Temporary or mobile construction sites

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    A temporary or mobile construction site is any construction site at which building or civil engineering works are carried out; a list of such works is laid down by the Crown.

    The following parties are involved in temporary or mobile construction sites:

    • The client: the natural or legal person for whom a project is carried out.
    • The project supervisor: the natural or legal person responsible for the design or execution or the supervision of the execution of a project, acting on behalf of the client. These tasks are assigned to three separate persons: the project supervisor responsible for the design, the project supervisor responsible for execution and the project supervisor responsible for the supervision of the execution.
    • The contractor: the natural or legal person who performs activities during the execution of the project, irrespective of whether he is an employer or self-employed person or an employer who works on the site together with his workers.
      However, a private person who carries out work himself is not regarded as a contractor.
      This concept differs from the concept of the project supervisor responsible for execution. The latter is the person who bears full responsibility for the execution of a construction project whereas the concept of contractor in the present context refers to those who effectively carry out the activities. However, this does not mean that the project supervisor responsible for execution may be a "contractor" in the usual sense of the term. In this case, he is in practice often referred to as the main contractor.
    • The coordinator for safety and health matters at the project preparation stage: the person entrusted by the client or project supervisor with ensuring safety and health coordination in the project preparation stage.
    • The coordinator for safety and health matters at the project execution stage: the person entrusted by the client, the project supervisor responsible for execution or the project supervisor responsible for the supervision of the execution with ensuring safety and health coordination in the project execution stage.
    • The workers.

    When two or more contractors perform work on a construction site, simultaneously or successively, coordination of the work of all those present on the construction site is mandatory during both the project preparation stage and the project execution stage. A coordinator for safety and health matters at the project preparation stage and one at the execution stage must be appointed. This can be the same person.

    General tasks of the coordinator for safety and health matters

    • Coordinate the tasks of the intervening contractors so that the risks are reduced to an acceptable level;
    • Apply and adjust the safety and health plan;
    • Adapt the post-intervention file;
    • Maintain and complete the coordination diary.

    Implementation for posted workers in Belgium

    All parties concerned who perform work on temporary or mobile construction sites in Belgium must comply with the safety and health provisions laid down by royal decree. This applies to traditional employers and to self-employed persons and employers who themselves work on the site together with their workers.

    To guarantee the health and safety of all workers, a cascade system is provided for, depending on the place a contractor has in the whole.

    The project supervisor responsible for execution is at the top of the pyramid. He has the following obligations:

    • he must comply with the safety and health measures himself;
    • he must ensure that they are complied with by all contractors and subcontractors involved during the execution stage of the project, even if he only has an indirect link with these (sub)contractors;
    • he must ensure that the workers comply with them.

    The (sub)contractor has the following obligations:

    • he must comply with the safety and health measures himself;
    • he must ensure that his own direct subcontractor complies with them, as well as his subcontractor's subcontractors and every other subcontractor down the line;
    • he must ensure that the workers comply with them;
    • he must ensure that anyone posting workers to him complies with them.

    In the public sector, the Belgian Act on public procurement remains in force. However, in applying this Act, account will have to be taken of the principles laid down in the Well-being Act.

    A coordination structure may be set up for large construction sites, depending on the scope and the degree of risks. This structure may involve, among others, the project supervisors, representatives of the contractors, the workers and prevention advisors.

    The specific implementing procedures of the principles set out above are laid down in the Royal Decree of 25 January 2001 on temporary or mobile construction sites.

    More information

    More information on this website on Temporary or mobile construction sites under the theme The well-being of workers.