Dave White is site manager at Bovis Homes’ Furlong Rise site in Cheltenham, born and bred in Gloucester and now married with two young children. Here, Dave provides an insight into a typical day on site building new homes:
7.00am: Arrive on site, park the car up and prepare for the day ahead with a morning coffee and a chat with my assistant Lee Wines about today’s programme of work.
7.30am: Issue PPE (personal protective equipment) and carry out the necessary safety inductions to new starters and visitors to ensure they are well aware of the protocol on site – it can be a very dangerous place if not managed correctly!
8.00am: Hold morning daily activity briefing, attended by supervisors of the trades; includes detailed discussion about health and safety, and production on site that day.
8.30am: Spend about an hour on my morning walking around to ensure everyone is doing their job and wearing their PPE; hold our weekly scaffold check; record new lifts on site; stage visual checks of work done yesterday; carry out a comprehensive examination of a plot ahead of pre-plaster work; book in NHBC (National House Building Council) for inspection of the plot the following day.
9.30am: Return to the site office and attend to various paperwork and emails.
10.30am: Quick coffee break; send our population figures (number of people on site) to Sarah in the build department back at regional HQ.
11.00am: Return to paperwork and emails; carry out more health and safety inductions and issue PPE.
Show home at Bovis Homes’ Furlong Rise development
12.00pm: De-snag one of the view homes in preparation for it to be opened to the public; start at the top of the list, work down and check off everything that’s been done; one or two jobs haven’t been finished, so it’s time to make some phone calls to ensure the work gets done.
1.00pm: Return to site office to attend to more paperwork and emails; update material chart with details about incoming orders – it’s an absolutely vital part of the job because our work will fall behind if we don’t have the right materials on site.
2.00pm: Attend weekly build and sales meeting in the sales centre with Lisa and Jo. It’s an important meeting for Lee and I that helps to build a strong relationship with the sales team.
3.00pm: Courtesy visit to new homeowner, as part of the Bovis Homes customer charter, to check they’re getting on all right with the house – the customer is happy, I will pass on the positive feedback to the team.
3.30pm: Return to site office for a productive and positive appointment with a health and safety advisor – the safety of staff on site is an extremely important part of the business; attend to more paperwork and respond to new emails that have dropped in.
4.00pm: Before they clock off for the day, a few tradesmen pop into the office for a debrief and to find out what work they will be doing tomorrow; Lee goes around the site to ensure tools and equipment are starting to be put away and locked up while I’m attending to yet more paperwork and emails!
5.00pm: Most people on site have gone by 4.30pm, so Lee and I are always the last ones out. Time to reflect on another successful day on site – the team have worked hard.
Every day is different and there’s never a minute when something’s not going on – it’s a really good job.
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