Dave White is site manager at Bovis Homes’ Furlong Rise location in Cheltenham.
Born and bred in Gloucester, the 33-year-old is married to Marie and they have two children – Ava and Thea.
Here, Dave provides an insight into a typical day on site building new homes:
7am: Arrive on site, park the car up and prepare for the day ahead with a morning coffee and a chat with my assistant Lee Wines about today’s programme of work.
7.30am: Issue PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and carry out the necessary safety inductions to new starters and visitors to ensure they are well aware of the protocol on site – it can be a very dangerous place if not managed correctly!
8am: Hold morning Daily Activity Briefing, attended by supervisors of the trades; includes detailed discussion about health and safety, and production on site that day.
8.30am: Spend about an hour on my morning walk around to ensure everyone is doing their job and wearing their PPE; hold our weekly scaffold check; record new lifts on site; stage visual checks of work done yesterday; carry out comprehensive examination of plot ahead of pre-plaster work; book in NHBC (National House Building Council) for inspection of plot the following day.
9.30am: Return to the site office and attend to various paperwork and emails.
10.30am: Quick coffee break; send our population figures (number of people on site) to Sarah in the Build department back at regional HQ.
11am: Return to paperwork and emails; carry out more health and safety inductions and issue PPE.
12pm: De-snag one of the view homes in preparation for it to be opened to the public; start at the top of the list, work down and check off everything that’s been done; one or two jobs haven’t been finished, so it’s time to make some phone calls to ensure the work gets done.
1pm: Return to site office to attend to more paperwork and emails; update material chart with details about incoming orders – it’s an absolutely vital part of the job because our work will fall behind if we don’t have the right materials on site.
2pm: Attend weekly Build and Sales meeting in the sales centre with Lisa and Jo. It’s an important meeting for me and Lee that helps to build a strong relationship with the Sales team.
3pm Courtesy Visit to new homeowner, as part of the Bovis Homes Customer Charter, to check they’re getting on all right with the house – the customer is happy, I will pass on the positive feedback to the team.
3.30pm: Return to site office for a productive and positive appointment with a Health and Safety advisor – the safety of staff on site is an extremely important part of the business; attend to more paperwork and respond to new emails that have dropped in.
4pm: Before they clock off for the day, a few tradesmen pop into the office for a debrief and to find out what work they will be doing tomorrow; Lee goes around the site to ensure tools and equipment are starting to be put away and locked up while I’m attending to yet more paperwork and emails!
5pm: Most people on site have gone by 4.30pm, so Lee and I are always the last ones out. Time to reflect on another successful day on site – the team have worked hard.
Every day is different and there’s never a minute when something’s not going on – it’s a really good job.
For more information about Bovis Homes, visit www.bovishomes.co.uk