
Compile and cross-check, never design
- The register compiled from live documentsBuilt from the briefs, designs, checks and permits actually in circulation rather than from the last version somebody updated.
- Items with no current check flaggedWhere an item is standing on site with no check recorded, or a check that a design revision has superseded, that is surfaced.
- References cross-checkedPermits checked against the design revision they cite, so a permit issued against superseded information is caught.
- Design and coordination stay with your peopleAI compiles the record. It does not design the propping, set the category of check, or decide to load or strike.
Being straight about it
Where this sits next to our civils page
Temporary works is one of four regimes that run at once on a typical civils package, alongside permits to dig under HSG47, lifting under LOLER 1998 and traffic management under Chapter 8. Our AI consultancy for civil engineering page covers that whole document set and how the four interact.
This page is the temporary works part on its own, because the register is a distinct artefact with a distinct failure mode. The others fail by omission. The register fails by lag: it is usually accurate about a site that existed last week.
The consequence of that lag is not administrative. HSE reported in Construction statistics in Great Britain 2025 that 35 construction workers died in 2024/25, and that the construction fatal injury rate is around 4.8 times the all-industry rate.
Common questions
Questions about temporary works records BS 5975
Is it safe to use AI on RAMS and safety documents?
Yes, provided AI checks and flags while competent people write, review and sign off. AI is good at finding missing sections, inconsistent figures, expired certificates and requirements that have not been addressed, and it does not get tired at the end of a long pack. It is not a competent person and should never be treated as one. Aldbry designs every workflow so that a named person approves the output, and Corvleo presents findings for review rather than issuing decisions. Accountability under CDM 2015, LOLER 1998, COSHH 2002 and your other duties stays exactly where it sits today.
Can AI handle temporary works documentation?
AI can compile and cross-check temporary works records, and it cannot design or check the design. It assembles the register from the design briefs and permits in circulation, flags items with no current check, and shows where the register no longer matches what is standing on site. The design itself, the category of check under BS 5975 and the decision to load or strike belong to a temporary works designer and coordinator. What changes is that the register stops being a week out of date.
What records does BS 5975 expect for temporary works?
In practice a design brief, the design and its independent check to the appropriate category, a temporary works register listing every item and its status, and permits to load and to strike issued by a person taking responsibility for them. BS 5975 sets out procedural control rather than a document template, so the records are the evidence that the control was followed. The role of the temporary works coordinator sits at the centre of it, and that role is held by a person. Compiling and cross-checking the paperwork does not change who holds it.
How out of date is a typical temporary works register?
Often by a week or more, and rarely because anyone is careless. The works change as the sequence changes, and the register is updated by someone whose day is already full, so it lags the site by whatever the gap is between a change happening and somebody finding time to record it. Compiling the register from the documents actually in circulation closes most of that gap, because the update stops depending on one person remembering. What it cannot do is tell you whether an item is safe to load, which is a judgement made by a competent person at the works.
Next step
Send one package and see what the register is missing.
Book a short call about your temporary works records, or send a subcontractor pack for a free cross-document check.