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Write your health and safety file

A guided template for the CDM 2015 health and safety file. Work through the sections, with an example of a weak and a useful entry beside each, and download the file’s core document and index as a Word document or PDF. Free, with no sign-up.

It is for the CDM principal designer, who normally prepares the file, or the principal contractor where the file has passed to them. Each section is explained on what goes in the file. On a small job this document may be the whole file; on most jobs it ties together a set of documents that others supply.

0 of 8 sections answeredGo to the document

About the file

The project and who was involved

The file names the CDM dutyholders. These are the CDM principal designer and principal contractor, not the Building Regulations roles of the same name.

Project nameAddressClientPrepared byCDM principal designerCDM principal contractorRevisionDate

Section 1 of 8

Description of the work

What was built or changed, where, and when. Enough for someone planning the next job to know which parts of the building this file covers.

Tells the reader littleRefurbishment works to the building.

Something they can act onStrip-out and refit of the ground and first floors of a two-storey office: new ceilings, partitions, lighting and small power, an air-source heat pump on the flat roof, and replacement of the two rooflights over the stair. Work carried out March to October 2026.

Not applicable to this projectDescription of the workWho usually has this: The principal designer, from the brief, and the principal contractor.

Section 2 of 8

Residual hazards and how they were dealt with

The residual risks someone could meet when cleaning, maintaining, altering or demolishing what was built, and what was done about each. HSE gives surveys about asbestos or contaminated land as examples.

Tells the reader littleWorking at height on the roof.

Something they can act onFlat roof: no permanent edge protection. Access for the heat pump is through the internal roof hatch. The design provides no collective protection on the route to the unit, so roof work needs either temporary edge protection or the fall-arrest anchors (layout on the roof plan), which only trained users with a rescue plan may use. The two rooflights over the stair are fragile and not designed to be walked on; both are marked on the roof plan and labelled on the roof.

Not applicable to this projectResidual hazards and how they were dealt withWho usually has this: Designers, for the risks they could not design out; the principal contractor, for what was found or changed on site.

Section 3 of 8

Structural principles and safe working loads

How the structure stands up where that matters for future work: bracing, sources of substantial stored energy such as pre- or post-tensioned members, and safe working loads for floors and roofs.

Tells the reader littleSteel frame.

Something they can act onGround floor slab is post-tensioned: do not core-drill, cut or fix into it without the structural engineer’s approval (tendon layout on the slab drawing). The roof is designed for maintenance access and the heat pump on its frame only, not for stored materials.

Not applicable to this projectStructural principles and safe working loadsWho usually has this: The structural engineer, through the principal designer.

Section 4 of 8

Hazardous materials

Materials that could harm someone working on them later. HSE gives lead paints and special coatings as examples.

Tells the reader littleSee the COSHH data sheets.

Something they can act onIntumescent coating on the exposed steel columns (product and system named in the O&M manual): check the data sheet before abrading or cutting, and repair with the same system after any alteration.

Not applicable to this projectHazardous materialsWho usually has this: The contractor who applied or installed it, through the principal contractor.

Section 5 of 8

Removing or dismantling installed plant and equipment

What someone needs to know to take out what was installed safely, such as any special lifting arrangements.

Tells the reader littleContact the manufacturer.

Something they can act onThe heat pump was lifted onto the roof by mobile crane from the front car park; there is no permanent lifting point. Its frame is bolted to the roof steel. It contains R32 refrigerant, a fluorinated gas: recover it with an appropriately qualified F-gas technician, following the manufacturer’s decommissioning procedure, before the unit is disconnected.

Not applicable to this projectRemoving or dismantling installed plant and equipmentWho usually has this: The installing subcontractor, through the principal contractor.

Section 6 of 8

Equipment for cleaning and maintaining the structure

Anchors, cradles, access hatches, permanent ladders and the like: what they are, where they are, how they are tested and any limits on their use.

Tells the reader littleFall-arrest system installed.

Something they can act onFour roof anchors (layout on the roof plan), tested at installation (certificate in the O&M manual). They are personal fall protection for the route to the heat pump, used where temporary edge protection is not put up; they are not rated for more than one user each. They need periodic inspection by a competent person at the interval in the manufacturer’s instructions, and users need training and a rescue plan.

Not applicable to this projectEquipment for cleaning and maintaining the structureWho usually has this: The installer, through the principal contractor.

Section 7 of 8

Services: nature, location and markings

Where the services that could hurt someone are, and how to find and isolate them. HSE gives underground cables, gas supply equipment and fire-fighting services as examples.

Tells the reader littleServices as per drawings.

Something they can act onIncoming gas enters at the north-east corner; the meter is in the external box and the isolation valve in the plant room. The buried LV cable to the car park lighting runs along the east boundary under warning tape (route on the external services drawing).

Not applicable to this projectServices: nature, location and markingsWho usually has this: The services subcontractors and designers, through the principal contractor.

Section 8 of 8

As-built information

Information and as-built drawings someone would need for future work, such as the safe means of access to service voids and the position of fire doors. An index helps a reader find them, but it does not replace them: the documents it lists have to be kept and accessible.

Tells the reader littleAs-built drawings issued on a USB stick.

Something they can act onAn index of as-built drawings, each with its number, title and revision, including the ceiling-void access hatches on the first-floor plan. The drawings themselves are held with the file, and the index says where.

Not applicable to this projectAs-built informationWho usually has this: The designers and the principal contractor.

Index

The rest of the file

On most jobs the file is a set of documents, and this core document points to them. List each one with its reference, revision and where it is kept. Delete the rows you do not need.

Document	Reference	Revision	Status	Where it is kept	Remove

Finish

Download the document

You get the core document and index. The documents it lists still have to be gathered and checked by the people responsible for them. You can download at any point and carry on in Word.

Keep this draft on this device, so it is here when I come back. It stays in this browser and is not sent to PlanOps.

This runs in your browser. What you enter is not sent to PlanOps and is gone when you close the page.

Health and safety file

Prepared under regulation 12 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. This is the file’s core document and index: the documents it lists are part of the file.

About this file	Detail
Project	Not stated
Address	Not stated
Client	Not stated
CDM principal designer	Not stated
CDM principal contractor	Not stated
Prepared by	Not stated
Revision	Draft 1
Date	Not stated

1. Description of the work

Not yet written.

2. Residual hazards and how they were dealt with

Not yet written.

3. Structural principles and safe working loads

Not yet written.

4. Hazardous materials

Not yet written.

5. Removing or dismantling installed plant and equipment

Not yet written.

6. Equipment for cleaning and maintaining the structure

Not yet written.

7. Services: nature, location and markings

Not yet written.

8. As-built information

Not yet written.

9. Index to the rest of the file

The documents below form part of this file or are referred to by it. Each is kept where the last column says.

Document	Reference	Revision	Status	Where it is kept
As-built drawings			Awaited
O&M manual			Awaited
Asbestos survey and register			Awaited
Structural drawings and calculations			Awaited
Services drawings			Awaited
Test and commissioning certificates			Awaited

Keeping this file

The client keeps the file available for anyone who needs it to comply with health and safety law, and keeps it up to date.
If the client sells the building, the file goes to the new owner, who is told what it is for.
Later construction work should start from this file and add to it.

Keep the file with the project

In PlanOps the information for the file arrives from each subcontractor as their package finishes, each document is checked as it comes in, and the handover you issue is compiled from what was accepted.

Open PlanOps

Write your health and safety file

The project and who was involved

Packages on the job

Description of the work

Residual hazards and how they were dealt with

Structural principles and safe working loads

Hazardous materials

Removing or dismantling installed plant and equipment

Equipment for cleaning and maintaining the structure

Services: nature, location and markings

As-built information

The rest of the file

Download the document

Health and safety file

1. Description of the work

2. Residual hazards and how they were dealt with

3. Structural principles and safe working loads

4. Hazardous materials

5. Removing or dismantling installed plant and equipment

6. Equipment for cleaning and maintaining the structure

7. Services: nature, location and markings

8. As-built information

9. Index to the rest of the file

Keeping this file

Keep the file with the project