Project readiness checklist: is your site ready for construction?

There is strong pressure to start construction as soon as possible. Contracts are signed, financing is in place and everyone wants to see progress. But mobilising an EPC contractor to a site that isn't ready is one of the most expensive mistakes in project delivery. Crews and equipment sit idle, schedules slip, claims mount, and relationships sour before the project has properly begun.

A readiness review before mobilisation asks a simple question: can the contractor start work and keep working without being stopped by something the owner should have resolved?

Why readiness fails

Most readiness problems sit on the owner's side:

• Land agreements not complete for every parcel
• Rights of way not secured for roads and cables
• Approvals not yet issued
• Grid connection not confirmed
• Community concerns unresolved
• Designs not approved

See where renewable project schedules slip.

The checklist

Land

• All land agreements signed and registered for the construction area
• Payments made as agreed
• Boundaries surveyed and marked on the ground. See boundary disputes and encroachment.
• No unresolved disputes affecting the area
• Land handed over physically — crops harvested, structures removed as agreed

Access and rights of way

• Access road route secured from public road to site
• Internal roads and cable routes secured
• Evacuation line route secured or on track. See wind project right of way.
• Temporary areas (laydown, storage, labour camp) agreed

Approvals

• Approvals required before construction obtained
• Conditions of approvals understood and assigned
• Approvals needed later in construction on track

See renewable project approvals overview.

Grid

• Connectivity approved
• Interconnection point and bay confirmed
• Utility coordination contacts established
• Timeline for substation works aligned with plant schedule

See grid connectivity basics.

Technical

• Topographical and geotechnical surveys complete
• Design basis agreed
• Layout frozen, or change process agreed
• Key designs approved for early works
• Equipment orders placed with confirmed delivery dates

Contracts

• EPC contract signed
• Scope matrix agreed, with interfaces clear. See how EPC partnerships work.
• Notice to proceed conditions defined
• Insurance in place

Community

• Landowners informed of construction schedule
• Village leaders and local bodies engaged
• Grievance process in place
• Crop compensation arrangements agreed
• Local employment approach communicated

See landowner relations during construction.

Site logistics

• Construction water source identified
• Construction power arranged
• Laydown and storage areas prepared
• Security arrangements in place. See solar site fencing and security.
• Health and safety plan approved
• Emergency medical arrangements identified

Project management

• Integrated schedule baselined
• Risk register current. See risk register for renewable projects.
• Reporting and meeting cadence agreed
• Owner's team and decision-makers in place

Using the checklist

Be honest

The checklist only works if items are marked complete when they really are. "Nearly signed" is not signed. "Expected next week" is not approved.

Assign owners

Every open item needs a named person and a target date.

Assess impact

For each open item, ask: will this stop or slow construction? Some gaps can be tolerated at mobilisation if they don't affect early works; others must be closed first.

Phase if needed

Where some areas are ready and others aren't, consider phased mobilisation — starting where the site is genuinely ready — with clear agreement with the contractor.

Readiness and the EPC contract

Many EPC contracts tie the start of the contractor's schedule to the owner providing site access and meeting other conditions. If the owner fails to provide a ready site, the contractor may be entitled to time extensions and costs. Readiness protects the owner commercially as well as practically.

Readiness is not one-off

Readiness should be reviewed again at key points — before major equipment deliveries, before electrical works, before grid connection. Each phase has its own prerequisites.

A worked example

Consider an illustrative solar project where land in the main block is fully secured, but three parcels along the access road are still being negotiated. A readiness review would mark access as open, assess that without the road heavy deliveries cannot reach site, and conclude that mobilisation should wait — or that a temporary alternative route must be secured first. Starting anyway would bring crews and equipment to a site they could not properly supply. A one-hour review prevents weeks of idle cost.

Common mistakes

• Mobilising to meet a date rather than because the site is ready
• Treating "in progress" as complete
• Ignoring rights of way outside the main site
• Not informing the community before crews arrive
• No re-check before later phases

How we help

Through project management and execution support, we run readiness reviews on the owner's side, close land, access and community gaps, and coordinate with EPC partners so that mobilisation happens when the site can genuinely support work.