Construction site safety costs: how the site's requirements enter the estimate and the budget
Construction site safety costs are not a fixed percentage of the price: they depend on the size of the site, the number of workers, the height of the building, what surrounds the plot and the type of work. Whoever prepares an estimate or checks contractors' offers needs to know these requirements the way a site safety officer and a works manager know them on site; otherwise they come back later as variations, as delays or as a stop-work order.
The 2025 amendment: who appoints whom, and why it belongs in the budget
On 16 October 2025 Israel published an amendment to the Work Safety Regulations (Construction Work), with a start date about one year after publication, in October 2026. According to the short guide of the Occupational Safety and Health Directorate (in Hebrew), responsibility no longer rests mainly on the works manager: the client and the contractor carrying out the work each have duties of their own. Every such duty is a line in someone's budget.
- The client (the developer): may not approve the start of work without a safety plan on site, an appointed safety controller (בקר בטיחות) and an agreement with the contractor that sets out the safety resources. The safety controller is a new role: a civil engineer or technician, or a safety officer with a competence certificate, who visits at the critical stages (excavation, foundations, frame and finishes) and at least once every three months.
- The contractor: appoints a registered works manager through an online form, appoints a safety officer where required, and provides the resources: protective equipment, budget and engineering plans. When the works manager leaves the site, work stops.
- Site manager: required on sites of 15,000 m² or more. The site manager is a registered engineer or building technician and cannot also be the works manager on the same site.
- Safety plan: a contractor employing 50 workers or more at the same time prepares a safety management plan; a contractor with up to 49 workers prepares a safety organisation plan.
In practice, the safety controller has a fee on the developer's side, the site manager has months of work along the whole programme, and the safety plan has to be prepared and updated at every stage. A project budget that leaves them out receives them later as additions.
What a safety officer sees when looking at the plot
Before the estimate, a safety officer reads the plot and its surroundings, not only the drawings. The same building costs differently on two different plots:
- Site size and number of workers: they decide which safety plan is required, whether a site manager is needed, and how many management and safety people will be on site at each stage.
- Height: work above two metres requires training and equipment, and sometimes scaffolding or lifting platforms, as explained on the work at height page. According to the guide, formwork above certain thresholds also requires an engineering design: a slab or beam soffit higher than 4 m, a beam taller than 0.75 m, a vertical load above 10 kN/m², and walls or columns higher than 4 m.
- Surroundings: a kindergarten, homes, a narrow pavement or a crane swinging over public space change the fencing, the protection of passers-by, the working hours and the truck traffic. These requirements are checked in the permit conditions and in the local authority's guidelines before pricing, not after.
- Demolition: dust, debris, adjoining buildings, and sometimes asbestos, which requires a licensed contractor and a permit. See also a BOQ for demolition.
- Hot work and welding: fire extinguishers, a person watching for fire, removal of flammable materials and advance coordination. All of these are time and equipment.
- Waterproofing: hot torch-applied waterproofing on an open roof adds a fire risk next to the risk of falling from the edge; cold waterproofing in a closed space, such as a basement, needs ventilation and protection from fumes. The same square metre of waterproofing costs differently by location and method.
Construction site safety costs in the estimate: where they sit
There is no single line called "safety". The costs are spread over several places, which is why they are easy to miss or to count twice:
| Requirement | Who appoints or provides | How it enters the estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Safety controller | The client | Visits at the critical stages and at least once every three months, for the whole project |
| Works manager and site manager | The contractor | Months of work according to the programme |
| Safety plan and updates | The contractor | Preparation at the start and an update at every stage |
| Engineering design for formwork and fall-prevention fencing | The contractor | Drawings, checks and installation according to the design |
| Fencing, signs and protection of the public | The contractor | Linear metres by the plot perimeter, times the duration of the work |
| Lower output at height, in heat or in a closed space | The contractor | A higher unit rate, or extra time in the programme |
Part goes into the site overheads, part into BOQ items and part into the unit rates. Procurement is affected too: scaffold hire, protective equipment and inspection services are bought from suppliers, and it is worth asking for quotations in advance. Someone who knows the site puts each item once, in one place. What is left out comes back as construction variations, and then it is a price without competition.
There is also the risk of a stop. The guide lists cases that must be reported to the regional labour inspector, such as work without a works manager or a tower crane operating without a valid inspection. Every such stop removes days from the programme while the overheads keep running.
The rule: a safety requirement that is not in the estimate does not disappear. It comes back as a variation, as a delay or as a stop-work order, and then its price is set without competition.
Who should read the site before pricing
Realistic pricing of construction site safety costs needs someone who has worked on site: who knows how long fencing takes to put up, when a mechanised scaffold is needed and what a stop does to the programme. That is how to choose whoever prepares the estimate or checks the offers: with a works manager's experience, knowledge of the safety regulations and time on sites, like Yaakov Avital, a certified works manager, a graduate of the workplace safety officers course (2021) and of the work-at-height instructors course (2020), on site since 2012.
A quantity surveyor may be an engineer or a registered building technician, like Yaakov Avital. Yaakov measures the quantities like a contractor, safety items included; pricing and estimates are an extra service, with verbal feedback and no commitment. What the service includes: quantity surveyor for construction projects.
Frequently asked questions
Who appoints the safety controller?
Under the amendment, the client appoints the safety controller, who holds no other role on the same site. The controller visits at the critical stages and at least once every three months, and reports risks to the client and the contractor.
When is a site manager required?
On sites of 15,000 m² or more. The site manager is a registered engineer or building technician, and on a project that requires one, the works manager cannot fill this role as well.
Can safety be priced as a percentage of the price?
A percentage can serve as a rough first figure, but construction site safety costs depend on the site itself: the height, the surroundings, the type of work and the number of workers. A detailed estimate breaks them into lines.
Where do safety items appear in the bill of quantities?
The site safety officer and works manager page shows an example of safety quantities: fencing, guardrails, covers for openings and scaffolding.
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Contact me for a quote* Created with AI for marketing, for illustration only. Not reviewed by Yaakov Avital and not professional advice. Every project must be checked on its own by a professional quantity surveyor and an engineer.