Why Temporary Works Should Be Designed Before the Concrete Is Finished
Two high-rise examples show why the edge-protection methodology belongs in the design and constructability conversation before panels are lifted and slabs are poured
Temporary works have an unfortunate habit of becoming urgent. The structure is designed. The precast enters manufacture. Concrete is poured. The programme moves forward. Then somebody asks: how are we going to protect that edge?
By then, the project has fewer choices. What might have been a relatively small connection or sequencing decision can become a drilling problem, an access problem or a task that must be carried out at height.
At NON-DRILL, we believe edge protection should be treated as part of the construction methodology, not as an accessory to be added after the concrete is finished. The best time to decide how the protection will connect is while the project still has choices.
The cost of asking the question late
If the project knows that a panel, slab or bridge element will create an exposed edge, it already knows that protection will be required. Deferring the connection decision does not make the requirement disappear. It simply moves the decision to a point where the structure is complete and the available options are narrower.
On finished precast, the project may be deciding how to install handrails around an edge that is already exposed. On post-tensioned slabs, every proposed drilled fixing introduces another question: where are the tendons, reinforcement and embedded services, and what checks are required before work begins?
Drilling is not automatically wrong, and neither is installing from an elevated work platform or manbox. But those methods should be selected because they are the right project solution, not because the design window closed before temporary edge protection entered the conversation.
The question is therefore bigger than which post to buy. It is where the work should happen, when the protection should be installed and how the connection can support the planned construction sequence.
Example one Move the installation away from the exposed edge
On a high-rise project, NON-DRILL Director Paul Breen observed handrails being fitted to precast panels from a manbox after the panels had already been lifted into position.
The method worked, but it was slow, labour-intensive and required the handrail installation itself to take place at height. The project was trying to make the installation task work in the location where the problem had appeared.
NON-DRILL identified a different sequence. Two additional anchors could be positioned outside the panel's lifting anchors so they would not interfere with the lifting chains. The edge protection could then be fitted while the panel remained on the delivery truck and lifted with the panel into position.
The important idea is not simply that another anchor was available. It is that the project could move the handrail installation from a manbox at height to a more controlled location before the lift.
This is the distinction between optimising a poor sequence and changing the sequence. A faster installation at height is still an installation at height. Planning the connection earlier can allow the protection to arrive with the element it is intended to protect.
Example two Decide the PT slab connection before the pour
The same high-rise project presented a different edge-protection problem on its post-tensioned slabs. The existing system required drilled fixings into the completed slabs, creating an obvious concern: nobody wanted an edge-protection fixing to become the reason a PT tendon was damaged.
NON-DRILL approached the connection before the concrete was finished. On the first of 11 floors, Paul worked directly with a site labourer to show how the required anchors could be positioned during the concrete pour.
Once the slab was complete, the NON-DRILL system could connect to those planned points without drilling new edge-protection fixings into the finished PT slab.
Again, the improvement did not come from adding a more elaborate temporary-works system. It came from making a relatively small decision at the point when the project still had control over the connection location.
The result was a clearer installation pathway: no new drilled edge-protection fixing into the completed PT slab and no late search for a safe drilling location around the tendons.
Different structures The same design principle
The precast panel and PT slab examples look different on site, but the design principle is the same.
For the precast panel, early coordination changed where the handrail could be installed. For the PT slab, it changed how the handrail could connect after the pour. In both cases, the project gained options by considering edge protection before the structure reached its finished state.
This is why temporary works should not wait outside the design conversation until the permanent works are complete. The systems may serve different purposes and carry different responsibilities, but they still meet at the same physical interface.
If that interface is considered early, the project can decide whether a suitable existing connection can be used, whether a planned connection would simplify the methodology or whether a different system is more appropriate. If it is considered late, the decision is made from whatever options remain.
Earlier coordination does not have to mean more complexity
There is an understandable concern that bringing temporary works into the design conversation will add more engineering, more meetings and more delay. That is not the objective.
Often, the opportunity is comparatively simple: identify when the edge will become exposed, review the available connections and make one small decision before the panel drawings or pour sequence are locked in.
Not every project needs additional anchors. Some structures already contain suitable lifting anchors, ferrules, shear studs or other engineered connection points. Where a new connection is considered, it must still suit the structure, loading, geometry and complete edge-protection arrangement. The point is to make that assessment while there is still time to act on it.
Early coordination should simplify the site method, not burden the permanent structure. When it is done well, the outcome can be less drilling, less work at height and fewer late decisions for the construction team to solve under programme pressure.
Ask before the design window closes
A useful constructability review does not need to begin with a product catalogue. It begins with the work sequence.
· When will the edge first become exposed?
· Can the protection be fitted before the element reaches height?
· Does a suitable connection already exist?
· If not, should a connection be incorporated before manufacture or the pour?
· Will the proposed connection interfere with lifting, reinforcement, tendons or embedded services?
· What installation, inspection and project documentation will support the complete methodology?
These are not questions for temporary works alone. They belong in the conversation between the project engineer, temporary-works team, precast designer, reinforcement detailer, construction team and edge-protection supplier.
Compliance is a system Not a sticker
A compliant component does not, by itself, create a good edge-protection methodology. The connection, loading, installation sequence, inspection, documentation and responsibilities all have to work together.
Planning earlier allows that complete system to be reviewed before workers are waiting at an exposed edge. It also allows the project to choose the simplest appropriate pathway rather than inherit a workaround created by timing.
That is what we mean when we say: compliance is a system, not a sticker.
Design the connection while there are still choices
By the time concrete is finished, the project can still solve the edge-protection problem. Construction teams are exceptionally good at solving problems under pressure.
But the better question is whether that pressure was necessary.
If the project already knows temporary edge protection will be required, consider the connection during precast detailing, lifting planning or before the concrete pour. Decide where the work should happen and how the protection can be present when the exposure begins.
The best temporary-works solution is often not a more elaborate product. It is an earlier conversation.
If your project involves precast panels, PT slabs, bridge structures or other concrete works, involve NON-DRILL while the connection methodology can still be influenced.
Tell us what is being built, when the edge becomes exposed and what connections are available.