Enabling works are works carried out ahead of the main building contract to prepare the site. They are specified by the client and/or the project team and may include a mixture of facilitating works and new building works.
Typical enabling works include site preparation such as major demolition, removal of contaminated material, ecological mitigation (for example reptile translocation) and soil stabilisation, together with new drainage, access roads, retaining walls, utility diversions and minor building works. They are often let as a separate contract so that site risks are removed, or at least better understood, before the main works are tendered, and so that the overall programme can be shortened. For the QS, the key points are:
- defining a clear scope and interface with the main contract, so that work is neither missed nor paid for twice;
- recording the information gained, such as ground conditions, so that it can be passed to main contract tenderers;
- allocating the costs correctly in the cost plan.
Related terms: Facilitating Works, Early Works, Site Investigation.
