Bespoke, never off the shelfUnlimited users, never per-seat30+ modules, one account14-day trial, no cardQR clock-in, server timedPriced to your firmCyber Essentials PlusFree migration includedCDM 2015 built inUK hosted, UK supportInsurance expiry checked nightlyAndroid and iOS appNo minimums, cancel anytimeBuilt to your processBookkeeping capture, by email99.97% uptimeExport everything, anytime
Start the 14-day trial
Book a demo→
Weekly

The weekly site
inspection, in
one pass.

A free weekly site inspection checklist: 24 checks in plain English, each with the regulation behind it. This is the one where scaffold, plant, permits and paperwork get looked at properly.

Published · Last reviewed

Start the checklist → All checklists
Start here

What a weekly site
inspection has to cover.

The daily walk catches what changed overnight. The weekly inspection is where you open the folder: scaffold handover tickets, thorough examination certificates, permit close-outs, training expiry, COSHH assessments and the near-miss log. It is slower, it is written down, and it is the one an HSE inspector is most likely to ask to see a run of.

The duty behind it, who signs it, and how it differs from the daily walk+
Is it a legal requirement
No regulation names a weekly inspection. Several make it the only sensible way to comply: CDM 2015 Reg 13(1) puts the principal contractor under a duty to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase, and the Work at Height Regulations require a scaffold to be inspected at intervals not exceeding seven days (Reg 12 and Sch 7).
The seven-day rule
A working platform used for construction work from which a person could fall more than 2 metres must be inspected before first use, after anything liable to affect its stability, and at intervals not exceeding 7 days. That is the one hard deadline on this sheet, and it is why the inspection is weekly rather than fortnightly.
Who signs it
Somebody competent for what they are inspecting. A site manager can inspect housekeeping and welfare; a scaffold inspection needs a person competent in scaffolding, and a LOLER thorough examination needs a competent person independent enough to be objective. Signing outside your competence is the finding, not the fix.
What it is not
It is not a re-run of the daily check. If the weekly inspection is the first time anybody noticed the fire exit was blocked, the daily walk is not happening. This one exists to catch drift: certificates quietly expiring, permits never closed, actions carried over three weeks running.
What this checklist covers
24 checks across three sections: 8 on the site itself, 9 on equipment and high-risk work, 7 on the records. Each entry names the regulation it comes from, or says plainly where it is good practice rather than a statutory duty.
The site

The site itself.

Boundary, welfare, fire and the state of the place. Slower and more sceptical than the daily walk.

Equipment and high-risk work

Equipment and the risky work.

The nine that need somebody competent looking at them, and the certificates behind them.

The records

The records.

What the folder says. This is where drift shows up before it shows up on site.

A starting point for your own review, not legal advice. Always check against the current regulations and HSE guidance. Put your own company in the field above and the PDF carries your name instead of ours. Ticks, notes and site details stay in your browser. Nothing is sent to us.

Download

Or use it as a printable template.

Download the blank weekly site inspection checklist as a PDF, or work through the list above on screen and save that instead, dated and carrying the site, the person who prepared it and the score out of 24. Nothing is gated: no email address to hand over, no account to create, no trial to start.

Download the blank template (PDF) PDF · 24 checks · 72 KB · free, no sign-up
A blank template
The PDF above carries all 24 checks, each with the regulation it comes from and a ruled line for the evidence, the owner and the date. Print it and fill it in on site.
Or a completed record
Work through it on screen first and Save as PDF produces a dated record of what was in place and what was not, with your evidence notes typed against each check.
Your ticks stay in your browser
Ticks, notes and site details are held on this device only. Nothing is sent to us, so you can close the tab and pick it up tomorrow on the same machine.
Your name on it, not ours
Put your company in the field above and the downloaded PDF carries your letterhead instead of Unibuild's. It is free: a sheet you hand to a client should be able to have your name on it.

Worth knowing. A checklist filled in once, the week of an audit, is a snapshot. The evidence behind it is either generated as the work runs or reconstructed under pressure, and that is the difference between a template and a record. It is also what the health and safety module is for.

By duty holder

The same inspection,
read by role.

These are the same checks above, grouped by whoever normally answers for them.

Site manager

The site section end to end, plus closing out last week's actions. It is your signature on the sheet and your authority that makes a finding into a fix.

Health and safety adviser

The records section, and the pattern across weeks. Repeat carries and expiring cards are the findings an audit will reach on its own.

Scaffold inspector

Item 1 of the equipment section, and only if you are competent in scaffolding. The seven-day interval in Work at Height Reg 12 is a deadline, not a target.

Plant and lifting

Items 3 to 5 of the equipment section: thorough examinations, lift plans and the appointed person. LOLER Reg 9 dates do not move for a busy week.

Temporary works coordinator

Item 7 of the site section. Propping and façade retention change on site more often than the design does, and that gap is where structures fail.

Principal contractor

All of it, ultimately. Reg 13(1) is a duty to monitor, and this sheet is the ordinary evidence that monitoring happened.

After the checklist

You shouldn't need
this checklist.

On the platform the certificates, tickets and expiry dates behind half of this sheet are already tracked, so the weekly pass stops being an archaeology exercise.

Questions

What people ask before
they use the checklist.

The questions that come up most often around a weekly site inspection checklist, answered against the regulations rather than around them.

How often does a scaffold have to be inspected?+
Before it is first used, after any event liable to affect its strength or stability such as high winds or an alteration, and at intervals not exceeding seven days while it remains in use. That comes from Regulation 12 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Schedule 7, and it applies to a working platform used for construction work from which a person could fall more than two metres. The inspection has to be by a competent person and the report kept until the work is finished.
What is the difference between the weekly inspection and the daily check?+
The daily walk is a surface scan of what changed overnight: access, welfare, fire, edges, housekeeping. The weekly inspection opens the folder as well as walking the site: scaffold tickets, thorough examination certificates, training expiry, permit close-outs and the near-miss log. If the weekly one is the first time anybody noticed a blocked fire exit, the daily walk is not happening.
Who is competent to carry out a weekly site inspection?+
It depends what is being inspected, and it is not one person for the whole sheet. A site manager can sign for housekeeping, welfare and boundary. A scaffold inspection needs somebody competent in scaffolding. A LOLER thorough examination needs a competent person with enough independence to be objective, which in practice usually means it is not the person who maintains the machine.
Do we have to keep the inspection reports?+
Scaffold and work at height inspection reports have to be kept at the site until the construction work is finished, and then for three months at an office. For everything else there is no single statutory period; three years is common practice and lines up with the ordinary limitation period for a personal injury claim. Keep them retrievable by site and by date.
What if the same action is carried over week after week?+
That is the finding. One carry with a reason is normal; three in a row means the action has no real owner or no budget, and an inspector reading a run of your sheets will spot it faster than you will. Either resource it, escalate it, or record the decision not to do it and why.
Is a weekly inspection enough on a high-risk site?+
Not on its own. The weekly pass is the baseline. Deep excavations, demolition, façade retention, lifting over occupied areas and confined space work all carry their own inspection intervals, some of them daily or per shift, and those sit on top of this sheet rather than inside it.
Is this checklist free, and do I have to sign up?+
It is free and there is nothing to sign up for. No email address, no account, no trial. Tick it above, add evidence notes if you want them, and download the result as a PDF. Ticks, notes and site details are held in your own browser and nothing is sent to us.
Can I put my own company name on the PDF?+
Yes. There is a company field beside the site and the person completing it, and whatever you put there becomes the letterhead on the downloaded PDF instead of ours. It is a free checklist: a sheet you hand to a client should be able to carry your name.
Does Unibuild do this for me?+
No supplier makes a business compliant, and be wary of one that says its software does. What the platform does is hold the record: the check, the person, the date, the photograph and the action that followed, retrievable by site and by date with an audit trail behind it. The duty stays with the duty holder. More on the health and safety module.
Next step

One pass,
on your busiest site.

Take this round the site that worries you most and see what the folder says versus what the site says.

Book a demo → See the H&S module
WhatsApp us