Measure Twice, Cut Once

[Citroënbender]

I’m surrounded by construction work at present.

The site next door got off to a poor start by digging trenches immediately before a four day rainy spell. Then they put a footing a whole metre closer to the boundary than the approved plans, I pulled them up on the day of the pour and they agreed in writing (cc’ing the council) not to build on it. 100mm I could forgive, but a metre was just taking the mickey. Certifier unimpressed with it, too.

Next they got into the brickwork. Thousands of bricks, laid by an army of people with negligible English. Somebody forgot to check levels; this afternoon the brickies got an earlymark and the project mangler plus offsider are busy stripping courses. This is only the second week into the construction phase, it’s almost embarrassing rather than Schadenfreude.

This is the site kitchen and amenities. One bloke ate his lunch sitting on the toilet’s horizontal waste pipe!



The big difference I’ve noticed vs “Caucasian” sites is the site supervisor clearly has little practical ability or experience. He’s not doing the “infill” jobs like knocking up lunch benches or a weatherproof awning. (We got trained up to do that sort of stuff as firstly it was useful but not time-critical and secondly it justified you being all over the site to keep an eye on people without being officious.) Just wandering around holding plans - which clearly weren’t being followed satisfactorily.