Sign off of Temporary Works?

[Kiri Robbie]

What is your opinion on sign off of TW? Chartered engineer? Both a designer & checker required for sign off from the original design company (independent to 3rd party checks?)

[Barnabas Ilko]

Under all circumstances, design work needs to be checked internally. At least this is what I am used to. The level and type of check might vary dependent on the complexity of the task. 

It does not necessarily have to be a Chartered Engineer. Unfortunately, there is no Chartered Temporary Works Engineer in Australia. I am not saying that the engineer should not be chartered, but their and the company's competency should be queried. To provide greater assurance of the competence of those carrying out temporary works design activities, an internal or industry guideline could be developed to help contractors and subcontractors to choose the right companies and individuals. It should be a competency-based matrix that focuses on temporary works design.

The designer and checker should sign off on the design in my opinion. BS5975 has a relatively straightforward approach to this and outlines who needs to be the checker for various design tasks. You can find it in Table 2. See snip below.