Do I Require Fencing Around My Construction Site?
The law says you must conduct your business without putting members of the public at risk. This includes the public and other workers who may be affected by your work. The health and safety executive website (http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/publicprotection.htm) states the following with regard to construction site boundaries:
"You need to define boundaries physically, where necessary, by suitable fencing. The type of fencing should reflect the nature of the site and its surroundings. Determining the boundary is an important aspect of managing public risk.
You need to:
- plan what form the perimeter will take;
- provide the fencing; and
- maintain the fencing.
Questions you need to ask yourself include:
- What is the nature and type of the construction work?
- How heavily populated is the area is?
- Who will need to visit the site during the work?
- Will the site attract children?
- What are the site characteristics (eg existing site boundaries, location, proximity to other buildings).
Typically, in populated areas, this will mean a two-meter high small mesh fence or hoarding around the site."
We advise people to always choose the most secure and safe temporary fencing option that they can. This way you can make sure that you comply with the necessary regulations and more importantly that you keep members of the public and your workforce safe. Hercules Hoarding is the ultimate system when it comes to doing this. It is far more durable than traditional timber hoarding, which can be subject to coming down in adverse weather conditions. The in-ground semi-permanent hoarding system that we provide doesn’t suffer from the same wind loading problems and as such is favored around high value projects and in areas that have large civilian populations.
