C010 Health and Safety File

GUIDANCE NOTE Health and Safety File Code: C010 Issue: A

INTRODUCTION

The health and safety file should contain the information needed to allow future construction work,
including cleaning, maintenance, alterations, refurbishment and demolition to be carried out safely.
Information in the file should alert those carrying out such work to risks and should help them to decide
how to work safely.

A health and safety file is only required for projects involving more than one Contractor.

Duties of Parties Involved (Client, Principal Designer and Principal Contractor)

Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM Regulations), the Client is required
to ensure that the health and safety file is available as pre construction information;
The Principal Designer is responsible for ensuring that the health and safety file is prepared for each
structure comprised within a construction project;
The Principal Contractor must make certain that the Principal Designer is supplied with any relevant
information for inclusion in the health and safety file.

Where the Principal Designer appointment finishes before the end of the construction phase, the Principal
Contractor will take responsibility for the completion of the file and handover to the Client.

The scope, structure and format for the file should be agreed between the Client and the Principal
Designer at the start of a project. There can be a separate file for each structure, one for an entire project
or site or one for a group of related structures. The file may be combined with the building regulations log
book or maintenance manual, providing that this does not result in the health and safety information being
lost or buried.

Contents of the Health and Safety File

Although the format of the file will vary depending on the type of project the list below indicates the basic
elements of what should be included in any file.

A brief description of the work carried out;

Any residual hazards which remain and how they have been dealt with, e.g. surveys or other
information concerning asbestos, contaminated land, water-bearing strata, buried services, etc;
Key structural principles, e.g. bracing or sources of substantial stored energy (including pre- or post-
tensioned members), and safe working loads for floors and roofs, particularly where these may preclude
placing scaffolding or heavy machinery there;
Hazardous materials used, e.g. lead paint, pesticides or special coatings which should not be burnt off;
Information regarding the removal or dismantling of installed plant and equipment, e.g. any special
arrangements for lifting, the sequence or other special instructions for dismantling, etc;
Health and safety information about equipment provided for cleaning or maintaining the structure;
The nature, location and markings of significant services, including underground cables, gas supply
equipment or firefighting services, etc;
Information and as-built drawings of the structure, its plant and equipment, e.g. the means of safe
access to and from service voids, fire doors, etc.

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C010 Health and Safety File

The health and safety file should not include things that will not help when planning future construction
work for example:

The pre-construction information or construction phase plan;

Construction phase risk assessments, written systems of work and COSHH assessments;
Details about the normal operation of the completed structure, e.g. Operation and Maintenance
Manuals;
Construction phase accident statistics;
Details of all the Contractors and Designers involved in the project (though it may be useful to include
details of the Principal Contractor and Principal Designer);
Contractual documents;
Information about structures, or parts of structures, that have been demolished, unless there are any
implications for remaining or future structures, for example voids;
Information contained in other documents, but relevant cross-references can be included.

Managing the Health and Safety File

The Health and Safety File will need to be prepared and then managed throughout the project.

Preparation of the Health and Safety File

Preparation of the file should begin at the same time as the pre-construction information is being
prepared. If the file is left until the end of the project, it will result in a great deal of duplication of effort to
trace the same information sources and will delay the completion of the file unnecessarily.

The file involves compiling information from a variety of sources, including:

The Client, who can provide existing information, e.g. drawings and location of services, as well as
information on how he/she would like the final maintenance procedures to be arranged;
The Designers, e.g. architects, structural engineers and quantity surveyors;
The Principal Contractor and Sub-contractors;
Statutory/private undertakers for utilities, e.g. gas, electricity, water and telecommunications.

Updating the Health and Safety File during construction

The Principal Designer will need to liaise with the Principal Contractor and Sub-contractors during the
construction phase of a project in order to assess any design variations or new design elements for
possible inclusion in the health and safety file.

The compilation of the health and safety file should be properly managed in order to prevent it from
becoming an unstructured dumping ground for miscellaneous data. Such management requires:

Organising regular meetings between the Principal Designer and the Principal Contractor to review
design variations;
Checking that all variations to the work content are recorded, even when there is no financial effect;
Verifying that all variations are assessed in health and safety terms, risk assessments are carried out
and that risks to health and safety for future maintenance or demolition are recorded in the file.

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Function of the Health and Safety File after the project is complete

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM Regulations) require the Client to keep the
Health and Safety File once it has been delivered by the Principal Designer at the conclusion of a project.
The Client must make the file available to:

The Principal Designer and Designers on subsequent projects;

Anyone else who has need of it.

Storing the Health and Safety File

The information for the Health and Safety File can be recorded in a variety of ways, including:

In paper format, with all of the necessary information bound into a single folder or series of folders,
properly cross-indexed;
On computer, ensuring that all information will be retrievable in future.

The safe keeping of the file should be treated with as much care as other important legal documents. In
multi-occupancy situations, e.g. where a housing association owns a block of flats, the owner should keep
and maintain the file but ensure that individual flat occupiers are supplied with health and safety
information concerning their home.

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