Site set-up and demolition in a construction management plan
The site set-up and demolition sections describe what neighbours will experience first. Here is what belongs in them, which consents sit outside the planning permission, and how to word commitments an officer can check.
The site set-up and demolition sections of a construction management plan are the parts an officer reads first, because they describe what the neighbours will experience in the opening weeks. Hoarding line, gates, pedestrian routes, demolition sequence, noise and vibration control, dust suppression, working hours and the arrangements for telling people what is coming. Get them specific enough to condition and the plan gets approved. Leave them at the level of good intentions and the condition is discharged late, after the contractor is already on site.
Keep the plan in its lane. Vehicle routing and movement numbers belong in the construction traffic management plan, and material streams belong in the waste documents.
What the plan covers and what it does not
A construction management plan covers what happens inside and immediately around the site: the site set-up, the demolition and construction sequence, environmental controls, working hours and community liaison.
Three neighbouring documents cover the rest.
| Document | What it owns |
|---|---|
| Construction traffic management plan | Haul routes, movement numbers, wheel washing, highway works and any road closure |
| Site waste management plan | Material streams, segregation, reuse targets and disposal routes |
| Pre-redevelopment audit | The inventory of materials in the existing building before it comes down |
Cross-reference rather than duplicate. Where the same fact appears in two documents, one of them will eventually be updated and the other will not, and the inconsistency is what a consultee will find. The storage and collection section of a waste strategy is a separate exercise again, dealing with the completed development rather than the construction period.
Hoarding line, gates and pedestrian routes
Draw the hoarding line on a plan at a stated scale, with dimensions from the highway boundary. Where the hoarding stands on the public highway, a licence from the highway authority is required under the Highways Act 1980, as is a licence for any scaffold over the footway.
Pedestrian routes are the item officers press hardest on urban sites. The starting position is that the existing footway is maintained. Where it cannot be, the plan needs a signed diversion or a protected route past the site, with a usable width, step-free access, tactile paving at any crossing point and lighting. A route that narrows to squeeze past a gate is not accessible and will be rejected.
Gates need as much thought as the hoarding. Show the gate positions, the direction of opening, the standing space inside the line so that vehicles clear the footway before stopping, and the banksman arrangement for every movement across a pedestrian route. Show visibility splays from the gate in both directions.
Two details that save arguments later. State the hoarding height and finish, since many authorities ask for a decorated or printed hoarding in a town centre. And show where the site accommodation, welfare and material storage sit inside the line, because the plan has to demonstrate that the site can function without spilling onto the street.
Demolition sequence and protection measures
Demolition carries its own consents and notices, and they sit outside the planning permission.
- Notify the local authority of the intended demolition under the Building Act 1984, allowing the statutory period for a counter-notice setting conditions.
- Check whether the demolition itself needs planning permission, which it does for relevant demolition in a conservation area and for anything not covered by the permitted development right for demolition.
- Where the permitted development right applies, obtain prior approval for the method of demolition and the restoration of the site.
- Complete asbestos removal before structural demolition, using a licensed contractor for licensable work, with the statutory notification period allowed for.
- Serve any party wall notices and obtain the awards before work affecting a shared structure begins.
The sequence itself belongs in the plan as a drawing set rather than a paragraph: the order of removal, the temporary propping and needling, the protection of any retained facade or structure, and the arrangement for stability at each stage.
Protection of neighbouring property is the other half. Scaffold fans, debris netting, sheeting to the hoarding, protection of adjoining roofs, and a condition survey of neighbouring buildings carried out and agreed before work starts. The condition survey is the best value insurance on the job.
Noise and vibration control during demolition
The relevant technical reference is the British Standard on noise and vibration control on construction and open sites, in two parts, one for noise and one for vibration. It gives prediction methods, a framework for assessing significance and a catalogue of mitigation.
The regulatory route runs through the Control of Pollution Act 1974. A contractor can apply for prior consent for the works, setting out the methods, plant and hours, which gives certainty and protects against an abatement notice for anything carried out in accordance with the consent. The authority can also serve a notice imposing requirements on its own initiative.
For vibration the questions are different from noise. Cosmetic damage to buildings is assessed against peak particle velocity guide values in the relevant British Standard, and human response is assessed separately, because people feel vibration at levels far below anything that threatens a building. Where piling, breaking out or heavy demolition is proposed near sensitive receptors, propose monitoring with trigger levels and a defined response rather than promising to work carefully.
Mitigation that authorities recognise: selecting quieter plant and methods, using crunching or munching attachments rather than breakers, screening at source, limiting the hours of the noisiest activities to a shorter window inside the general working hours, and sequencing the loudest work away from examination periods where a school is close by.
Dust suppression and monitoring
Dust is assessed by phase, since demolition, earthworks, construction and trackout produce different quantities and different risks. The industry guidance on construction dust sets out a risk-based method: classify the dust emission magnitude of each phase, assess the sensitivity of the surrounding area, and specify mitigation proportionate to the resulting risk.
Write the mitigation as commitments rather than as a menu. Damping down with a stated water source and frequency. Enclosure or sheeting of chutes and skips. No burning on site. Covered stockpiles located away from the boundary. Hard surfaced and swept haul routes. Wheel washing where vehicles leave onto a public road, with the arrangement described in the traffic plan.
On a high risk site, add monitoring. Dust deposition gauges at the boundary give a record. Real-time particulate monitors with trigger levels and an escalation procedure give control, and they also give a defence when a complaint arrives on a day when the dust came from somewhere else.
Working hours and neighbour communication
Working hours are the condition most often argued about and the easiest to get right in advance. Propose hours that match what the authority normally imposes in that area, usually a weekday window, a shorter Saturday window and no working on Sundays or bank holidays. Then separately identify any activity that has to happen outside those hours, such as a crane erection or a concrete pour that cannot be stopped, and propose a mechanism for agreeing it case by case.
Communication is worth more than most applicants think. Commit to a named site liaison contact with a telephone number and email published on the hoarding, a letter to occupiers within a defined radius before each noisy phase, a complaints log with a response time, and a record made available to the authority on request.
Where the site is near a school, a hospital or a place of worship, say how the programme accounts for it. That single paragraph does more to reduce objections than the rest of the plan combined.
Wording the plan so it can be conditioned
A plan is approvable when every commitment in it can be checked by somebody standing on the pavement.
Replace "where practicable" and "as far as reasonably possible" with a stated measure and a stated exception. Name the responsible role for each commitment rather than the company. Give the frequency for anything recurring. Include a procedure for changing the plan, because the programme will change and a plan with no variation mechanism forces a fresh application to discharge the condition.
Finish with a compliance section: who monitors, what records are kept, how long they are retained and what the authority receives. An officer who can see that structure will approve the plan. One who cannot will ask for more information, and the request will arrive during the demolition phase.
Keep the vehicle content in the construction traffic management plan and the material content in the site waste management plan, and make sure all three agree on the dates.
To see which construction documents a scheme is likely to need, enter the postcode on PlanScope and work from the report list it produces.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a construction management plan and a traffic plan?
The construction management plan covers what happens inside and immediately around the site: set-up, demolition and construction sequence, environmental controls, hours and liaison. The construction traffic management plan owns haul routes, movement numbers, wheel washing and highway works. Cross-reference between them rather than duplicating, because duplicated facts drift apart when one document is revised.
What notices are needed before demolition?
Notice of intended demolition to the local authority under the Building Act 1984, allowing the statutory period for a counter-notice. Prior approval for the method of demolition and site restoration where the permitted development right applies, or planning permission for relevant demolition in a conservation area. Asbestos removal must be completed first, with notification where the work is licensable.
How is construction noise controlled?
Through the Control of Pollution Act 1974. A contractor can apply for prior consent setting out methods, plant and hours, which gives certainty and protects against an abatement notice for work carried out in accordance with it. The authority can also serve a notice imposing requirements. The technical reference for prediction and mitigation is the British Standard on construction site noise and vibration.
When is dust monitoring needed?
Where the risk assessment classifies the site as high risk, which depends on the dust emission magnitude of each phase and the sensitivity of the surrounding area. Deposition gauges at the boundary give a record. Real-time particulate monitors with trigger levels and an escalation procedure give control, and provide a defence when a complaint relates to dust from elsewhere.
How should commitments in the plan be worded?
So that somebody standing on the pavement can check them. Replace phrases such as where practicable with a stated measure and a stated exception, name the responsible role for each commitment, give the frequency for anything recurring, and include a procedure for varying the plan as the programme changes.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.