7.10.2013

Keeping Your House Safe During Renovations

If your house is being renovated, there can be a lot of equipment lying around and a lot of structural changes made to the house and its surrounding area temporarily. That is why it’s absolutely crucial that you keep an eye on the safety aspects of the building work taking place to make sure you, your family and the public stay safe.

If you have scaffolding put up, make sure the builders provide signs to inform people that there will be men working overhead. This is because items may fall from the scaffolding and hit people walking underneath, so people should know to be wary about walking under scaffolding and if possible, should avoid doing so.

Any work involving your water or gas pipes or electrical wiring might involve creating a hole in the pavement or road outside your house to be able to gain access to the right part of the system. You should therefore ensure that road plates are used to protect people from the hole when it is not in use by the workmen. When they need access to the hole, it is absolutely vital that some form of fencing is used to make sure nobody accidentally falls in.

Equipment should not be left lying around, especially sharp objects or power tools, because even though you may not have children yourself there may be children walking past who will inevitably be fascinated by the range of strange objects. To keep everyone safe, request that the builders keep their tools secure at all times, whether that’s locked in a toolbox, on their person, in their van or even left inside your house.

If you have any plans of the house, it might be a good idea to provide these in case there are any unexpected beams or supports running through unusual parts of the house so that the builders know exactly what to expect and to minimise the risk of structural damage. The more they know about the way your house works, the smoother the task will be. In addition to this, if you have had any extensions or any major reconstruction work, such as having any walls knocked through, let them know before they find out the hard way.

It may sound silly, but it can be a good idea to wear shoes in the house through the duration of the building process. Sawdust, nails and all sorts of other painful things might find their way through your house, and be sure to vacuum at the end of the day if there is lots of debris around to stop you from stepping on anything.

Charles Alexander is a home construction safety expert who advises on securing property during building works
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