In order to run the operations properly from the construction site, you will need to have a temporary office at the jobsite most often times. This is not usually as straightforward as it seems. You need to setup the temporary electricity, water, internet, even toilets and of course your trailer. All these items need time and effort. You have to determine the most efficient location for your trailer, so that you will not have to locate it as the job progresses or if this is unavoidable at least relocate it as least as possible. Also obtaining temporary power from the power source is another thing. Don’t forget that this conduit going from the source to your trailer will need to run underground so if your electrician is just raising his hand to the air and says he is not doing the trenching, then you need to coordinate with the earthwork trade for the trench. On one of my jobs, the shop owners from the adjacent lot had objected the location of our trailer saying that it is blocking the view from the street and preventing the cars passing by from seeing them. So as you can see there is quite a bit more into this than it seems at first and there can be a lot of variables to manage. The trailer must also be located as close as possible to the construction location.

Setting up construction site trailers will fall under the temporary construction line item, just as placing temporary sandbags for erosion control, construction fencing etc… These items are not considered as part of the original work scope. They can not be included in the schedule and be a part of earned value calculations for example. The only way they can be in a schedule would be to include them as a milestone, with zero duration and resources in it, so that they will not affect earned value calculations. The costs to do them are not part of the “earned” scope in other words. They are not part of the work scope.