Temporary works
Works used during construction that need control under a temporary works procedure. On this site that control is a procedure, a register, a design brief, a design and check, a permit and inspection, with reference to BS 5975:2024.
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Glossary
Temporary works glossary
Each entry is limited to what this website already says, and links to that page. It is not a copy of BS 5975 and it is not a design.
Last reviewed 27 October 2026. Drawn from pages already published on this site.
Key points
- 84 terms, each with its own anchor.
- Where the site uses a word without defining it, the entry says so.
- For a project definition, use the project temporary works procedure.
T
Temporary Works Coordinator (TWC)
The person who manages the temporary works process on site: the register, the permit system, and the link between the designer and the site team. The compliance article says this person has to be competent, not just available.
Temporary Works Supervisor (TWS)
The site role, working under the TWC, responsible for physical checking and supervision so temporary works are erected, used and struck in accordance with the approved design.
Temporary works designer
The person or firm that produces the calculations, drawings and specifications. The compliance article says the designer must confirm the design has been checked and that assumptions about site conditions or loading have been communicated to the TWC.
Temporary works procedure
The written project system for managing temporary works. The compliance article says it should cover identification and registration, designer appointment and competence, design checks, permits to load, alter or strike, design changes, and register close-out. It should be specific to the project.
Temporary Works Register
The live record of temporary works items. The compliance article says each item should show the design reference, checking status, permit status, and the date of removal or striking. The design brief can produce a draft register for the TWC to maintain.
TWR
The short name used on the contractor-support page for reviews that keep the Temporary Works Register live and accurate.
Temporary stability
Keeping a structure stable while it is incomplete. The design page lists temporary stability and bracing. The propping page uses flying and raking shores for that purpose. The homepage describes the practice as temporary stability and structural engineering design.
Trench box
A proprietary shield, listed with drag boxes on the excavation-support page. No manufacturer is set as the default.
Tie
The connection that holds a scaffold to the structure. Reviewed as part of a scaffold interface, not designed on that page.
Temporary Works Toolbox
Registers, calculators, permits and site documentation, free to use in the browser. Export of the documents needs an account with an active support retainer. Exports are not sponsored.
TWf
Named on the news page as a source the briefing automation searches, alongside HSE, CROSS-UK and ICE. The Construction AI Advisor also refers to Temporary Works Forum guidance. A link is not a claim of membership.
B
BS 5975:2024
The UK standard this site refers to for temporary works management and falsework. The compliance article describes the 2024 edition as two parts, replacing the single-document BS 5975:2019.
BS 5975-1:2024
The management part. The compliance article says it covers management procedures for the control of temporary works, including duty holder roles and written procedures.
BS 5975-2:2024
The falsework part. The compliance article says it covers falsework design, specification, construction, use and dismantling.
BS 5975:2019
The previous single-document edition. The compliance article says it was withdrawn in December 2024.
Back-propping
Propping continued through more than one level, listed on the propping and needling page.
BR 470 (BRE 470)
BRE's 2004 guide Working Platforms for Tracked Plant. This site cites it as BR 470 and as BRE 470. Assessments are with reference to it and are subject to project-specific ground information and verified loads.
Battered excavation
An excavation profile cut to a slope instead of a vertical face. Listed with benching on the excavation-support page. No slope angle is published here.
Benching
Stepped excavation profiles, listed with battered profiles on the excavation-support page.
Ballast
Listed with kentledge and post foundations as a way of holding a hoarding. The page also says extending a hoarding's life needs a design review.
D
Designated individual (DI)
The design-checking page says the check category is set by the project's designated individual and temporary works procedure. The design brief form lists Designated Individual (DI) as a role. This site does not publish a longer job description.
Design check category
BS 5975:2024 grades design checks by complexity and risk. This site explains categories 0, 1, 2 and 3. The category is set by the project's designated individual and procedure, not by this glossary.
Design brief
The information a designer needs in order to work without chasing. The online form asks for contract and client details, what the temporary works are for, the check category if known, and whatever site, ground and permanent-works information you hold.
Drag box
Listed with trench boxes and proprietary shields as a form of excavation support.
Design risk assessment
A stated list of design risks and what remains. The design page includes it as a typical deliverable, with residual-risk notes.
Design basis
The statement of how a design was done. The compliance article says a design pack should include calculations, drawings, a design basis statement, loading assumptions, permit conditions, and evidence that the design was checked.
Design change
A change after the design is issued. The compliance article says the project procedure has to say how design changes are managed during construction.
P
Principal contractor
The compliance article says responsibility is shared, and that the principal contractor is accountable for ensuring the right people are appointed and the right processes are followed.
Permit to load
Authorises loads to be applied to a temporary works structure after a formal check that it has been erected correctly. The compliance article distinguishes this from a permit to strike. Both need authorisation before the operation.
PTL
A short way of writing permit to load. See that entry. This site's own pages spell the permit out in full.
Permit to alter
The compliance article includes alteration with loading and striking: before temporary works are altered, a formal check must be completed and authorised. Procedures should say how that permit is issued and controlled.
Permit to strike
Authorises removal of temporary works after a formal check that the permanent structure is ready to take the load. The compliance article says the design should state the striking sequence.
PTS
A short way of writing permit to strike. See that entry.
Propping
Temporary support that carries load from a slab, beam or floor to a foundation that can take it. The propping page includes vertical props, back-propping, foundations and the sequence for install, transfer and removal.
Piling mat
A working platform for a piling rig. The free BRE470 tool turns stated rig loads and ground parameters into a thickness assessment. A signed Official Design Pack is a separate paid output on that page.
Platform certificate
The sign-off that a working platform may be used. The working-platforms page says a platform certificate needs competent sign-off under the project procedure, and offers certificate and permit-to-load input as a deliverable.
Permit to dig or enter
Named on the excavation-support page as an interface the design notes should cover, alongside inspection. The public page does not set the permit wording.
C
Checker
A second competent review of the design. Volume 1 lists designer, checker, TWC, TWS and contractor as the roles. Who may check depends on the category.
Category 0
A standard solution. The checking page groups category 0 with category 1 as checks by another competent person, often inside the same organisation.
Category 1
A simple design. Checked by another competent person, often inside the same organisation. The checking page offers documented category 1 check support with a statement for the register.
Category 2
A more complex or non-standard design. The checking page says it is checked by an individual who was not involved in the original design.
Category 3
A complex, innovative or high-consequence design. The checking page says this is an independent check by a separate organisation, from first principles, with independent calculations.
CBR
The working-platforms page takes CBR-based capacity as one input to a ground-bearing check. This site does not publish a test method or a set of CBR values.
Crane mat
A mat that spreads crawler-crane track loads to ground. Designed from stated machine reactions and ground information. The crane-mat page says the lift itself remains the appointed person's plan.
Competence
The compliance article's test for a TWC: competent, not merely available. Volume 3 includes building and evidencing competence. This glossary does not list qualifications that would make someone competent for a particular item.
Construction phase plan
The compliance article says BS 5975:2024 puts more emphasis on bringing temporary works management into the construction phase plan. The article does not list the plan's contents.
CDM 2015
Cited on the news briefings, the BRE470 page and the case studies. One briefing says duties to plan, manage and monitor construction work are not met by a RAMS that nobody supervised. This site does not reproduce the regulations or spell the title out on those pages.
Check statement
The checking page's record of what was reviewed and what is still outstanding, written so it can be entered on the Temporary Works Register.
Close-out
Removing an item from live control. The compliance article says the register should record the date of removal or striking and should be maintained through to close-out.
CROSS-UK
Named on the news page, with HSE, ICE, TWf and industry reporting, as a source the daily briefing uses. Briefings summarise and link. This site does not spell out the CROSS name or copy the reports.
H
Hold point
A stop in the work until a stated check is done. The RAMS and ITP review is there to make hold points and responsibilities unambiguous. The news briefing describes permit and hold points as inspected on site before load, use, alteration or strike.
Hoarding
A site boundary of solid timber or a system panel, including fence-mounted lines and gates. The hoarding page designs it for the location, duration and wind exposure, and says banners or sheeting change the load.
HSE
Named on the news briefings as the source of prosecutions and press releases. A briefing is not a substitute for the notice itself. Those pages do not spell the name out.
F
Falsework
Covered by BS 5975-2:2024: design, specification, construction, use and dismantling. The design service lists falsework and soffit support among the schemes it calculates. This glossary does not reproduce the standard.
Formwork
Named on the case-studies page as a design family (column formwork design and control), alongside falsework. There is no separate formwork method page.
Flying shore
Named on the propping and needling page as a shore used for temporary stability. No member sizes are published here.
S
Soffit support
Listed with falsework on the temporary works design page. No separate method is published on the public site.
Shoring
Listed with propping and temporary support on the design page. The propping page names flying shores and raking shores for temporary stability.
Sequence
The order of installation, load transfer and removal. Propping deliverables include that sequence. The compliance article says a design should state the sequence for striking so the permit system can work.
Sheeted and framed excavation
Excavation support using sheets and frames, listed separately from battered profiles and proprietary boxes.
Surcharge
An extra load beside an excavation, such as plant or spoil. The excavation page includes groundwater, surcharge and adjacent structures in the assessment. No calculation is published on that page.
Scaffold interface
Where scaffold or access meets the temporary and permanent works: ties, imposed loads, ground bearing and coordination with other trades. The review page says this does not replace the scaffold designer's duties.
Sole plate
The spreader under a scaffold standard or base. Named with ground bearing and base support in the scaffold interface review.
Standard solution
The category 0 case: a solution the procedure treats as restricted in risk, rather than a bespoke design. Volume 3 discusses standard solutions and reusable details. A standard solution still sits on the register under the project procedure.
SHEQ
Safety, health, environment and quality. The name of TWCD's management-system tool, linked from the tools menu. It is a TWCD product, not a sponsor placement.
SEATS
The CITB Site Environmental Awareness Training Scheme. This site offers a free online preparation course. The course page does not say that TWCD's course is itself a CITB award.
Scaffold Master
The in-browser scaffold tool (Visual Scaffold Design and ScaffoldForge together). Free to use. Export of a design pack is charged at £49.99 per design on that page. The page describes the on-screen checks as a typical working range.
N
Needling
Needle beams through walls so a new opening, alteration or demolition still has a load path from the structure above to ground that can carry it.
R
Raking shore
Named with flying shores on the propping and needling page for temporary stability. No angle or size is published here.
RAMS
Risk assessments and method statements. The review page gives practical comments so hold points and responsibilities are clear. The RAMS Generator produces PDF and Word copies of those documents.
Residual risk
A risk that remains after the design measures. Recorded with the design risk assessment, and identified again during a design check.
Risk class
The design brief form asks whether the temporary works are low, medium or high risk, or whether that is still to be advised. On that form it is a separate question from the design check category.
L
Load path
The route a load takes to a support that can carry it. The propping page designs that path from the supported element to the ground. Design checking reviews loads, load paths and assumptions.
Loading bay
Listed with bridging and special scaffolds as part of a scaffold interface review. No bay size is published.
Loading assumption
A load the design relies on, which the designer has to tell the TWC. Designs on this site are issued subject to project-specific information and verified site dimensions.
W
Working platform
The surface that supports tracked plant, piling rigs or cranes. The working-platforms page says plant failures and overturns are often platform failures, and assesses platforms with reference to BR 470, subject to ground information.
O
Outrigger pad
A pad sized from maximum outrigger reactions so those loads are spread to ground that can take them. The same page covers timber, steel and proprietary mat options without naming a default product.
Official Design Pack
The paid BRE470 output: PDF drawings, full calculations, a risk assessment and a check certificate signed by David J. Miller. Priced at £299.99 on the tool page. It is a signed engineering output and carries no sponsor mark.
G
Ground bearing
Whether the ground can carry the platform, mat, pad or scaffold base. Checked from the ground information supplied. Scaffold interface reviews include ground bearing, sole plates and base support.
E
Excavation support
Support for an excavation, from battered profiles and benching to trench boxes, drag boxes, proprietary shields, and sheeted and framed solutions. Designed around the ground, groundwater, surcharges, adjacent structures and the kit available. Daily inspection and permit control stay with the site.
Edge protection
Protection at slabs, excavations and voids. Listed with hoarding design, and again on the temporary works design page with access and loading arrangements.
K
Kentledge
Weight used to hold a hoarding post down, listed with post foundations and ballast on the hoarding page. No weight table is published.
I
ITP
Inspection and test plan. Reviewed with the RAMS. Volume 2 of the free books covers RAMS, ITPs, permits, installation, inspection, use and dismantling.