Will Marston, 35, has worked as a site manager for CB Homes for the past five years. Originally a joiner by training, we approached Will for the role knowing that he would be an ideal choice as site manager. Since then, he has been in charge of several of our most prestigious developments, including Sawyers Meadow in Bunbury and a number of self-build projects. He is currently dividing his time between five different projects across three construction sites in Cheshire in the villages of Helsby, Alpraham and Eaton.
We caught up with Will when he was opening up the site one morning at our Eaton development. He always has an early start, regularly being on-site by 7.45am.
What does a typical day in your life as a CB Homes site manager look like?
I arrive on site and have time to do a quick walk around to check everything looks as it should before my phone starts going at around 8.00am and usually it doesn’t really stop all day until I go home around 5.00pm. There’s a constant stream of calls from trades, checking dates of the build programme, flagging up any issues and making me aware of any likely delays.
At any one time, I have three or four different trades at work on one site. It’s my job to make sure that everyone has a safety briefing their first time on site and that all Health and Safety rules are abided by to keep safety on site our number one priority. As well as being responsible for all RAMS and Health and Safety requirements, I make sure the site is tidy at all times too. I organise all the work, programming dates and projects. I’m also first point of contact for clients and it’s important I keep them updated with everything that we are achieving on site.
I divide my time between projects that are currently live, so I have what’s effectively a mobile office in my van, with all the paperwork I need. Modern technology has made it all much easier to be mobile now than it used to be too, and I spend a lot of time emailing or WhatsApping for work from my phone.
Have delays been a problem for building during the pandemic?
At the start, with the first lockdown, production slowed right down because of the social distancing requirement and all the Health and Safety conditions that had to be met on site. Obviously, we are still being very careful to keep within public health guidelines and make sure that everyone on site is very aware of how to keep everyone else safe.
Ongoing supply chain and labour issues, which are being experienced everywhere in construction, are also causing some delays but minimising those is a big part of my job. Making sure that we keep to our build schedules and deliver on time for our clients is a key responsibility of mine.
Multi-tasking is essential for a site manager
Multi-tasking is definitely another skill I need as a site manager. Each project is at a different stage. For example, at the moment, plastering has started at one, a roof is going on at another and we’ve just started the footings at the third. So you have to be able to recall a lot of information at one time and easily flip between different projects in your head.
It’s really important, especially for our self-build clients, to be able to provide them with weekly updates or let them know what’s happening at any point if they call for a chat. I also have to be very mindful of minimising waste and being as environmentally friendly as possible. That means, if we have a surplus of something at one site, we can move it to another or make sure we recycle wherever we can. It all needs careful planning.
At the start of each week, I have a plan of where I intend to be on what day but of course things always come up, so you have to be prepared to be very flexible and change your plans where you need to.
What do you enjoy about your job?
CB Homes is a great company to work for and I like working with all our contractors. We have long-term relationships with many of them, so we really get to know each other. They know how fussy we are about the quality of the work we require so they are used to us being very demanding! I like the great variety of sites we have too, from small self-build projects or quite large developments with several houses, up to huge six-bedroom homes. It can be quite a stressful job because of the scale of the responsibility but the end product makes it all worthwhile as we are always proud of the homes we build. It’s really enjoyable too to see how happy our clients are when their new homes are complete.
Have you always dreamed of building your own home? Have you got a plot of land suitable for building on? Contact CB Homes today to find out how we can help you.
