Core drilling method statement example
Finished method statements for common jobs: the steps in order, who does each, and the emergency arrangements. Read one, download it, or build your own.
Build your ownChoose a job
- Electrical second fix and testing in a house refurbishmentLived-in 1970s house, accessories and consumer unit fitted, one circuit dead at a time, tested dead then live before handover.4 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Hot works: cutting and welding in an occupied warehouseSteel brackets cut out and replaced on a live bay, with a permit for each shift and a separate fire watcher.4 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Erecting an independent tied scaffold on a two-storey houseIndependent tube and fitting scaffold to a TG20 compliance sheet, family at home, rescue kit on the wagon.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Stripping and re-tiling a pitched roof from a scaffoldLived-in house, tiles, battens and underlay off, one section made weathertight each day.4 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drainBeside a lived-in house, services located first, excavator then hand tools, trench sheets and props before anyone goes in.4 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Repainting occupied officesWater-based paint from a podium, walls filled and sanded first, one bay screened off at a time while staff work on.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Bathroom first and second fix in a lived-in houseOnly bathroom replaced, press-fit pipework under the floor and in a duct, tested before anyone closes it up, suite fitted after tiling.5 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Tarmac resurfacing on a car park that stays partly openOld surface tested and planed off, private retail car park, laid bay block by bay block with shoppers around.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Unloading a builders’ merchant delivery with a lorry loaderPacks of blocks and plasterboard landed on a small building site, on a standing lift plan reviewed for this site.4 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Cleaning the outside of a two-storey office with a water-fed poleAll from the ground, in an open office set back behind its own car park, on cold November mornings.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- MIG welding a pump frame in a plant roomMIG welding bare mild steel at floor level in a closed plant room, with on-torch extraction, while the retail park keeps trading.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Stripping out a vacant single-storey workshopOffice ceiling, partitions, carpet and benches out by hand, building empty, every service including the fire alarm disconnected on a certificate, lit by roof lights and a 110 V string.4 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Skimming and patching walls in an occupied houseGround floor living room of a 2006 house, family at home, plaster mixed in the room with the door shut, from a hop-up.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Building a garden wall in blockwork and facing brickA 5 m long, 1 m high wall, one brick thick, on a foundation already in, laid from the ground.4 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Core drilling a flue hole through a cavity blockwork wallOne 125 mm wet core, rig fixed to the inner leaf, through an external wall of a single-storey extension, with the core caught outside.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Replacing damaged ceiling tiles and grid in an occupied office, out of hoursLike-for-like tiles and tees on the existing hangers, from a podium, with the offices empty and the fire alarm left live.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Clearing gutters on a bungalow from a ladderEight ladder positions of under 15 minutes each, one hand on the ladder, with a stand-off keeping it clear of the gutter.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Laying a block paved patio in a lived-in gardenDug out by hand to 250 mm, sub-base compacted, blocks laid on sand and cut wet, family at home.4 pages, checked 2 November 2026
- Hanging office doors in existing linings, out of hours in a working buildingSix heavy non-fire meeting room doors, trimmed and routed on trestles after the staff have gone.3 pages, checked 2 November 2026
Core drilling a flue hole through a cavity blockwork wall
One 125 mm wet core, rig fixed to the inner leaf, through an external wall of a single-storey extension, with the core caught outside.
What to change
- Company, people, site and dates
- What the wall is and what is in the cavity
- Where the hole sits against lintels and the cavity tray
- Hole size and core weight
- The rig’s fixing for this block
- What is under the hole outside
- Who sleeves and seals the hole
- Emergency arrangements
Sources
- HSE CIS36: construction dust
- HSE CIS65: safety in excavations
- HSE HSG47: avoiding danger from underground services
- HSE HSG141: electrical safety on construction sites
- HSE: hand-arm vibration risk assessment
- Hilti diamond coring manual
Checked
The same sheet as text
Worked example of a method statement. Change it to fit your job before you use it.
Core drilling a flue hole through a cavity blockwork wall
Job details
- CompanyHollins & Reed Diamond Drilling Ltd
- Site and work area6 Alma Road, Stockport: rear extension
- Planned dates24 November 2026 (one morning)
- CustomerThornley Vale Estates Ltd
- In charge on siteDan Hollins
- TeamTwo people: Dan Hollins fixes the rig and drills; Tom Ellis stays outside by the cones until the outer core is down, on the phone to Dan from the first cut, then helps carry out.
- WorkCore drilling a flue hole through a cavity blockwork wall
- Risk assessmentCore drilling a flue hole through a cavity blockwork wall: worked example RAMS, a separate document
Work and boundaries
- Core one 125 mm flue hole from the inside, wet. Areas: Inside face of the rear extension wall, with the floor below the hole; Paving outside under the hole
Working arrangement
- Access: the floor or ground.
- What the hole goes through: A cavity blockwork wall.
- Coring machine: On a stand fixed to the structure.
- The work area will be kept clear of other people.
- The tenant stays in the house with the door to the extension shut; nobody else goes in the extension. The wall is the 2018 extension’s external wall: 100 mm dense block inside, a 100 mm cavity with mineral wool batts, 100 mm rendered block outside. The heating engineer’s drawing puts the hole centre 1.6 m above the floor, reached from the floor, 900 mm below the lintel line and clear of the cavity tray. The extension’s socket circuit runs in the wall 600 mm from the hole on the electrician’s drawing. A cable detector on both faces agrees, and a CAT scan along the foot of the wall outside shows nothing rising up it near the hole. The heating engineer’s drawing shows no gas or water pipe in this wall. The landlord’s electrician locks that circuit off at the consumer unit while we drill, and puts it back on when the rig is off the wall, so the transformer runs from a hall socket on the house circuit, with the lead taped down under the door. One hole takes under an hour with the door to the garden open, so water does the work and no mask is needed. Each core is 125 mm across, 100 mm long and about 2.5 kg, taking a dense block at about 2,000 kg/m³. Both are lifted by hand once the bit has stopped. The heating engineer sleeves and seals the hole when the flue goes in.
Emergency arrangements
- Anyone hurt, or an electric shock: stop the rig and switch off at the transformer, then Tom Ellis rings 999, or Dan Hollins if Tom is the one hurt, and gives 6 Alma Road, rear extension. Whoever rings stays with the casualty. Dan Hollins is the first aider, and the kit is in the van on the drive. The tenant meets the crew at the front gate and brings them round the side path, which stays clear. Fire: leave by the door to the garden, go round to the front gate, and ring 999.
Planned method
- 1. Set up the work areaConfirm the work area and scope before starting. Keep other people outside the active work area. Keep entrances and escape routes clear.
- 2. Confirm the hole on the drawingTake the hole position and size from the drawing, and record who authorised it. Keep the hole away from lintels and the cavity tray. If it has to move, stop and go back to whoever drew it.
- 3. Find and isolate the socket circuitFind the cable before you disturb anything: the drawing, then a detector on both faces of the wall. Mark what you find. Have the circuit locked off and proved dead before the rig goes on. If the detector and the drawing disagree, stop.
- 4. Carry the materials and equipment safelyPlan the route, clear it, and get help with anything long or heavy. Store materials close to the work so nobody carries further than they need to.
- 5. Clear the outside before coringCone off the ground under the hole outside, and stand a catch box of sand under it to take the outer core. Keep one person outside by the cones. Nobody goes inside them until the driller says the core is down.
- 6. Fix the rig to the wallFix the rig to the inner leaf with an anchor suited to dense block, as the rig’s manual and the anchor maker say. This is a horizontal hole, so add the second fixing the manual asks for, such as a chain to an anchor. Check it cannot move before starting.
- 7. Assess vibration from the core drillNote how long each person's hands are on each tool while it runs. Take the tool's vibration figure from the maker or HSE's table and check it fits how you use it. Points per hour times hours on the trigger, added up for the day, gives the exposure: 100 points is the action value, 400 is the limit. HSE's vibration calculator does the sum. Over 100, cut it with lower-vibration kit or less time, and never pass 400. Write the result down. Sharing the work does not replace this.
- 8. Keep the water on and collect itThis job is wet coring: keep the water on from the first cut to the last. Fit the water collector to the wall and keep a wet vacuum beside it. Sheet the floor before the water goes on. Bag the slurry and the catch box sand for disposal. It does not go down a drain.
- 9. Keep the electrics out of the waterRun the rig at 110 V from a transformer plugged into an RCD-protected socket. Test the RCD before each use. Stand the transformer away from the water. Check the leads, keep connections out of the slurry, and run the lead back from the machine. Isolate before you clear a fault.
- 10. Drill the coreTurn the water on before the bit touches, and keep it on for the whole cut. Wear eye, hearing and hand protection. Stop at the cavity, draw the bit back, and take out the inner core and the piece of batt behind it, in gloves, before you drill on. Tell the person outside before break-through. The outer core drops out into the catch box.
- 11. Stop a jam safelyStop feeding the bit and turn off the rig before you look at a jam. Remove the cause before restarting.
- 12. Leave the hole safeTake out the cores, vacuum the slurry and dry the floor. Cover the hole on both faces with taped board until the flue goes in.
- 13. Clear and hand back the areaRemove tools, waste and unused materials. Check the area is clean and ready to use. Tell the customer or whoever runs the site when the work is complete.
What a finished method statement says
- The job and its boundariesWhat is being done, where, and what is not your work.
- How the work area is set upAccess, shared spaces and who else is around.
- The steps, in the order they happenOne action to a step, from arrival to sign-off.
- Who does each stepThe people in charge and the skills each step needs.
- What happens if something goes wrongWho to call, where to go and how help gets in.
Method statement or risk assessment: which one is this?
This is the method statement: how the job is done, step by step. The risk assessment says what could go wrong and what controls it.
Method statement example questions
Are these real jobs?
No. Every job, company, person and address here is made up, and every page says so.
Can I send one as it is?
No. Your site, your people and your emergency arrangements will be different. Change it to fit your job first.
Where is the risk assessment that goes with it?
In the Core drilling RAMS example. The method statement names it on page one.
Word or PDF?
Both. Word if you will change the wording yourself, PDF to read or print. Or press Use this and edit it in the builder.
Does a method statement need a risk assessment?
A method statement names the risk assessment it rests on. CDM 2015 does not set a form for either document.
Where is the blank?
On the method statement template page. These examples are all filled in.