Pre-site Inspection: What Is It and Why Is It Needed?

Posted by Peter Achiel on May 12th, 2021

Site inspection ensures that the progress and quality of the work comply with the standard requirements. As a construction project involves a lot of activities, materials, and people, some accidents might occur and jeopardise the entire construction process.

A pre-site inspection involves many different factors such as identifying the type of terrain, road accessibility, utilities and drainage. Here are a few key benefits of how a pre-site inspection is vital before construction.

1. Identifying potential risks

The pre-site inspection makes it possible for you to detect risks that you might face during the construction process. For example, inaccessible roads or having an area with low porosity in drainage is a potential risk that should be tackled before the construction process.

Additionally, you can also identify risks concerning the legal requirements that will negatively affect the construction process. Thus, it is essential to inspect the site before construction begins to ensure that everything is in order. Ignoring these requirements could cause potential injuries to workers, legal trouble, or halt the construction process altogether. Always identify any potential risks and tackle them early.

2. Setting up corrective measures

After identifying the potential risks you might face, you can set up safety measures to prevent these risks. These could be in the form of installing safety equipment or educating through programmes like a signalman course, designed to ensure the operator is up to the task. One will learn standard voice and hand signals, as well as all sorts of rigging methods using different kinds of loads and slings.

Similarly, the measures provided can be solutions to the possible dangers before they start affecting the construction process. This way, you can save on time and money, as you will be able to clear potential risks before they appear during construction.

For instance, realising that there is an oil pipe beneath the ground would ensure that your employees are cautious not to interfere with the piping system during the excavation process. If you are not aware of the piping before digging, you could cut through the piping or break it, resulting in spillage. This would stall the construction and interfere with the overall progress. By setting up the corrective measures, you can tackle the problems before the process begins and carry on without any interference.

3. Planning

By having knowledge of the risks and setting up the right corrective measures, you can begin to plan the whole construction process. For instance, you should consider factors like the number of personnel, equipment, materials and design to ensure proper workplace safety.

A pre-site inspection enables you to plan how you will undertake the construction regarding both the possible risks and important factors such as the type of terrain. It helps you outline the construction process and know the sequence of operations.

An example is when dealing with marshlands or swampy land, you will realise that you will need to reclaim the ground first before undertaking any construction. This way, you can assemble the personnel and the equipment, while taking into consideration the terrain. You might have to change the design to help with the drainage and evaluate the type of soil that is in the area to ensure that the construction process continues without any issues. Critical planning ensures that you know all about the construction process and sequence of operations so that you have an understanding of what can happen and have solutions ready.

Conclusion

Conducting a site inspection before construction is more than just a requirement, it is necessary for every site. It benefits both you and your workers, greatly eases the construction process, and enables you to see the holes ahead. Once you have identified the risks, you can put in measures to address them, and plan for the entire construction process.

A pre-site inspection foresees the entire construction outcome and helps you to set all the safety measures in place to make it happen accordingly.