Construction phase plan for small jobs, with a template

A construction phase plan sets out how health and safety will be managed on a job, and under CDM 2015 every construction project needs one before work starts, including domestic work. On a single-contractor job the contractor writes it; with more than one contractor, the principal contractor does. HSE says it should be proportionate: on a small job, two pages is often enough.

Do small jobs need a construction phase plan?

Yes. HSE's CDM guidance says CDM 2015 applies to all construction work, including domestic projects, and that if you're the only contractor or the principal contractor, you must draw up a construction phase plan. The plan should be proportionate to the size and scale of the job. HSE says a short plan prepared before work starts is usually enough to show you've thought about health and safety.

On domestic jobs the homeowner's client duties usually pass to you. HSE's summary of duties says domestic client duties normally transfer to the contractor on a single-contractor job, or to the principal contractor where there's more than one, unless the client agrees in writing that the principal designer will take them on. DIY work a householder does themselves isn't covered.

CDM 2015 covers Great Britain. Northern Ireland has its own CDM regulations with similar duties; check the NI version if you work there.

Who writes it on your job?

It depends on how many contractors will be on site, and a contractor here includes your subbies.

An electrician, plasterer and roofer on a loft conversion makes it a multi-contractor job, even if they're all self-employed and you've hired them. The person who runs the job for the client is normally the principal contractor.

What goes in a construction phase plan?

At minimum: the health and safety arrangements for the job, site rules, and specific measures for any work involving the particular risks listed in Schedule 3 of CDM 2015. HSE's CIS80 template turns that into a two-page form. The template below follows CIS80's headings and adds prompts that small builders tend to miss.

CONSTRUCTION PHASE PLAN
Prepared by: your name, company, phone
Date: date   Version: 1

1. The job
Client: name and address
Site address: address
What the job is: e.g. single-storey rear kitchen extension, 4 m × 5 m, with knock-through
Designer or principal designer: name and contact, or "none"
Principal contractor: name, or "single contractor: us"

2. What the client has told us
e.g. asbestos survey from 2019 attached, garage roof contains asbestos cement; drains run under the patio; neighbour works nights

3. Key dates
Start: date   Finish: date   Other: e.g. steel delivery, building control inspections

4. Welfare
Toilet: e.g. client's downstairs WC agreed / hired unit
Washing: hot and cold water, soap, towels: where
Rest and drying area: where
Drinking water: where

5. Who else will be on site
trade, company, contact, dates

6. How we will keep everyone informed
e.g. WhatsApp group for the job, briefing at start of each new stage, plan on the van dashboard

7. Site rules
e.g. hard hats in the excavation zone, client and children kept out of the work area, site secured at end of day

8. Main dangers and how we will control them
Falls from height: scaffold by a competent firm, inspected and tagged; ladders tied
Excavations: shored or battered back; covers and barriers; spoil away from edge
Collapse of structures: props and steel installed to engineer's design for knock-through
Building dust: wet cutting, extraction, FFP3 masks
Asbestos: survey seen; results shared with all trades; do not disturb garage roof
Electricity and buried services: services located before digging; supply isolated before knock-through
Members of the public, client and others: Heras fencing, signs, rubbish chute to covered skip
Other: e.g. reversing deliveries on a shared drive

9. Supervision
who supervises apprentices and new starters

10. Emergencies
First aider: name   First aid kit: where   Nearest A&E: hospital

Signed: name   Read and understood by: names and dates

Keep the plan with the job, update it when the job changes, and make sure everyone on site has seen the parts that affect them. For the task-by-task detail, link it to your RAMS; our guide to site-specific RAMS from a master template shows how to keep those quick.

Does your job need notifying to HSE?

Most small jobs don't. A project is notifiable if the work is expected to last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers working at the same time, or to exceed 500 person days. The client must notify, on form F10, though they can ask you to do it for them. HSE says to count every day work is likely to happen, including weekends and holidays.

Notification doesn't change whether you need a plan. You need one either way.

What's the quickest way to produce one?

Three free routes, from HSE and CITB:

• HSE's CIS80 is a two-page construction phase plan form. Print it or fill it on screen.
• CITB's CDM Wizard is a free app for iOS, Android and the web. You answer mostly tick-box questions in under five minutes, and it produces a construction phase plan you can view or email.
• Your own template, like the one above, kept in your job folder and copied for each job.

Whichever you use, the effort goes into section 8, the main dangers. A form with every box ticked "N/A" protects nobody.

When should you get help?

When the job involves structural alteration, deep excavation, demolition, or asbestos that has to be disturbed, get a competent person to check the plan. A structural engineer's design for temporary propping or a licensed asbestos contractor is part of the plan, not an extra. Moving into public sector work usually means clients will ask to see your plans, RAMS and policies at pre-qualification, so a health and safety adviser to check your templates once is money well spent.

Common questions