Every construction project needs a Construction Phase Plan before the construction phase begins. RAMS are task-level documents: a suitable risk assessment is required, while a method statement is a common way to explain the safe sequence and controls for work where that detail is useful. A project can therefore require one Construction Phase Plan and several sets of RAMS.
The plan establishes the project management system. The RAMS then work within that system. For example, the plan may define the project's permit arrangements, delivery rules, emergency procedures and temporary-works process; the concrete contractor's RAMS should explain how its particular pour will comply with those arrangements.
A single file can contain several elements, but the responsibility and purpose must remain clear. A long bundle of generic RAMS is not a Construction Phase Plan, and a project plan that says “follow RAMS” is not a suitable assessment of a contractor's task.
Construction Phase Plan and RAMS compared
| Question | Construction Phase Plan | RAMS |
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Explain how the construction phase will be planned, managed, monitored and coordinated. | Assess a defined activity and communicate the safe method, controls and sequence. |
| Scope | The whole project and the interfaces between contractors, site systems and significant risks. | A particular work package, task or closely related group of activities. |
| Who leads? | The Principal Contractor on a multi-contractor project; the contractor on a single-contractor project. | The employer or contractor controlling the activity, using competent input from supervisors, specialists and workers. |
| When required? | Before construction starts on every construction project. | The risk assessment duty applies to work activities. A written method statement is widely used where it helps control and communicate the work; certain work, including demolition arrangements, must be recorded in writing. |
| Typical contents | Responsibilities, coordination, consultation, site rules, welfare, logistics, emergencies and arrangements for significant project risks. | Task scope, hazards, people affected, control measures, sequence, plant, competence, supervision, permits, hold points and emergency or rescue arrangements. |
| Review trigger | Changes to the project, programme, design, contractor structure, site arrangements or management controls. | Changes to the task, site conditions, people, plant, materials, design information, interfaces or evidence that controls are ineffective. |
What is a Construction Phase Plan?
HSE states that a Construction Phase Plan must be prepared before the construction phase begins. Under CDM 2015, the Principal Contractor draws it up for a project involving more than one contractor. Where there is only one contractor, that contractor must ensure the plan is prepared.
The plan should be proportionate to the project, but it still needs to describe the health and safety arrangements, site rules and specific measures for relevant work involving the particular risks listed in Schedule 3 of CDM 2015. It should also explain how contractors will cooperate, how workers will be consulted and how the project's controls will be monitored.
A useful Construction Phase Plan is a live management document. It should identify responsibilities and working arrangements clearly enough for contractors to understand what they must provide, how their work will be coordinated and which project controls apply.
What are RAMS?
RAMS is an industry term for risk assessments and method statements. A risk assessment identifies hazards, who may be harmed, existing controls and any further measures required. Employers must assess risks to employees and others affected by their work; where an employer has five or more employees, the significant findings must be recorded.
A method statement translates the assessment and design information into an organised way of carrying out the task. HSE says method statements are not generally required by law for every construction activity, but they are a proven practical way to help plan, manage and monitor work. Arrangements for demolition, dismantling or structural alteration must be recorded in writing before the work begins, commonly through a method statement.
Project-specific construction RAMS should reflect the actual scope, sequence, workforce, plant, materials, access, temporary works, adjacent activities and site rules. The document must be capable of being briefed and followed; approval of generic wording does not make the activity safe.
When does a contractor need both a CPP and RAMS?
A contractor needs to distinguish its project role from its work-package duties.
- Principal Contractor: must ensure the project has a suitable Construction Phase Plan and must coordinate the RAMS and activities of contractors.
- Sole contractor: must ensure a proportionate Construction Phase Plan is prepared and must assess and control its own activities.
- Subcontractor: normally works under the Principal Contractor's plan, complies with the relevant parts of it and provides suitable task information and RAMS for the work it controls.
The same organisation may therefore own the project plan and prepare separate RAMS for its direct work. On a larger project, the Principal Contractor's plan provides the common framework while each trade contractor supplies task-level information that fits the programme and interfaces.
Who prepares, reviews and accepts the documents?
Legal responsibility does not disappear when a consultant drafts a document. The duty holder should supply accurate information, participate in development, confirm that the arrangements match the work and maintain the document as the project changes.
A Principal Contractor may review subcontractor RAMS before allowing work to start. That review should check consistency with the Construction Phase Plan, design information, project rules, other contractors and significant interfaces. It does not transfer the subcontractor's duty to plan, manage and monitor the work under its control.
“Accepted” should mean that the stated method is compatible with the project arrangements based on the information reviewed. It is not a statutory approval, a design warranty or proof that the work will remain safe regardless of how it is supervised or changed on site.
What do the CPP and RAMS not replace?
Neither document should be used as a container for every project control. Depending on the work, the team may also need:
- pre-construction information, surveys and current design information;
- temporary-works briefs, designs, checks and permits or releases;
- lifting plans, inspection records and statutory examination evidence;
- COSHH assessments based on the actual substance and task;
- permits to work, isolation procedures and service drawings;
- traffic, logistics, fire, emergency and rescue arrangements; and
- competence evidence, inductions, task briefings and supervision records.
The Construction Phase Plan should explain how these controls are managed. RAMS should reference the current information needed for the task without copying technical documents in a way that makes revision control unclear.
When should the documents be reviewed?
Review the Construction Phase Plan when project-level arrangements change—for example, a new phase, revised logistics, a different contractor structure, major design development, changed emergency arrangements or emerging coordination problems.
Review RAMS when the task or its assumptions change. Common triggers include different plant or materials, revised drawings, a new access route, altered temporary works, changed ground or weather conditions, another contractor entering the work area, an incident or near miss, or workforce feedback showing that the proposed method is unclear.
A toolbox talk or handwritten site instruction should not be used to conceal a material change. Stop the affected work where necessary, reassess it, obtain any design input and brief the controlled revision before restarting.
What should a contractor check before work starts?
- Is there a current Construction Phase Plan covering the project and contractor structure?
- Does the plan identify the site rules, coordination arrangements and significant project risks that affect this task?
- Are the RAMS based on the latest drawings, scope, plant, materials and site conditions?
- Do the method and controls align with the CPP, permits, logistics, temporary works and other contractors?
- Are competence, supervision, inspections, hold points and emergency or rescue arrangements clear?
- Can the workforce understand and follow the RAMS, ask questions and report changes?
- Is there a defined process for revising and re-briefing both documents?
The strongest evidence is not the number of pages. It is a clear connection between the project plan, the task method, the current design information and what supervisors and workers actually do on site.