The Overnight Open-Work Protection SOP

Purpose

When a roof, a wall or a window opening is left open overnight, the shop is responsible for the inside of somebody's house until the crew comes back. This procedure makes sure that for every opening left overnight there is one named person responsible, protection built to a stated wind and rain figure for that night, photographs proving what was built, a customer who knows what to watch for and whom to call, and someone watching the forecast who knows when to go back and what they may and may not do when they get there. Without it, the first anyone hears of a lifted tarp is the customer's call at 3 a.m. about water through a bedroom ceiling, and the shop cannot show what it left in place.

Scope

Covers any job where the building envelope is open at the end of the working day: a roof section torn off or with decking exposed, a skylight or chimney removed, siding or sheathing off a wall, a window or door out of its opening, a penetration cut and not yet flashed. Applies whatever the trade.

The technique lives elsewhere and this SOP points to it: see related: How to Tarp an Open Roof So It Stays Put Overnight, and How to Weather-Protect an Open Wall or Window Opening Overnight. Storm preparation days ahead of a named system is its own procedure (see related: How to Secure a Job Site Days Before a Forecast Storm). The decision whether to start an opening at all on a given day belongs to 'The Daily Weather Go/No-Go SOP'.

Roles and responsibilities

Procedure

1. By 14:00, decide whether anything will be left open, and name who is responsible. The lead tech tells the dispatcher what will be open at day's end, its size, and whether the crew can close it in before dark instead. Acceptance: the job shows "open overnight" with the opening's location and size and the responsible lead's name, or "closed in" with no opening. Wrong looks like an opening discovered at 17:00 because the tear-off ran long; the stop rule is no new opening is started after 14:00 that cannot be closed in by the end of the day. Hazard: none at this step, a phone call.

2. At 15:00, the dispatcher reads the night's forecast and sets the plan gust. From the crew's departure until their return, the dispatcher records the peak forecast gust, the total forecast rain and the highest hourly rain probability. The plan gust is the figure the protection is built for: the higher of 30 mph or the forecast peak gust plus 10 mph (a shop default; raise it on exposed sites). Acceptance: plan gust, peak gust, rain total and peak probability written on the job. Wrong looks like the daytime forecast used for the night; the stop rule is re-read hourly through to the crew's return. Hazard: none, desk work.

3. Build the protection to the shop standard for the plan gust. The standard: water is shed lapped in the direction it runs (upper layer over lower), the cover runs past every edge of the opening onto sound surface, it is fastened mechanically through wood battens rather than held by weights alone, no edge faces the wind loose, and the interior directly under the opening is protected (furniture moved or covered, a catch basin under any likely drip) with the customer's agreement. Technique per the how-to cards named in Scope. Acceptance: every edge battened or fastened, no loose flap you can lift by hand, interior protected. Wrong looks like sandbags or bricks along the ridge holding a tarp, which a gust lifts and then drops; the stop rule is the crew does not leave until every edge is mechanically fastened. Hazard: tarping is roof-edge work, done under the shop's fall protection plan (29 CFR 1926 Subpart M for construction work), and a tarp is a sail; the shop's wind limits for roof work and sheet handling apply here (see related: The Wind Hold for Ladders, Roofs and Spraying SOP), and if current wind exceeds them the crew protects from the inside and calls the owner.

4. Inspect and photograph before anyone leaves. The lead walks every edge and pulls on it, then photographs: the whole cover from the ground, each edge and corner close up, each penetration through it, and the interior under the opening. Acceptance: a photo set on the job with every edge and corner shown fastened. Wrong looks like a corner in the photo with no batten over it; the stop rule is that corner is fixed and re-photographed before the crew leaves. Hazard: photographing edges from the roof is still roof-edge work; take the edge shots from the ladder or ground where the angle allows.

5. Tell the customer what was left and what to watch for. The lead tells the customer, in person and then by text: what is open, how it is covered, what they may hear in wind (a cover flexing is normal; a rhythmic flapping is not), what to do if water appears inside (move belongings clear, put a container under it, do not stand under a ceiling that is sagging, and if water is coming through a light fixture or outlet, turn that circuit off at the panel only if the panel can be reached standing on a dry floor, and otherwise stay clear of it; a circuit turned off for water stays off until an electrician has checked the fixture or outlet and the wiring behind it), and the on-call number. Acceptance: the customer acknowledged and the text is on the job. Wrong looks like a customer who was not home and was told nothing; the stop rule is the text and a phone call before the crew drives away. Hazard: none to the crew at this step.

6. At departure, recheck the forecast against the plan gust. The dispatcher re-reads the night's peak gust and rain. Acceptance: the updated peak gust is at or below the plan gust minus 10 mph, the margin the plan was built with. Wrong looks like a peak gust that has risen into or past the plan; the stop rule is the crew upgrades the protection to a new plan gust before leaving (more battens, more fastening, a second layer), or, where current wind already exceeds the roof-work limits, closes the opening from inside as far as possible and the owner decides on an extra overnight check. Hazard: the upgrade is the same roof-edge and wind work as step 3, under the same limits.

7. Hand off, then watch overnight. The lead sends the on-call lead the photo set, the plan gust and the forecast. The dispatcher watches the forecast and any wind or flood warnings for the area until 22:00, and the on-call lead rechecks at 05:00. Trigger to go back: a warning or updated forecast with gusts above the plan gust, or a customer call reporting water inside or a cover flapping. Acceptance: hand-off message timestamped, 22:00 and 05:00 checks recorded. Wrong looks like nobody owning the forecast after 18:00; the stop rule is the job is not left open without an on-call name. Hazard: none, desk and phone.

8. Going back after dark is a ground-and-inside check, not a roof job. The on-call lead drives out, looks at the cover from the ground with a strong light, and with the customer's permission checks the interior. Nobody climbs onto a roof or a ladder in the dark, in wind above the shop's roof-work limits, in lightning, or on a wet or frosted roof. If the cover has failed, the on-call lead protects from inside (catch basins, belongings moved, a cover over the interior opening where reachable from the floor), tells the customer, and the crew returns at first light. Any work beyond that needs the owner's approval. Acceptance: what was found and done recorded with time and photos. Wrong looks like a lone tech re-tarping a roof at 2 a.m. in a gale; that is the stop rule's whole reason. Hazard: night driving in a storm; a downed power line on the property means stay in the vehicle or well clear and call the utility and 911.

9. In the morning, inspect before reopening. The crew photographs the cover from the same spots before touching it, checks the interior, and only then removes it. Acceptance: morning photo set and an interior note ("dry" or what was found). Wrong looks like the tarp pulled first and the night's leak discovered afterward with no record of where it came in; the stop rule is photos first. Hazard: a tarp holding pooled water or ice is heavy and slick; drain or clear it from the edge before walking near it.

The record this produces

On the job: the opening's location and size, the responsible lead, the 15:00 and departure forecast figures, the plan gust, the evening and morning photo sets, the customer text, the hand-off message, the 22:00 and 05:00 checks, and any overnight call or return with what was found. The customer's insurer and the shop's own insurer read this if water gets in. The owner reads it after any overnight call to decide whether the plan gust default needs raising.

A worked pass

A roofing crew replaces rotted decking on a 12 ft by 16 ft section of a back slope. New decking and synthetic underlayment are on by 15:30, but the shingles for that section are short and arrive tomorrow. The section stays open overnight under a tarp.

Step 1. At 13:40 lead MT logs "back slope, 12 by 16 ft, underlayment only, open overnight, MT responsible."

Step 2. At 15:00 the forecast shows a peak gust of 22 mph at 02:00, 0.3 in of rain overnight, peak probability 60 percent. Plan gust: the higher of 30 mph or 22 plus 10, which is 32 mph.

Step 3. The crew lays a heavy tarp over the section, running it over the ridge and 3 ft past each side, battens every edge with 1x3 strapping screwed through into the deck, and the customer agrees to have the bedroom under the slope cleared from the wall.

Step 4. MT's photos show all four edges battened. Pass.

Step 5. The customer is home; MT walks them through it and texts the on-call number. Pass.

Step 6 fails. At 17:10 the departure recheck shows the peak gust raised to 38 mph at 02:00. The acceptance needs the peak at or below the plan gust minus 10, which is 32 minus 10, 22 mph; 38 mph is not, and it is also above the 32 mph plan itself. Stop rule: upgrade before leaving. MT measures current wind at the eave with a handheld anemometer, sustained 9 mph and gusts 18 mph, under the shop's roof walking and tarping limits of 20 mph sustained and 30 mph gust. The crew adds a second batten row 2 ft in from the windward edge and a row across the middle of the tarp, and photographs it. New plan gust recorded as 48 mph, 38 plus 10; the departure check is re-run against it, and 38 is 48 minus 10, which meets the margin. The crew leaves at 17:55.

Step 7. Hand-off to on-call lead JB at 17:58. The dispatcher's 22:00 check shows no warning and the peak gust unchanged at 38. At 05:00 JB's check shows the overnight peak at the nearest station was 34 mph; no trigger was met, no return.

Step 9. The morning photos match the evening set; the bedroom is dry. The crew removes the tarp and shingles the section. The job record shows the step 6 upgrade with both forecasts, which is the line the owner reads, since the 15:00 figure alone would have left a tarp built for 32 mph on a night that gusted to 34 mph at the station.

References

• The tarp and underlayment manufacturers' installation instructions
• 29 CFR 1926 Subpart M, fall protection in construction, for the roof-edge work in steps 3, 4 and 6
• See related: How to Tarp an Open Roof So It Stays Put Overnight
• See related: How to Weather-Protect an Open Wall or Window Opening Overnight
• See related: Sustained Wind Versus Gusts and Which One a Limit Means