Health and safety file
The record prepared under CDM 2015 for any project with more than one contractor, containing the information needed for the health and safety of future construction, maintenance, cleaning and demolition work on the structure.
The health and safety file is prepared by the principal designer during the project (and by the principal contractor if the principal designer's appointment ends first), handed to the client at the end, and kept by the client for the life of the structure, passed on to any new owner. It contains what a future contractor would need to know to work safely on the building: a brief description of the work carried out, residual hazards and how they have been dealt with (asbestos left in place, contaminated ground, fragile roofs), key structural principles and safe working loads, hazardous materials used, information on the removal or dismantling of installed plant and equipment, health and safety information about equipment provided for cleaning and maintenance, the nature and location of significant services, and as-built drawings.
It is not the O&M manual, though the two are often bound together and overlap; the file is specifically about the safety of future work. For a subcontractor, contributing to the file means handing over the as-installed information, the residual hazards of their package (a fragile skylight, a service route, a fixing detail) and anything a future maintenance contractor would need to know about what they installed. That information is requested by the principal contractor at handover and holds up the final account if it is missing.
Where it comes from
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 reg.12(5) to (10); L153 Appendix 4 (contents of the health and safety file).
- Building Regulations 2010 reg.38 for fire safety information, a related but separate requirement.
Questions people ask
Does every project need a health and safety file?
Every project with more than one contractor. A single-contractor project does not, though the contractor should still hand over the information a future contractor would need.
Who keeps it after completion?
The client, for as long as the structure stands, and it passes to a new owner on sale. It is the first document a future principal designer asks for.
Health and safety file, handled on a phone
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