Hot work on house sites: welding, cutting and fire watch
Hot work inside a half-built house is a different risk from the same work in a workshop. The controls are planning, clearing, a signed permit and a fire watch that outlasts the torch.
11 min read
The PointCPD blog
Building industry news and articles
What is changing in Australian building, and what it means on site: construction technology, materials, energy, regulation, safety, contracts and the housing market.
Hot work on house sites: welding, cutting and fire watch
Hot work inside a half-built house is a different risk from the same work in a workshop. The controls are planning, clearing, a signed permit and a fire watch that outlasts the torch.
11 min read
Receival inspection: checking building materials before they are installed
A receival inspection is the last moment you can reject a defective delivery cheaply. Once the product is fixed, the argument shifts from the supplier’s problem to yours.
12 min read
Getting experienced subbies to follow site rules without a standoff
Experienced subbies know their trade better than most supervisors, and that is exactly why the old ‘because I said so’ approach fails. Here is how to influence behaviour and hold the line without a standoff.
11 min read
Effective client communication for residential builders: templates and routines that prevent disputes
Most disputes start with a gap in communication, not a defect. Here are the routines and templates that keep clients informed and protect your position.
11 min read
Drying out new construction: sequencing and the whole-of-build moisture plan
Every build introduces water and every build has to get rid of it. The difference between a job that dries out and one that does not is usually sequencing, not luck.
11 min read
Waste management plans and skip bin costs for builders
Waste is one of the few line items a builder controls almost entirely from the site office. Plan the sorting, the bin placement and the haul before the first delivery, and the cost stops drifting.
11 min read
Workers compensation and insurance after a site injury: what it costs the business
Regulator notification is one obligation after a site injury. The insurance and premium consequences are a separate set of problems, and they arrive later, on a renewal notice you did not expect.
11 min read
Setting up a residential site properly before you start
Site establishment is the work you do before the first trade arrives — and it sets the cost and programme of everything that follows. Get the physical setup and the services wrong and you spend the rest of the job working around it.
11 min read
Material substitution on site: checking equivalence before you swap
Swapping a product on site is a variation to a documented design, not a site convenience. Equivalence has to be assessed against the function the material performs and recorded before the work is covered up.
13 min read
Keeping safety records that defend your business
Safety records are the only proof that a control existed, a toolbox talk happened or an inspection was done. Keep them so they can be found, read and relied on years later.
10 min read
Managing tools and equipment across multiple sites
Tools that move between jobs are the hardest assets a builder owns to account for. A register, a movement rule and honest insurance disclosure do more for your margin than any lock.
13 min read
Treated timber: picking the right hazard level, cutting it and storing it on site
Hazard levels describe the biological threat a piece of timber will face in service, not how strong it is. Get the level wrong, leave cut ends exposed or store it badly, and the treatment you paid for will not deliver the life you assumed.
13 min read
A WHS management plan sized for small builders
A WHS management plan is not a document you buy and file. It is the written version of how you control risk on a particular job, and it only works if it is short enough that you and your subbies actually use it.
11 min read
Free site templates for builders
SWMS, JSA, Take 5, inspection checklists, site diary, variations and payment claims. Word and PDF, free for commercial use.