Roofing RAMS template UK 2026: what every roofing risk assessment and method statement must include

A roofing RAMS is the document that gets you on site, keeps the HSE off your back if something goes wrong, and protects your business legally when a job does not go to plan. It is also the document that more roofers fail to produce properly than almost any other trade. This guide walks through what a UK roofing RAMS must contain in 2026, what HSG33 actually says, the controls every Principal Contractor will look for, and where most off-the-shelf templates fall short for real roofing work.

What a roofing RAMS actually is and why every roofer needs one

A RAMS document combines a Risk Assessment (the hazards, who is affected, the controls, and the residual risk rating) with a Method Statement (the step-by-step way you will carry out the work safely). For roofing, the RAMS is the formal proof that you have thought through the work before you start, identified the risks specific to that roof and that job, and put proportionate controls in place.

The legal basis is the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (which require risk assessment), the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (which require contractors to have suitable arrangements for managing health and safety on site), and the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (which require any work at height to be planned, supervised, and carried out by competent persons). For roofing specifically, the controlling guidance is HSE HSG33 Health and safety in roof work, 5th edition, which the HSE expects every roofing RAMS to align with.

RAMS is not legally a fixed document format. There is no HSE-stamped template you must use. What is required is that the document contains enough information for a competent person to read it and carry out the work safely. Principal Contractors will reject thin RAMS at the gate; insurers will look at your RAMS in the event of a claim; the HSE will look at your RAMS if they investigate an accident. The bar is "good enough that a sceptical reader believes you have planned the work properly." That is higher than most off-the-shelf templates achieve.

The fragility presumption: the single most important roofing principle

Every roofing RAMS in the UK should open with the same principle: every roof is treated as fragile until a competent person has confirmed otherwise. This is not optional or aspirational language. It is HSE policy, set out in HSG33, and it is the principle the HSE will judge your RAMS against if there is an investigation.

Fragile roof falls are the single largest cause of fatal fall-from-height injuries in UK construction, accounting for approximately 22% of all such deaths. The materials commonly responsible are fibre-cement sheeting (often called "asbestos cement"), non-reinforced rooflights, weathered metal sheeting, glass roofing, and old timber boarding. Rooflights are particularly hazardous because they can be obscured by paint, weathering, dust, snow or moss, and may be invisible to an operative until they are standing on one.

Your RAMS must state explicitly that fragility is presumed, describe how that presumption is tested (visual inspection from a safe vantage, MEWP-based survey, manufacturer drawings, structural engineer's report), and set out what changes once fragility is confirmed or excluded. A RAMS that says "the roof is not fragile" without explaining how that was confirmed is a failed RAMS in the eyes of the HSE.

The HSG33 hierarchy of control

HSG33 sets out a three-step hierarchy of control that must run through every roofing RAMS: avoid, control, communicate.

Avoid means working from below where reasonably practicable. A MEWP positioned beneath the roof, with the operative working from the basket, eliminates the fall risk entirely. So does carrying out repair from inside the roof void where the design permits. The RAMS must demonstrate that working at height has been considered and rejected before the controls below it are relied on. "We are using a scaffold" without first asking whether work could be done from below is not enough.

Control means engineered controls applied in a specific order: collective protection (guardrails, edge protection, safety nets, soft-landing systems) before personal protection (harness and lanyard fall arrest). Edge protection on a scaffold or crawling boards beneath fragile sheets is a collective control. A harness clipped to a roof anchor is a personal control. The RAMS must show the collective control as the primary measure and the personal control as backup, not the other way round.

Communicate means warning notices on every approach to fragile material, clear marking on drawings and method statements, and toolbox talks at the start of each shift covering the day's specific risks. Operatives must know which areas are fragile, where the rooflights are, where the safe walking routes are, and what the rescue plan is.

If your RAMS does not name and follow this hierarchy explicitly, it will read like generic safety content and will not pass scrutiny. The strongest roofing RAMS structure each section around the hierarchy: what was avoided, what is controlled, what is communicated.

Wind speed thresholds and weather stops

Roofing work is wind-sensitive in a way that ground trades are not. The standard UK roofing convention is to use the Beaufort scale, with two thresholds.

• Beaufort Force 5 (19 mph sustained, 10-minute mean): stop all work at height on the roof slope or near any unprotected edge. Wind at this level affects an operative's balance and increases the risk of falling materials being dislodged.
• Beaufort Force 6 (23 mph sustained): stop all roof work entirely, including work behind edge protection. The temporary works (sheeting, partially-installed materials) become unstable above this threshold.

Wind speed is monitored using a handheld anemometer at working height, with readings taken at the start of each shift and every two hours, recorded on the daily inspection sheet. The forecast is reviewed at shift start; activity is rescheduled if the forecast exceeds the threshold. Lightning within 10 km of the site stops all work at height immediately. Heavy rain that compromises footing on tiles, slates or membrane stops slope work.

Many off-the-shelf RAMS templates lift wind thresholds from generic construction guidance and pick numbers that do not match how roofing actually works. The Beaufort thresholds above are the ones used by the major UK roofing contractors and reflected in NFRC technical bulletins. State them in mph and Beaufort scale together so any reviewer knows the conversion has been done correctly.

Edge protection by roof angle

The required edge protection scales with the roof angle. The thresholds are set out in HSG33 and the supporting Work at Height technical guidance.

• Roofs up to 30 degrees pitch. A general access scaffold to eaves height with continuous edge protection (top guardrail at 950 mm minimum, intermediate guardrail no more than 470 mm gap, toeboard 150 mm minimum) is the standard. Roof ladders or crawling boards are used as the working position.
• Roofs 30 to 45 degrees. The above plus secondary edge protection or a roof ladder fixed in position is required. A continuous handrail at eaves alone is not sufficient because an operative who slips will not be stopped by it before reaching the edge.
• Roofs above 45 degrees with falling height greater than 5 metres, or above 60 degrees at any height. Eaves edge protection is no longer sufficient. A higher-level platform must be installed (for example a temporary work platform fixed at intervals up the slope) or a fixed-position crawling board with operative restraint must be used.

For terraced and attached properties, edge protection is required on every elevation that has a fall risk, including the rear, the gables, and any party-wall returns. A scaffold to the front only is not sufficient. This is one of the most common findings in HSE prosecutions of small roofers — a scaffold to the front of a terraced house with no rear protection, and an operative falls off the back.

Hot works: oxy/acetylene, torch-on, and lead

Hot works on a roof produce a fire-loss risk that has caused multiple major UK insurance losses. Any RAMS that involves open-flame equipment must reference HSE INDG327 (Oxy/acetylene safe use) and the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR), and must include the following controls.

A hot works permit-to-work is issued by the Principal Contractor before any open-flame activity commences. The permit specifies the location, the duration, the equipment in use, the fire-watch arrangements, and the hand-over inspection time. Combustible material within 3 metres of the work is removed where practicable, or covered with fire blankets. Particular attention is paid to roofing felt, timber battens, insulation, breather membranes, dust accumulations in voids, and bird nests in eaves.

Acetylene cylinders are stored upright in a lockable cage in open air, separated from oxygen by at least 3 metres and from any structure by at least 6 metres. They are removed from the roof at the end of every shift and photographed to confirm removal to the permit issuer. Cylinders in transit are carried in open vehicles where practicable; closed vans must have dedicated low-level vents and rotary roof vents.

Fire-watch is maintained at the work location during the shift and for at least 60 minutes after the last flame is extinguished. A CO2 extinguisher and a water extinguisher minimum, plus a fire blanket, are positioned at the work location before the torch is lit. The hand-over inspection is by the permit issuer at the end of fire-watch.

For torch-on bitumen membrane, additional controls apply: fire-resistant boards at junctions with combustible substrate, reduced flame at parapets and upstands, and consideration of cold-applied or self-adhesive alternatives on heritage or occupied buildings. NFRC's "Safe2Torch" guidance is the current industry standard for torch-on work and should be referenced in the RAMS.

Lead works: CLAW 2002 and L132

Any operation generating lead dust, fume or vapour — cutting, dressing, lead-burning, oxy/acetylene welding of lead — is governed by the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 (CLAW) and the supporting Approved Code of Practice L132. Your RAMS must reference both explicitly when lead is involved.

The standard lead-work controls are: FFP3 disposable RPE (EN 149) for short-duration tasks, powered air-purifying respirator with P3 filter for sustained burning; face-fit testing for each user; no facial hair where the seal contacts the face; neoprene or leather gloves changed when contaminated; hand-washing with soap before any eating, drinking, smoking or vaping; no eating in the work area; designated welfare facilities away from the work zone; work clothing kept on site and not taken home; lead waste bagged and labelled and disposed of as hazardous waste through a licensed carrier.

Workers regularly engaged in lead work must be enrolled in occupational health surveillance, with baseline blood lead measurement and follow-up at intervals defined by the action level. The action level (typically 30 µg/dL for adult males, lower for women of reproductive age) triggers a review of controls and may require removal from lead work until levels reduce. State this in the RAMS where lead is regular work, even if the immediate job is short.

Pre-2000 buildings and asbestos

Any roofing work on a pre-2000 building must reference the asbestos register and the Refurbishment and Demolition (R&D) Survey, both of which are provided by the Principal Contractor or building owner under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

The materials most commonly containing asbestos in pre-2000 roofing are: fibre-cement (asbestos cement) sheets and rooflights, old roofing felt and bitumen products, gaskets and washers under metal sheeting, sprayed asbestos coatings on the underside of roof structures, and lagging on roof-mounted plant. The RAMS must state that the survey has been reviewed before work commences, that any substrate not cleared by the survey is treated as suspect ACM, and that any disturbance is stopped immediately if suspect material is found.

All operatives must hold current UKATA or IATP asbestos awareness training, refreshed annually. Licensed asbestos removal is carried out only by an HSE-licensed contractor; non-licensed work is permitted only where specifically allowed by the survey. Exposure records are kept for 40 years per Regulation 22 of CAR 2012.

Tile and slate cutting: silica dust controls

Cutting concrete tiles, clay tiles, natural slate or fibre-cement sheets releases respirable crystalline silica (RCS). Long-term exposure causes silicosis, COPD, and lung cancer. The COSHH Workplace Exposure Limit for RCS is 0.1 mg/m³ as an 8-hour TWA, and roofing operations regularly exceed this when cutting dry without dust control.

The standard controls are wet cutting (diamond blades on water-fed saws or angle grinders with integrated water suppression) as the primary measure; on-tool extraction (LEV, M-class HEPA filter minimum) where wet cutting is not practicable; cutting at a designated cutting station with the operator positioned upwind; FFP3 RPE for short-duration cutting and a powered respirator with P3 filter for sustained work. Dry cutting without dust control is not acceptable for any tile or slate work, regardless of duration.

Where the design allows, pre-cut materials are ordered to reduce on-site cutting. Cuts are batched into single sessions per shift to limit total exposure time.

Competence: CSCS, NVQ, and the cards your RAMS must reference

The RAMS must specify the competence required for each role on the job. The standard roofing requirements are a CSCS Skilled Worker (Blue) card minimum for working roofers, Gold or Black for supervisors, supported by NVQ Level 2 in the relevant roofing discipline (Slating and Tiling, Felt Roofing, Mastic Asphalt, etc). Lead workers should hold a recognised lead-work training certificate. Operators of oxy/acetylene equipment must have specific oxy/acetylene safe-use training. Specialist tasks like single-ply membrane installation and torch-on application require manufacturer-recognised training.

Naming the cards and qualifications by their proper names (CSCS Skilled Worker Blue, NVQ Level 2 Roof Slating and Tiling, UKATA Asbestos Awareness, etc) is what separates a credible RAMS from a generic one. A reviewer who knows the trade will spot generic competence language immediately and assume the rest of the document is similarly vague.

Building Regulations and notification

Refurbishment of more than 50% of a roof in England and Wales requires Building Control notification, either through your Local Authority Building Control or through the NFRC Competent Person Scheme if you are a registered member. The RAMS does not have to include the notification itself, but where the project scope triggers the threshold, it should reference the route being used. This is good practice and also reassures the Principal Contractor that you understand the regulatory landscape.

What a credible roofing RAMS contains end-to-end

Pulling the above together, a credible 2026 UK roofing RAMS contains: project identification (site, dates, contractor, supervisor, principal contractor); scope of work (specific to this job, not generic); fragility presumption statement; hierarchy of control (avoid, control, communicate) applied to the specific work; access method (scaffold, MEWP, roof ladder, with edge protection per angle); wind speed thresholds in mph and Beaufort scale; weather stop conditions; hot works permit reference and INDG327 controls if applicable; CLAW 2002 and L132 references and lead-work controls if applicable; asbestos survey reference for pre-2000 buildings; silica dust controls for any tile or slate cutting; competence requirements (cards, NVQs, training); PPE list with EN standards and face-fit-testing reference for RPE; emergency arrangements including rescue from height; supervisor and operative names; pre-start briefing record; sign-off section.

That is a lot to write from scratch every time a job changes. Most off-the-shelf templates are too generic and cannot adapt to a specific job; most copy-paste approaches miss something important and trip the gate check. The pragmatic answer for a busy roofer is to build a base RAMS from your standard methodology and customise the activity description and site-specific risks per job, or use a tool that generates a specific RAMS from a job brief in minutes.

If you want a roofing RAMS that includes HSG33, the fragility presumption, the right Beaufort thresholds, the right edge protection by angle, CLAW 2002 for lead, INDG327 for hot works, and the right competence requirements without writing it yourself every time, this is exactly what Complys was built for. Pick the roofing trade, fill in the brief, and the document is in your hands in about three minutes.