Guide
Temporary works audit readiness checklist
A practical checklist before a project or corporate temporary works audit.
Most temporary works audit findings are not surprises. They are documents that exist but cannot be located, appointments that were made verbally, registers that stopped being updated three months into the project, and permits issued without the inspection record that should sit behind them.
Working through the list below before an audit will not change the findings on a project that genuinely has gaps — but it will make the audit faster, focus it on substance rather than document retrieval, and give the project team an honest view of where they stand before anyone external looks.
Check each of these before the audit
- Current temporary works policy and procedure available
- Designated Individual and project appointments recorded
- Competence assessments and role clarity evidenced
- Temporary works register complete and status current
- Design briefs, categories, checks and change control sampled
- Permit, inspection, maintenance and close-out records available
Practical notes
Assemble a sample rather than everything. Auditors work from a representative sample agreed in advance — three or four design briefs with their checks, permits and inspection records tell you far more than a full archive.
Where something is missing, record that it is missing rather than reconstructing it. Retrospective paperwork is usually visible and always more damaging than an acknowledged gap with a corrective action against it.