Temporary works register
Also called TW register
A temporary works register is a project’s list of every temporary works item, recording for each one its design category, who designed it, who checked it, the status of that check and whether a permit to load has been issued. It is what a temporary works coordinator uses to know what exists on site and what is still outstanding.
In practice
Crane matting is the classic register omission. Propping, falsework and edge protection reach the register because somebody has to design them; mats arrive on a hire order, get placed by the crane crew, and are never entered at all — so there is no category, no named designer, no check and no permit. The test is worth applying literally: open the register and look for the crane set-up. If the lift is on it but the ground under it is not, the register is recording the lift plan rather than the temporary works.
Where this comes from: UK contractor practice under a temporary works procedure, of the kind BS 5975-1:2024 gives recommendations for. Register formats and what has to be entered are set by the project’s own procedure, not by a standard clause quoted here.
Where it matters on site
Getting mats onto the register changes what a supplier gets asked, and for the better. A registered item has a named designer, and that designer asks for plan areas, published safe working loads and build-ups rather than asking whether the mats will be all right — a question nobody outside the project can answer. Registration also makes the item survive a change: when the crane is re-rigged or moved, a registered item gets revisited, and an unregistered one is simply still lying there.