Construction health and safety requirements: a UK starting point
Start with where the project is, who controls the work and what could cause harm. This guide connects the main requirements to practical checks for a builder, contractor or project client.
Updated 17 October 2026 · Construction Safety Desk · About the desk
The short answer
Small jobs still need planning, competent people and effective controls. A policy, RAMS or an F10 notification is only one part of the arrangements. Start with the risks and responsibilities, then prepare documents that support the work.
1. Establish the project location
England, Scotland and Wales use the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Northern Ireland has separate CDM Regulations from 2016 and a separate regulator, HSENI. The broad project roles are similar, but use the correct legislation, notification route and local guidance.
This matters when reusing a pack across several regions. Record the project location on the front sheet and check the legal references instead of changing only the site address. The guides linked below mainly explain Great Britain requirements.
2. Confirm the role before choosing the paperwork
For a Great Britain project, establish who is the client, designer and contractor. Where more than one contractor is involved, or reasonably foreseeable, the client needs principal designer and principal contractor appointments. These are project roles with duties; buying advice does not automatically transfer them.
- Client: establish suitable management arrangements, information, time and resources.
- Designers: address foreseeable risks through design decisions and communicate relevant information.
- Principal designer: coordinate health and safety during the pre-construction phase.
- Principal contractor: coordinate the construction phase and the contractors working within it.
- Contractor: plan, manage and monitor the work under its control.
Domestic client duties normally pass to another dutyholder. A household project is not automatically outside CDM. Read the client duties checklist and agree the responsibilities before mobilisation.
3. Use a document plan that matches the work
| Document or information | What to check |
|---|---|
| Company policy | A written health and safety policy is required with five or more employees; explain who does what and how arrangements work. |
| Pre-construction information | Obtain relevant site, survey, design and interface information early enough to influence decisions. |
| Construction phase plan | Have a proportionate plan before construction starts, including on small projects. |
| Risk assessments and safe work methods | Assess the work and communicate controls; record significant findings where the recording duty applies. Client requirements may ask for written RAMS too. |
| F10 notification | Check the notification thresholds separately. Being below them does not remove the other CDM duties. |
| Health and safety file | On multi-contractor projects, plan the relevant information needed for subsequent work and its handover to the client. |
| Inspection and competence evidence | Identify what must be inspected, by whom and when, and what information workers need. |
A simple register can include an owner, revision, review date and the work it covers. If nobody can explain who will update a document when the job changes, the register is incomplete.
4. Check what people will actually find on site
Before the first shift, walk through arrival, induction, welfare, work access and emergency arrangements. Then follow the planned sequence of the job. Where do people work near vehicles, live services, edges, excavations, hazardous materials or the public? Who checks the controls remain in place?
Use the small builder checklist for a starting review. Read the focused guides on welfare, work at height, asbestos information and dust controls where relevant.
5. Decide what needs attention first
Separate immediate safety gaps from document improvements. If the safe method depends on a missing survey or specialist design, resolve that before the affected work. For an administrative gap, assign someone to gather the evidence and agree a realistic completion date.
For example, a contractor asked for a policy, RAMS and a CPP should not send three unrelated templates. Confirm the workforce and scope, obtain the site information, agree the sequence and responsibilities, and make all three documents describe those same arrangements.
Our construction safety consultancy can help define the gap; remote safety support can help keep the resulting system organised.
Official starting points
- HSE: CDM 2015 legal summary
- HSENI: CDM Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016
- HSE: preparing a health and safety policy
- HSE: small builder responsibilities
General guidance only. Check the current official sources and your project conditions. Unless stated otherwise, legislation discussed is for Great Britain; Northern Ireland has separate rules. Remote advice supports, but does not replace, competent site management or specialist assessment.