Refurbishment and renovation risk assessment and method statement

• Structure surveyed by a competent person before any potentially load-bearing part is altered, with a structural engineer for beams and openings.
• Temporary support installed to the design before cutting, on a sound bearing, and left in until the new beam or lintel is in and packed.
• Any surprise on opening up, such as a missing lintel or a wall carrying more than expected, stops the work until the engineer has seen it.

BeforeHigh 15AfterMedium 5

• Materials stored on the floor structure the engineer has confirmed can take them, never on ceiling joists alone.
• Steels and timber brought into the loft only as needed, with loads spread on boards across several joists.
• Rubble bagged and taken out daily rather than stockpiled upstairs.

BeforeMedium 12AfterLow 4

• Refurbishment and demolition survey of the areas being worked on before work starts, read and briefed; if in doubt, asbestos is presumed present.
• Asbestos found is dealt with before other work in that area, by a licensed contractor where the work is licensable.
• Suspect material found later stops the work in that area until it is sampled.

BeforeHigh 15AfterMedium 5

• Circuits in the work area isolated and locked off by a competent electrician and proved dead before opening up.
• Cable detector used before drilling or chasing, and cables assumed to run in walls until shown otherwise.
• Temporary lighting and power for the family kept on circuits outside the work area, with no exposed live ends.

BeforeHigh 15AfterMedium 5

• Gas pipes and appliances in the work area disconnected and capped by a Gas Safe registered engineer before work near them.
• Water isolated and drained down where pipes are moved, with stop tap locations shown to the team.
• Gas smell or a pipe strike means stop, ventilate, isolate at the meter and call the emergency number.

BeforeMedium 10AfterMedium 5

• Scaffold with guard-rails and toe boards to every working edge, erected by trained scaffolders and inspected before first use and every 7 days.
• Roof openings made from the scaffold side, with edge protection kept in place as roof covering is stripped.
• Harness and lanyard only where collective protection cannot be provided, with a rescue plan.

BeforeHigh 20AfterMedium 5

• Boards or staging laid across the joists before anyone works in the loft; nobody stands on the ceiling between joists.
• Stair openings and floor voids guarded with rails or covered with fixed, marked covers as soon as they are formed.
• Loft hatch guarded while open, with a secured ladder for access.

BeforeHigh 16AfterLow 4

• Ladders and stepladders checked before use, footed or tied, and used only for short, light work.
• Materials raised by hoist, scaffold or hand to hand, not carried up a ladder.
• Stair route kept clear, lit and protected, with temporary handrails where the staircase is altered.

BeforeMedium 12AfterMedium 8

• Dust sheeted off from the rest of the house with sealed screens, and an agreed route from the door to the work area.
• On-tool extraction with an M or H class unit, or water, for cutting and chasing; no dry sweeping, vacuum instead.
• Face fit tested RPE for the team doing dusty work.

BeforeMedium 12AfterMedium 6

• Work area agreed with the homeowner and closed off with locked doors, screens or barriers.
• Tools, blades, chemicals and power leads never left out; tools unplugged and stored at breaks and at the end of each day.
• The family briefed on which rooms are out of use, and on what to do if they see something unsafe.

BeforeMedium 12AfterLow 4

• A clear escape route kept for the family at all times, agreed with them before stairs or doors are altered.
• Smoke alarms covered only while dusty work is under way and uncovered at the end of each day.
• Hot works under a permit with a fire watch afterwards; waste and packaging cleared daily.

BeforeMedium 10AfterMedium 5

• Skip on the road only with the highway authority permission, lit at night; scaffold on the highway only under licence.
• Deliveries timed outside school run hours where possible, with a banksman for reversing.
• Debris chuted into a covered skip, never thrown.

BeforeMedium 12AfterLow 4

• Services and drains located before digging; trench sides supported or battered back to the design.
• Trenches fenced off from the family and the public, and covered or backfilled at the end of each day where practicable.
• Excavation inspected by a competent person at the start of each shift; neighbouring foundations checked before digging close to them.

BeforeHigh 15AfterMedium 5

• Steels sized and delivered in sections where the design allows, and lifted with props, a beam lifter or a gantry rather than by hand.
• Routes through the house measured before delivery; enough people for every long or heavy carry.

BeforeMedium 12AfterMedium 6

• Guards fitted and blades suited to the material; tools checked before use.
• Battery or 110V tools on site; any mains tool used through an RCD.

BeforeMedium 12AfterMedium 8

• Old paint on doors, windows and skirtings treated as possibly containing lead until tested.
• No dry sanding or burning off; wet methods or chemical strippers instead, with waste bagged.

BeforeMedium 9AfterLow 3

• Forecast checked daily; roof and wall openings sheeted or made weathertight at the end of each day.
• Temporary roofs and sheeting fixed to resist wind, and checked after severe weather.

BeforeMedium 9AfterLow 3