Joinery 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
Hanging office doors in existing linings, out of hours in a working building
Six heavy non-fire meeting room doors, trimmed and routed on trestles after the staff have gone.
What to change
- Company, people, site and dates
- Whether any door is a fire door
- Door weight and how it gets up
- Dust and noise near staff
- Who is in the building after hours
- Emergency arrangements
Sources
- HSE: cutting and sanding wood in construction
- HSE: wood dust
- HSE WIS23: wood dust, controlling the risks
- HSE INDG143: manual handling at work
- Approved Document B volume 2, Appendix C: fire doorsets
- HSE: hand-arm vibration risk assessment
- CDM 2015, regulation 30: emergency procedures
Checked
The same sheet as text
Worked example of a method statement. Change it to fit your job before you use it.
Hanging office doors in existing linings, out of hours in a working building
Job details
- CompanyHollins & Reed Joinery Ltd
- Site and work areaSecond floor offices, 14 Mill Street, Stockport
- Planned dates12 to 16 October 2026, 6 pm to 10 pm
- CustomerThornley Vale Estates Ltd
- In charge on siteDan Hollins
- TeamTwo joiners: Dan Hollins hangs the doors, cuts the recesses and is the first aider; Priya Shah is his deputy and trims the leaves.
- WorkHanging office doors in existing linings, out of hours in a working building
- Risk assessmentHanging office doors in existing linings, out of hours in a working building: worked example RAMS, a separate document
Work and boundaries
- Hang non-fire doors. Areas: Meeting rooms 1 to 6
- Not our work: Corridor, stair and lobby doors, which are fire doors.
Working arrangement
- Access: the floor or ground.
- Other people will use parts of the area at times.
- We work 6 pm to 10 pm on weekdays, once the staff have gone, with the cleaners told which room is closed. One room at a time, and every doorway is left hung or clear before we go. The building dates from 2006. The new leaves are 44 mm solid core, about 38 kg each on the delivery note, so they come up in the goods lift, move on a door trolley and two people lift each one. Three hinges rated for that weight go in the existing recesses in each lining. The fire door schedule shows these six rooms open off the open-plan office and none of their doors is a fire door. A fire door is only rated as the doorset it was tested with, so the corridor and stair doors are not part of this job. The old doors and offcuts go down the goods lift to our van each night.
Emergency arrangements
- Building alarm: stop, leave by the nearest stair, not the lift, and meet at the rear car park gate. Priya Shah rings 999 and gives 14 Mill Street, Stockport, second floor; Dan Hollins does if Priya is the one hurt. Dan is the first aider and the kit is in the tool store on the second floor. Priya then tells the night security officer on the Mill Street reception, who meets the crew at the main door and holds the lift.
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. Keep people clear of the workAgree how people get past or around the work while it is going on. Put barriers or signs where a route crosses the work. Do not leave open work unattended.
- 3. Check the door and fitting guideCheck the leaf for damage before moving it. Confirm from the building's fire door schedule and the door itself that it is an ordinary internal door, not a fire door. Read the fitting instructions for this door and hardware.
- 4. Find hidden servicesCheck the drawings, then use a detector, along any fixing line into a wall or floor. Mark what you find and keep fixings clear of it. If you are not sure what is there, do not drill.
- 5. Carry the doors safelyEach leaf is 38 kg. It goes on the door trolley from the goods lift to the room, along a route cleared first. Two people lift it on and off the trolley, onto the trestles and into the opening, one calling the lift.
- 6. Take the old door offWedge the leaf and have a second person hold it before the last hinge screw comes out. Stand it clear of the route and leave no opening unattended.
- 7. Check the size before trimmingMeasure the opening and hold the door in the frame before cutting. Check the maker’s trimming allowance first.
- 8. Control the dust when cuttingRun every saw, router and planer on on-tool extraction to an M Class extractor, and never cut in a closed room without it. Wear an FFP3 mask (APF 20) when you sand or cut for any length of time, fit tested and clean-shaven, and keep other people out of the dust.
- 9. Limit noise and vibrationWear ear defenders when cutting. Note 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. Keep the tools maintained.
- 10. Trim and rout the door on trestlesLay the leaf flat on trestles and clamp it, never on its edge against a wall. Plane or saw to the marked line, then rout the hinge recesses with the jig clamped down. Wait for the cutter or blade to stop before lifting the tool.
- 11. Support the door while hanging itPut the leaf on wedges before lining up the hinges. Keep it supported until the hinge screws are secure.
- 12. Fit the latch and handlesPilot and cut the latch recess to the hardware instructions. Fix the latch, handles and keep plate with compatible fixings.
- 13. Check the finished doorOpen and close the door several times. Check the latch engages and the leaf clears the floor and frame. Tighten the remaining hinge screws after the position is right.
- 14. 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 Joinery 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.