Here are two tips to follow if you need to have a part of your building plot excavated. 

Ensure that your excavation plan includes the details regarding how and when you'll dispose of the soil

It's sensible to create an excavation plan with your contractor. That plan will include not only what size you want the excavation to be, but also what steps you'd like the contractor to take if the work is disrupted by things like adverse weather or by the discovery of utility lines where this activity is taking place. This plan should also include details regarding how and when you'll dispose of the soil that will be taken from the area that will be excavated.

You should, first and foremost, decide how you'll remove it (you might, for example, need to hire a tipper truck, load it onto this vehicle's trailer and then tip the soil out in another location) and then decide when you'll do this (this date should, ideally, be close to or on the date of the excavation itself). This is especially important if your work area is compact and the excavator operator will need to leave the soil they excavate very close to the excavation itself.

If in this situation, you don't make a solid plan for how or when you'll remove this soil, and it happens to rain heavily before you sort this issue out, the soil that is close to the excavation could turn into mud and a lot of it could slide back into the open excavation. This could result in you having to get the excavator operator to dig up the soil from this opening a second time. Furthermore, such a large quantity of soil turning into mud could also make the work area unsafe, as this mud could fall onto those who are working or walking through this area.

Take steps to stop people or wildlife from falling into the excavation if it needs to be left unattended

It's not always possible to complete an excavation project in one day, particularly if you need to dig up a very large expanse of soil. If your contractor has told you that your own excavation project is likely to take a few days, you should take measures to ensure that any people or wildlife who might pass through this work area when it's unoccupied cannot easily fall into this opening.

Putting a bright-coloured temporary barrier around the partially-excavated area's edges is an easy way to do this. If this is a location that people might walk in at night, you should also ensure that the barrier has some fluorescent tape on it, to ensure they can still see it and avoid walking into it when it's dark. To ensure that larger wild animals who approach this area don't knock down the barrier, you may need to stabilise it by weighing down its base with some concrete blocks.