In construction, compliance is a passport. Sites and clients want to see competence cards, insurance, RAMS and an accreditation before you get through the gate. Your own premises need the standard set, but the money and the risk are in the work: height, asbestos, tools and vehicles. Buy the training the regulations name, write RAMS that describe the actual job, and be sceptical of anyone selling you a folder of generic documents as if it were safety.
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Compliance for Construction & trades
Compliance for Construction & Trades — What You Actually Need
You work on other people's premises and sites, with tools, vehicles and height. Most of your compliance travels with you rather than living in a building. Here is what applies, what clients and principal contractors will ask for, and what you can do yourself.
Your risk profile
High for the work, low for the premises. Construction has the worst fatality rate of any UK sector, and the regulations reflect it: CDM 2015, Work at Height, asbestos awareness, PUWER. Your yard or unit needs the standard premises set. Your competence and paperwork are what get you onto sites.
What applies to you
In the order it matters. Each links to a plain-English guide.
Required by lawYou must do this. Not doing it is an offence.
Required if…Required in some situations, not others. Depends on your premises and how you use them.
Good practiceNot written into law, but it is the recognised way to show you have met a legal duty.
Insurers, landlords or clients ask for itNot a legal requirement. A contractual one. Check the wording of what is actually being asked.
Optional, often oversoldNobody is making you buy this. Suppliers will still try.
Health & Safety Risk AssessmentRequired by law
The foundation, plus the task-specific risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) that every site and client will ask for. Generic RAMS get rejected; ones that describe the actual job get you on site. A template pack is a starting point, not a product.
Workplace Safety TrainingRequired by law
CSCS cards for site access, asbestos awareness (a genuine legal requirement for anyone who could disturb it), working at height, abrasive wheels, first aid, and manual handling. This is the sector where named courses are expected because sites demand them.
Asbestos ManagementRequired by law
Asbestos awareness training for every operative who could disturb it is a legal requirement under CAR 2012. Before working on any pre-2000 building, ask for the asbestos register or a refurbishment survey. If there is not one, do not start.
PAT TestingGood practice
Construction is the exception to the two-year cycle: 110 V site tools and extension leads on a three-monthly formal inspection and test is the accepted practice, with user checks every day. This is the one place where frequent PAT is right.
Fire Risk AssessmentRequired by law
Required for your own premises (yard, unit, office) and recorded in full. Site fire safety is covered by the CDM fire plan on each job, usually the principal contractor's.
Electrical (EICR)Good practice
Your own unit: three-year interval if it is a workshop, five if it is an office. Site temporary electrics are inspected every three months under BS 7671 section 704.
Fire ExtinguishersRequired by law
Your premises per the FRA, and on site per the fire plan, typically near hot work and welfare units. Annual service.
Gas SafetyRequired if…
LPG for heating, cutting or site cabins: storage rules, and only Gas Safe LPG-registered engineers may work on it.
Legionella Risk AssessmentRequired by law
Your own welfare facilities and any site welfare units with showers. Usually simple; write it yourself.
Fire Alarm SystemsRequired if…
Your own unit per the FRA. Site alarms are part of the fire plan.
Emergency LightingRequired if…
Your own unit per the FRA.
Common questions
What does CDM 2015 require from a small contractor?
If you are the only contractor on a domestic job, you carry the principal contractor duties by default: plan and manage the work, a construction phase plan (which can be a page for a small job), welfare, and competence. On commercial jobs with more than one contractor, the client appoints a principal designer and principal contractor and you work under their plan. Notification to HSE is needed for jobs over 30 days with more than 20 workers, or over 500 person-days.
Do I really need three-monthly PAT on site tools?
It is the accepted practice for 110 V tools and leads on construction sites, from HSE guidance and the IET Code of Practice, because the environment is harsh and the failure rate is high. It is one of the very few situations where frequent PAT is the right answer rather than an oversell.
Is asbestos awareness training really compulsory?
Yes, for anyone who could disturb asbestos in their work: builders, electricians, plumbers, heating engineers, decorators, roofers. Regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Half a day, £30 to £60 online, refreshed annually. It is one of the few genuinely mandatory named courses in small-business compliance.
What should this cost?
Training is the main line: CSCS, asbestos awareness, height, first aid, refreshed on their cycles. Your own premises are a standard small unit. The oversell in construction is the RAMS and accreditation industry: template packs sold as compliance, and multiple paid accreditations (CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline) that all check the same documents. Get one accreditation the clients you want actually ask for, and write RAMS that describe the job.
Not sure how this applies to your premises?
Tell The Guide about your business and it will help you work out what you actually need — in plain English or full technical detail, your choice.
Review my risk →General information to help you understand your obligations and judge your own risk. Not legal advice.