Last reviewed: October 2026
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This free pre-construction meeting checklist is for contractors’ project managers, site managers, clients’ representatives and contract administrators who run the meeting between contract award and the start on site. One run is one meeting for one project. It starts by agreeing the attendees and the agenda and asking each party what to bring, then checks the contract documents, the drawing status, the pre-construction information, the programme, long-lead items, insurances and permits. It covers health and safety, site logistics, and the procedures for inspections, RFIs, submittals, changes and payment, then the meeting itself, the minutes and the action log. It ends when the contractor confirms it is ready and the client confirms the start date. Choose Great Britain (CDM 2015) or the United States (OSHA) and the matching legal steps appear, including an F10 task for a notifiable project. A task to keep the site apart from an occupied building appears when one adjoins it.
Between contract award and the first day on site there is one meeting that sets how the job will run. The client, the contract administrator, the designers, the main contractor and the first subcontractors sit in one room and agree the programme, the site rules, the logistics and the paperwork routes before anyone is under pressure. Some teams call it the pre-start meeting. Most of its value comes from the work before it, checking that the contract, the drawings, the permits and the safety plan are ready, and the follow-up after it, closing the actions that stand between the project and its start date.
It is not the same as a project kickoff, which aligns your own team on a plan, and it does not replace the site induction each worker gets on arrival. This checklist covers one project’s meeting, from setting it up to the client confirming the start date.
Who: the client, contract administrator, designers, main contractor and key subcontractors.
When: after the contract is awarded and before work starts on site.
Output: agreed procedures, minutes, an action log and a confirmed start date.
Who: every person who comes to work on the site, whoever employs them.
When: on arrival, before they start work.
Output: a worker who knows this site’s hazards, rules and emergency route.
Who: the same parties, at the cadence agreed in the pre-construction meeting.
When: weekly to monthly, from the start on site to completion.
Output: progress against the programme, issues, changes and the next actions.
Eight phases take one meeting from setting it up to the start on site. Choose Great Britain or the United States on the first task and the matching legal steps appear; an F10 notification task appears for a notifiable project in Great Britain, and a task to keep the site apart from an occupied building appears when one adjoins it. Nothing after the client’s confirmation of the start date can be completed until it is given.
One run is one pre-construction meeting for one project. Enter the meeting date first, because every due date counts from it, and choose the rules that apply so the matching health and safety steps appear.
Check the documents before the meeting, so the meeting settles the gaps instead of discovering them.
The legal steps differ by country. In Great Britain the dutyholder and notification tasks appear; in the United States the competent persons task appears.
Agree how the site works day to day before anyone arrives. Most early disputes with neighbours and occupiers start with deliveries, hours and parking.
Agree how the paperwork will flow before the first request arrives. Each procedure needs a named person, a route and a response time.
Work through the agenda in order. Confirm each item in the room and log anything that cannot be settled as an action with an owner and a date.
The minutes are the record of what was agreed. Issue them quickly, and close every action that stands between the project and its start date.
The contractor confirms it is ready, then the client confirms the start date. Nothing after the client's confirmation can be completed until it is given.
A running order for a meeting of about two hours, followed by a walk round the site. Send it with the invitation, so each party comes with answers. Keep the leads as they are where you can: the person who owns a topic should present it, and the chair’s job is to stop the meeting moving on until each item is settled or logged as an action.
| Agenda item | Led by | What to settle in the room |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Introductions and roles | Contractor’s project manager | Who is here for each party, who decides what, deputies and the contact sheet |
| 2. The project and the contract | Client and contract administrator | What is being built and what is excluded, the contract documents, and who may issue instructions |
| 3. Programme and key dates | Contractor’s project manager | Start, milestones, completion, long-lead items and the client’s fixed dates |
| 4. Design information | Architect or lead designer | Drawings issued for construction, information still to come and when |
| 5. Health and safety | Contractor’s site manager or safety lead | The construction phase plan or site safety plan, main risks, induction, first aid and emergencies |
| 6. Site logistics | Contractor’s site manager | Access, security, hours, deliveries, storage, welfare, parking, neighbours and any building in use |
| 7. Permits and utilities | Contractor and client | Consents still open, licences, temporary supplies and buried services |
| 8. Quality and inspections | Contract administrator and contractor | Hold points, inspections and the notice each one needs |
| 9. RFIs, submittals and changes | Contract administrator | Routes, response times and who may instruct a change |
| 10. Payment | Client’s cost consultant or contract administrator | Valuation dates, what goes with an application and who certifies it |
| 11. Meetings and reporting | Contractor’s project manager | Progress meeting dates, site reports and who receives the minutes |
| 12. Actions and start date | Chair | Every open item read back with an owner and a date, and the date work starts |
What must be ready before work starts in Great Britain. Under CDM 2015, where more than one contractor will work on the project, the client appoints a principal designer and a principal contractor in writing before the construction phase begins (regulation 5). The client must ensure a construction phase plan is drawn up before then (regulation 4(5)(a)), and for a notifiable project gives notice to HSE as soon as is practicable before it begins (regulation 6). A project is notifiable if its construction work is scheduled to last longer than 30 working days with more than 20 workers at once, or to exceed 500 person days. Welfare facilities must be available before any construction work starts.
In the United States. Several OSHA duties fall before work starts. Provisions for prompt medical attention in case of serious injury must be made before the project begins (29 CFR 1926.50(b)), the location of underground utilities must be determined before an excavation is opened (1926.651(b)), and each employer’s program must provide for frequent and regular inspections by competent persons (1926.20(b)). Check your contract and your state and city rules as well.
The client’s representative is named on the first task, and the confirmation of the start date is assigned to them alone. The checklist halts there, so the start confirmation cannot go out until they record a decision, and the record shows the date was approved before work began.
Choose Great Britain or the United States on the first task and the CDM 2015 or OSHA steps and notes appear. The F10 task appears only for a notifiable project, and the occupied-building task only where one adjoins the site. Adapt the agenda and the procedures to your own contracts in the template designer.
Tables hold the attendees, long-lead items, permits, hold points and the action log, beside the minutes and the signed documents. Due dates count from the meeting date, so the follow-up lands on the right people’s lists, and the Reports Grid shows every project still waiting to start.
CheckFlow is not a scheduling, document control or contract management system. It runs the steps around your own contract, programme and safety plan, so every project starts the same way, with a record of who agreed what and when. See how CheckFlow’s workflow software handles handoffs and approvals between several parties.
This template covers one project’s pre-construction meeting. Induct each worker who arrives with the Construction Site Induction Checklist, control high-risk work with the Permit to Work Checklist, assess the wider risks with the Health & Safety Risk Assessment Checklist, and handle a change to the agreed scope with the Scope Change Request Checklist.
Describe the process in a sentence and the AI checklist generator drafts the phases and tasks for you.
A pre-construction meeting is held after the contract is awarded and before work starts on site, between the client or owner, the contract administrator, the designers, the main contractor and the key subcontractors. It confirms who does what, the programme and key dates, the health and safety arrangements, the site logistics, and the procedures for inspections, requests for information, submittals, changes and payment. It ends with minutes, an action log and an agreed start date. Some teams call it the pre-start meeting.
Introductions and roles; the project scope and the contract documents; the programme, key dates and long-lead items; outstanding design information; health and safety, including the construction phase plan or site safety plan, induction and emergency arrangements; site logistics such as access, hours, deliveries, welfare and neighbours; permits and utilities; inspections and hold points; RFIs, submittals and changes; payment; the meeting and reporting cadence; and a read-back of every action with an owner and a date. The agenda table above gives a running order with a lead for each item.
Everyone who will make or need decisions once work starts: the client or owner’s representative, the contract administrator, the architect and the lead designers, the main contractor’s project manager and site manager, its health and safety lead, and the subcontractors who start first or whose work drives the programme. In Great Britain, on a project with more than one contractor, that includes the principal designer and the principal contractor. Invite subcontractors who start later to a briefing of their own before they arrive.
After the contract is awarded or a letter of intent is in place, and early enough before the start on site to close the actions it raises. In Great Britain, several things must be done before the construction phase begins, including the dutyholder appointments, the construction phase plan and, for a notifiable project, the notice to HSE, so hold the meeting while there is still time to finish them. This checklist counts every due date from the meeting date you enter.
CDM 2015 does not require a meeting by that name, and neither do the OSHA standards this checklist cites. What they require is much of the work it covers. In Great Britain, CDM 2015 makes everyone with duties cooperate, and HSE’s guidance suggests coordination and progress meetings as one way to do it. It also requires appointments, a construction phase plan, welfare facilities and, for notifiable projects, notification before the construction phase begins. In the United States, OSHA requires provisions for prompt medical attention before the project starts and the location of underground utilities before excavation. The meeting is where the parties confirm those are done.
Under regulation 6 of CDM 2015, a project is notifiable if its construction work is scheduled to last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers working at the same time at any point, or to exceed 500 person days. HSE’s guidance counts every day work is likely to take place, including weekends and bank holidays. The client notifies HSE through the online F10 form as soon as is practicable before the construction phase begins, and a copy is displayed in the site office. For a domestic client, the contractor or principal contractor notifies.
Often, but not always. Many teams use pre-start meeting for the single meeting before a project begins, which is what this checklist covers. On other sites, a pre-start is the short briefing held every morning before work, where the supervisor goes through the day’s tasks, hazards and permits with the crew. That daily briefing is closer to a toolbox talk. If you mean the daily kind, run it as a short recurring checklist and keep this one for the project start.
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