The project manager's guide to timber delivery and storage on a busy site

Managing timber on a construction site can be tricky work. When a delivery of cladding boards or Oak beams arrives but the time isn’t right to install them, what do you do with them? This is where efficiency, organisation and a little bit of preparation are key for smooth delivery and safe sites.

Here is what you need to know to enable streamlined delivery and storage of your timber.

Work With Reliable Suppliers

You need to know exactly what is arriving and when, and the only way to be confident of this is by working with reputable suppliers. Do your due diligence to find a trusted timber supplier with excellent reviews which highlight delivery schedules. To make this task even easier, you can opt for EcoChoice. We are a reliable UK supplier of sustainable timber, and we are used to delivering huge quantities of timber products to construction sites around the country. It is just what we do.

Check Your Delivery

We also double-check our orders before shipping, but it is smart to do this at your end as well. When your timber arrives, be sure to check that:

• Packs are clearly labelled with species, grade, dimensions and treatment status.
• Fire-retardant-treated timber is supplied with appropriate treatment certification, batch references and declared reaction-to-fire performance where applicable.
• You receive correctly worded delivery notes and invoices referencing the supplier’s active FSC or PEFC Chain of Custody (CoC) certificate

These quick checks can save you a lot of time and hassle down the line, ensuring you have everything you need before storing the timber and moving on to the next task on your to-do list.

Timber delivery and storage on construction sites

Timber is tough, but it is not invincible. After receiving your delivery, it is vital that you store your wood securely and safely, reducing the chance of damage before installation.

We recommend storing your timber off the ground to reduce the chance of potential issues with moisture, mould and insects. A simple sheet of tarpaulin or raised pallets will help keep your timber at its best, especially for longer-term storage. Cover timber to protect it from rain, while allowing airflow to prevent condensation and mould growth.

Try to keep timber covered, placed where it will not get wet. While most durable timber species can tolerate short-term exposure to rain, prolonged wet storage should be avoided. It is best to install timber with a lower moisture content and leave allowance for movement after it has been fixed. Installing timber at an elevated moisture content can make it difficult to achieve correct spacing and detailing once the timber dries and moves in service.

Store Different Species Separately

Waiting for an order of multiple timber species? If you have batches of Ekki, Oak and ThermoWood arriving at your site, for instance, it is best to keep them as separate as possible to avoid confusion down the line. If you cannot store them separately, make sure to keep each product clearly labelled and ask that your team double-check which species of timber they are using before installation.

Order Timber for Construction Site Delivery

Every piece of damaged or misplaced timber can lead to waste in your project’s budget, making smooth delivery and storage essential. To make your next timber order a breeze, work with our team. We have facilitated thousands of timber deliveries to busy construction sites, so it is safe to say we know what we are doing.

Contact us to start an order of sustainable timber