Welfare facilities
The toilets, washing facilities, drinking water, changing rooms and rest areas that CDM 2015 Schedule 2 requires on every construction site from the first day, provided by the principal contractor.
CDM 2015 Schedule 2 sets out the minimum: suitable and sufficient toilets, adequately ventilated, lit and clean, separate for men and women or lockable single rooms; washing facilities with hot and cold (or warm) running water, soap and towels or dryers, including showers where the work requires it, next to the toilets and changing rooms; a supply of drinking water, marked, with cups unless it is a fountain; changing rooms with seating and secure storage where special clothing is worn; and rest facilities with tables and chairs, a means of heating water and food, and arrangements for pregnant women and nursing mothers. The facilities must be there when work starts, not when the compound is finished, and they must be maintained.
Welfare is the thing HSE inspectors look at first, because it is visible from the gate and it predicts everything else: a site with a clean cabin, hot water and a kettle is usually a site that manages the rest. Chemical toilets with no washing facilities, or a van as the rest area, are breaches on a job of any length, and the HSE issues notices for them routinely. For a small contractor on a domestic job, the agreed use of the householder's facilities can be adequate, recorded in the construction phase plan.
Where it comes from
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 reg.13(4)(c) and Schedule 2.
- Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 for fixed workplaces.
- HSE guidance CIS59 (Provision of welfare facilities during construction work).
Questions people ask
Are portable toilets enough?
Chemical toilets are acceptable where mains drainage is not available, but washing facilities with running water, soap and drying are still required alongside them, and they must be cleaned and serviced. A toilet with no wash basin is a breach.
Can we use a nearby café or the client's toilets?
Where genuinely available for the whole of the working day, close enough, and agreed in writing, arrangements like that can be adequate for small, short jobs. Record them in the construction phase plan. For anything more than a few days, provide your own.
Welfare facilities, handled on a phone
SiteLynx puts the RAMS, permits, inspections, audits, plant checks and records behind every term in this glossary on the crew's phones, signed on site, with a PDF at the end. 14 days free, no card.
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