Plastering 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
Plastering method statement example
Skimming and patching walls in an occupied house
Ground floor living room of a 2006 house, family at home, plaster mixed in the room with the door shut, from a hop-up.
What to change
- Company, people, site and dates
- What the background is and how it takes suction
- The plaster product and its data sheet
- Where the mixing happens
- Who lives in the house
- Hop-up or other low access
- Emergency arrangements
Sources
- British Gypsum: Thistle MultiFinish product data sheet
- British Gypsum: Thistle MultiFinish safety data sheet
- British Gypsum: Thistle Bond-it product data sheet
- HSE: construction dust
- HSE: sanding taped and covered plasterboard joints
- HSE EH40/2005: workplace exposure limits
- HBF: safe use of trestles and hop-ups
- HSE HSG141: electrical safety on construction sites
- HSE: domestic clients under CDM
- 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.
Skimming and patching walls in an occupied house
Job details
- CompanyHollins & Reed Plastering Ltd
- Site and work area6 Larch Close, Stockport SK2 5TH: living room
- Planned dates12 to 14 October 2026
- CustomerMr and Mrs Lewis
- In charge on siteDan Hollins
- TeamTwo people: Dan Hollins plasters and is the first aider; Priya Shah mixes, carries and is his deputy.
- WorkSkimming and patching walls in an occupied house
- Risk assessmentSkimming and patching walls in an occupied house: worked example RAMS, a separate document
Work and boundaries
- Fill the old fixing holes and skim four walls of one room. Areas: Ground floor living room, four walls
- Not our work: The ceiling, woodwork, sockets and switch, and the rest of the house. Nothing electrical is unscrewed or moved.
Working arrangement
- Access: A hop-up with a 450 mm platform, not steps.
- Working height: walls to the ceiling at 2.4 m.
- Ground or floor: level timber floor under dust sheets.
- The work area will be kept clear of other people.
- The Lewis family, two adults and two children, live in the house throughout. The living room is shut off to them for the three days, with the door closed, and they use the kitchen and the back door. The hall has a dust sheet down for the bags and water. We use their downstairs toilet and basin. The house was built in 2006 and its plaster is sound under old emulsion. Nothing is hacked off, nothing is cut and no fixings go in. The old television bracket and picture hook holes are filled, then the four walls, about 34 m², get a coat of Thistle Bond-it and a two-coat skim of Thistle MultiFinish. Five 25 kg bags come in one at a time on a sack truck to the living room door. Its data sheet gives no burns warning, but it can irritate the eyes, skin and lungs.
Emergency arrangements
- Priya Shah rings 999 and gives 6 Larch Close, SK2 5TH; Dan Hollins does if Priya is the one hurt. Dan is the first aider and the kit is on the hall table. Whichever of us is not hurt stays with the casualty, and Mrs Lewis, or whoever is at home, opens the front door and waits to bring the crew in. Plaster in the eye: rinse with clean water from the bottle by the door and get medical advice. Fire: shout, get everyone out of the front door, meet on the pavement by the 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. Check the walls firstGo over each wall for loose or hollow plaster, flaking paint and damp, and stop if you find any. Clean off dust and grease.
- 3. Shut the room offShut the living room door and open the window before the first bag is opened. Keep the door shut while plaster is tipped and mixed, so the dust stays out of the house.
- 4. Set up access equipmentUse access equipment suited to the task and work area. Check the equipment before use. Keep the area below the work controlled.
- 5. Work from the hop-up, not stepsThe 450 mm hop-up gives both feet a platform for the top of each wall. Stand in the middle of it and face the wall. Keep a hand free as you step up, with the hawk passed up or set on the platform first. Get down and move it rather than reach. Never stack anything on it to gain height.
- 6. Carry the materials 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.
- 7. Prepare the mixing and coating areaKeep clean water, tools and materials within reach without blocking the route. Protect floors and nearby finishes from wet plaster, render and splashes.
- 8. Tape over the sockets and switchTape over the two sockets and the light switch before any wet work. The faceplates stay on and nothing is unscrewed. Plaster up to the plate, not over it, and take the tape off once the skim has set. If water gets into one, switch it off at the consumer unit and leave it off until an electrician has looked at it.
- 9. Fill the holes, then seal the wallsPull any old plugs and fill the bracket and hook holes with a ready-mixed filler, as its tub says. Stir the Bond-it and put one coat on by hand over clean, dry walls. One 10 litre tub does 45 m². Keep the room above 5°C and let it dry fully before the first coat of plaster.
- 10. Run the paddle mixer safelyThe paddle runs at low speed from a 110 V transformer in the hall, with the lead under the door. A full bag takes 11.5 litres of clean water. Wear an FFP2 mask, fit tested, to tip the plaster low into the water, with goggles and waterproof gloves. Stop the paddle before taking it out of the bucket, and switch off at the plug before cleaning it.
- 11. Mix the plaster as instructedAdd clean water to the mixing bucket. Gradually add the plaster while mixing.
- 12. Skim the wallsLay on the first coat and the second to about 2 mm, and trowel up as the plaster sets. Keep goggles on for the top of the wall. It sets in about 1.5 hours, so mix only what will go on in that time.
- 13. Let coats set and protect themApply coats and finish them in the sequence and times the product gives. Protect the new surface while it dries or cures before decorating or exposing it.
- 14. Wash tools in a bucket, not the sinkWash tools and buckets straight after each mix, in a bucket kept for it. Nothing goes down the sink or a drain. Let it settle, and take it away in the van with the bagged waste.
- 15. Rub down nibs by handA trowelled skim should need no sanding. If a nib is left, rub it off by hand with the window open and the FFP2 mask on. No power sanding. Vacuum the floor with an M Class vacuum, and do not sweep.
- 16. 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 Plastering 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.