Employment contract for a site manager in construction

A site manager runs the contractor's site: the programme, the subcontractors, the safety and the money spent on it, in a role where the regulations place duties on the contractor that the site manager carries out day to day. The contract has to describe a role that moves from site to site, state the safety responsibilities and the qualifications the role needs, set the authority the site manager has to instruct subcontractors and commit spend, deal with hours and travel across sites, and contain the covenants a role with client and subcontractor relationships justifies. I draft that contract for the contractor for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days, as a template for the grade.

Who this is for

Main contractors, subcontractors, house builders and fit-out companies in England and Wales employing site managers, site agents, project managers and supervisors.

What matters in a site manager's contract

The role, the sites and the place of work

The written particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 must state the place of work or that the employee works at various places, and the contract should state the contractor's office as the base with sites as the places of work, the employer's right to assign the employee to any site within a stated travelling distance and to require stays away with expenses for sites beyond it, the role's reporting line to the contracts or project manager, and the responsibilities for programme, quality, records and client liaison; a site manager who refuses a site forty miles away has a contract that should have said whether that was within the role.

Safety responsibilities under the construction regulations

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 place duties on the contractor and the principal contractor, which the site manager discharges on site: the construction phase plan, inductions, site rules, welfare, inspections, coordination of subcontractors and the reporting of incidents under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013; the contract should state the responsibilities, require compliance with the employer's safety management system and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 duties on employees, require the site manager to stop work that is unsafe, and make breaches of safety rules misconduct, with the employer's duties remaining the employer's.

Qualifications, cards and the conditions of the role

The contract should make holding the qualifications and cards the role requires (a site management safety training certificate, a construction skills card at the appropriate level, first aid, fire marshal, any plant or scaffold inspection competence) a condition of employment, require renewal at the employer's cost and the employee's reporting of lapses, and state the training the employer provides; a site manager without a current card cannot run a site the client audits, and the contract should say what follows if the qualification lapses.

Authority over subcontractors, spend and instructions

The contract should state the site manager's authority to instruct subcontractors within their subcontracts, to order materials and plant within a budget and per-order limit, to agree day works and variations up to a stated value with anything beyond requiring the contracts manager's approval in writing, and to sign for deliveries and inspections, and should prohibit the engagement of labour or subcontractors outside the employer's procedures (including the Construction Industry Scheme requirements under the Finance Act 2004); a site manager who agrees a variation with the client's representative has committed the contractor, and the limit should be a term the employee has agreed.

Hours, travel and the vehicle

The contract should state the hours (site hours, with early starts and weekend working as the programme requires and the pay or time off for it), the forty-eight hour average under the Working Time Regulations 1998 with any opt-out signed separately, travel time between the base and sites and whether it is paid, the company vehicle or allowance under a driving for work policy with licence checks, and the mobile phone and site equipment provided; the Road Traffic Act 1988 insurance requirements for business use apply whichever vehicle is used.

Covenants, notice and the particulars

Issued on or before the first day, the contract provides the written particulars, sets out probation and notice, with section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 as the minimum (longer for senior site managers, with garden leave), contains confidentiality covering tenders, pricing and client information, a non-solicitation of clients and subcontractors the employee dealt with and of staff for a stated period, and a non-compete only for the most senior roles; the usual terms on holiday, sick pay, pension auto-enrolment under the Pensions Act 2008, the handbook, including the disciplinary and grievance procedures apply, with a training cost repayment clause on a sliding scale consented to under section 13 of the 1996 Act for qualifications the employer funds.

What it costs

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Can we move a site manager to a site two hours away?

If the contract allows assignment to sites within a stated distance and provides for stays away with expenses beyond it, yes. A contract that names one site gives no right to move the employee.

Who is responsible if there is an accident on site?

The contractor, under the construction regulations and the Health and Safety at Work Act, with the site manager personally liable for their own failures as an employee. The contract states the responsibilities the site manager carries out; it does not transfer the employer's duties.

Our site manager agreed a variation with the client's surveyor. Are we bound?

Probably, if the client reasonably believed he had authority. The contract sets the limit and makes exceeding it a breach, which addresses the employee's side; the client's side depends on apparent authority.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Contractor agreement for a construction subcontractor
• Shareholders agreement for a building company

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.