Construction planning documents – co-ordination, conflict, or confusion?

The advent of construction logistics planning is a welcome development in worksite management, network governance and construction logistics safety.

Construction Logistics Plans are the golden thread that run through the CLOCS Standard with requirements for Regulators to require a CLP as part of the planning process and for clients, developers and contractors to develop CLPs and maintain these for the duration of the project ensuring they are regularly revisited and updated as the project develops.

The challenge is that the name on the documents appears somewhat mystifying.  Are Construction Logistics Plans, Construction Traffic Management Plans, Construction Management Plans and Construction Environmental Plans the same or different?  Do they link, overlap or supplement?  Do they feed from or to the Codes of Construction Practice, Materials Handling Plans and Waste Management Plans? Which should be developed when and how do they help project delivery?

In this latest Safety Forum, delivered in July 2022, Tim Hapgood and Adrian Neve from Stantec spoke at length to outline the differences and nuances between the plans, explained why they are important to the varied audiences, gave a broad overview of a typical framework, and discussed their experience of dealing with a variety of challenges.

They talked about roles and responsibilities for the various aspects of planning, highlighting the need for different language with different parties, and demonstrated the need for collaboration between the various stakeholders.

They talked about the value that a Construction Logistics Plan adds through the project life cycle looking at road risk management, environmental aspects, congestion impact, cost and efficiency and also compliance and assurance.

A copy of the presentations can be found here Stantec CLOCS Construction Logistics Documents.pdf.

Looking forward

It was another thought-provoking session with over 60 stakeholders tuning in, and the subsequent Q&A highlighted that there is still much work to do, particularly with engaging fleet operators in the process. It was also highlighted the holding areas are extremely useful but rarely seen, so could something be looked at to make these more common?

It was also highlighted how important monitoring is to ensure that the CLP is actually implemented and adhered to or what’s the point.  Also to ensure that the CLP is revisited and reviewed as the project develops and changes.

And finally…

Our thanks to Tim and Adrian from Stantec and also those who attended, sharing insights and experiences.  The voice of Champions is vital to the success of CLOCS so please contact the team if you have any queries, suggestions or concerns about any aspect of CLOCS.