What it means
A crew may arrive on time with tools and materials but wait outside a building, and the time can push the job into overtime, waste hired equipment or affect the next appointment. A site access plan specifies where people should go, what documents they need, who will let them in and when the area will be ready.
Record the planned access time, actual arrival, first possible work time and reason for waiting, separating a contractor who arrived without the required permit from a customer who failed to provide a promised room. Photograph or retain relevant sign-in records, security instructions and communications, and do not describe an entire workday as lost if only one area was unavailable.
Read the contract before making a charge or time-extension claim, because some terms require prompt notice, mitigation or a specific evidence format. A genuine delay does not automatically entitle the contractor to every claimed idle hour, and the team should look for useful alternative work while access is unavailable when practical and safe.
Prevent repeat delays with pre-start checks that confirm permits, inductions, delivery dock slots, lift bookings and a contact who can solve an issue on the day. Some sites have restricted hours or require escort, and those rules belong in scheduling, not in a surprise discovered at the gate.
Communicate to customers and other crews affected by the slip, as a technician whose first appointment starts late may miss later windows. A construction crew may need to resequence tasks, but doing so can have its own cost, so a revised plan should be kept rather than silently shifting deadlines.
For managers, the metric is useful for finding recurring coordination failures, not for automatic blame. A factual log makes future site visits smoother and supports fair discussion of any contract effect.
In practice
Real-world examples.
Example
An installer arrives at 8 am but a building pass is not ready until 9:15; the team records 75 minutes before starting work. The log notes the security desk's name, the time of each call to the site contact and the result.
Example
A contractor's driver lacks a required safety induction and is denied access. The contractor checks its own preparation rather than assuming customer fault. It books the induction for the next day and records the cost as its own.
Example
A shop closes later than promised for a fit-out, so the crew moves to off-site preparation and records only unavoidable lost time. The project manager shares the log with the shop owner the next morning and agrees a revised start.
Formula
Calculation
Access waiting time = First time work area is available - Planned access time, adjusted for the crew's actual arrival
Potential avoidable cost = Documented idle resources x Agreed rates, subject to contract and mitigation
Worked example. A fictional crew of four arrives at 8:00 as scheduled, but the site opens at 9:00. All four have no alternative productive work, and the agreed chargeable idle rate is $80 per person-hour.
- Documented waiting = 1 hour.
- Indicative resource cost = 4 x 1 x $80 = $320 before any contract exclusions or notice rules.
If the same crew had waited 2 hours but could do useful preparation work for the second hour, only the first hour would count as idle, so the indicative cost would stay at $320 rather than rise to 4 x 2 x $80 = $640. This is an illustration, not an automatic amount payable by a customer.Case study
Seen in the real world.
This illustrative and entirely fictional example follows Mistral Signs, an invented signage installer. Its team arrived at a mall before opening with a booked lift and signed permits. Security said the shop manager had not authorised access to the unit. The crew waited, then began two hours late and could not finish before the mall's work curfew. Mistral recorded arrival and access times, messages and the permit status.
The project manager asked the shop and mall to confirm an alternative window. Some preparation was moved off-site; the rest required a second visit. The parties reviewed the contract before agreeing how extra costs and dates would be handled. For future installs, Mistral added a 24-hour access confirmation covering permits, escort and contact numbers. The change reduced repeat waiting and made problems easier to resolve on the day.
At the quarterly review, Mistral counted how many installs had suffered a late start and why. The pattern pointed to unconfirmed escorts rather than permits, so the confirmation call was changed to ask about escorts first. The company and its figures are invented for illustration.
Watch out
Common mistakes.
- Assuming every period on site is a compensable access delay without checking arrival, mitigation and contract terms.
- Failing to confirm permits, safety induction and the person responsible for opening the work area.
- Letting a delay cascade into later customer promises without giving updated arrival or completion times.
Questions
People also ask.
Who pays for a site access delay?
It depends on cause, the contract and required notice or mitigation. Document the facts before claiming or accepting cost.
Should the team leave immediately if access is blocked?
Not automatically. Contact the site owner, look for safe alternative work and agree the next step under the schedule.
What records matter?
Planned and actual times, sign-in or security records, permits, messages, crew size and actions taken to reduce lost time.
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