Strip out 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.

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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

Stripping out a vacant single-storey workshop

Office 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.

See the risk assessment Download PDF Download Word

What to change

Company, people, site and dates
Asbestos survey type, date and result
Disconnection certificate and who gave it
Lighting and generator
Masks and health surveillance
Welfare with the water off
Where the skips sit and who loads them
Emergency arrangements

Sources

Checked 2 November 2026

The same sheet as text

Worked example of a method statement. Change it to fit your job before you use it.

Stripping out a vacant single-storey workshop

Job details

CompanyHollins & Reed Strip Out Ltd
Site and work areaUnit 4, Mill Lane Trading Estate, Oldham OL9 6QR
Planned dates12 to 16 October 2026
CustomerThornley Vale Estates Ltd
In charge on siteDan Hollins
TeamFour people: Dan Hollins leads and is the first aider; Priya Shah is his deputy; Tom Reed and Sam Okoro strip and load the skips.
WorkStripping out a vacant single-storey workshop
Risk assessmentStripping out a vacant single-storey workshop: worked example RAMS, a separate document

Work and boundaries

Strip out the office ceiling, partitions, carpet and benches by hand and clear the waste. Areas: Office end and workshop benches, Unit 4
Not our work: The steel frame, roof sheets, roof lights, outside walls, floor slab and roller door. Nothing that holds anything up.

Working arrangement

Access: a podium.
Working height: ceiling grid at about 2.7 m.
Ground or floor: level concrete slab, carpet in the office end.
Asbestos survey: Refurbishment and demolition survey covering everything on the strip list.
Who takes it away: A waste carrier we have checked is registered.
The work area will be kept clear of other people.
Unit 4 is a detached single-storey workshop and stands empty, with no neighbours in the building. The refurbishment and demolition survey dated 21 September 2026 opened the ceiling, partitions, floor coverings and benches on the strip list and found no asbestos in them, and the surveyor confirmed the building fit to go back into. The copy is on site. The landlord’s electrician and gas engineer have disconnected every service, the fire alarm included, and their certificate dated 2 October 2026 is on site, so there is no live alarm cable. The light fittings, tubes, smoke detectors, sounders, oils and drums went before handover, so nothing but the bare grid comes down. With the water off, a welfare unit with a toilet, hot water and soap stands in the yard. Everyone on this job is on the company’s health surveillance for dust work: a yearly questionnaire and lung function test from our occupational health provider. The two skips sit on the yard concrete 5 m from the roller door, one for plasterboard only and one for timber, metal, carpet and mineral fibre ceiling tiles. Tom Reed and Sam Okoro load both by hand from the trolley, flat and below the rim, and the carrier swaps them when full.

Emergency arrangements

There is no fire alarm, so whoever sees a fire shouts Fire and sounds the air horn on the roller door. Everyone leaves by the roller door or the side door and meets at the yard gate. Priya Shah rings 999 and gives Unit 4, Mill Lane Trading Estate, OL9 6QR; Dan Hollins does if Priya is the one hurt. Dan is the first aider and the kit is in the van at the yard gate, with the eyewash and two extinguishers by the roller door. Whoever is nearest stays with the casualty, and Tom Reed opens the yard gate and waits there to bring the crew in. Suspect asbestos found: stop, everyone out, shut the doors, tell Dan and ring the landlord.

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. Set up the generator and lightingDaylight comes through the roof lights. Under the office ceiling, a 110 V lighting string and our double-insulated M Class vacuum run from a small generator in the open yard, never indoors, with its exhaust away from the doors. Stop it and let it cool before refuelling, and keep the fuel in the van. We work 8 to 4, so nobody strips in the dark. Keep a battery work light at the office door, so nobody is left in the dark if the generator stops.
3. Read the refurbishment and demolition surveyRead the whole report before anything comes out, and check it covers every area on the strip list, above the ceilings and inside the partitions. Check the surveyor has confirmed the area fit to go back into after the survey. Anything the report lists as asbestos, or says it could not reach, stays out of this method.
4. Mark what comes out and staysMark the removal boundary on the drawing and in the work area. Stop if the actual building differs from the information.
5. Check what is behind the surfaceOpen only after checking the drawings, survey and visible condition of the wall, ceiling or floor. Treat anything hidden, damaged or different from the information as a stop.
6. Check the disconnection certificateRead the certificate and walk it against the building before anything comes out. It must name every service, the fire alarm included. Treat any cable or pipe the certificate does not cover as live, and stop.
7. Classify waste before collectionIdentify each waste stream before it leaves the site. Keep anything uncertain out of the ordinary load.
8. Check the carrier and record the transferCheck the carrier on the public register and ask where the waste is going. Complete a waste transfer note for each load and keep it for two years.
9. Check the trolley routeUse a trolley that can take the load and fits through the route. Keep thresholds, slopes and doorways clear before moving it.
10. Stop things falling on people belowKeep people out of the area below the work so nobody walks under the removed ceiling tiles and fittings. Keep toe boards and guards in place on any platform, and lanyard tools where you can.
11. 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.
12. Control the dust from hand strippingOpen the doors to the outside to get air through, and keep anyone not stripping out of the building. Lift pieces out whole and break as little as you can. This work cannot take water or on-tool extraction, so the mask does the rest.
13. Wear a powered hood for the strippingStripping runs for over an hour without a break, so everyone stripping wears a TH2 powered hood, which needs no fit test. Check the fan and the airflow before going in, and charge the batteries overnight. If the fan stops or the flow falls, leave the area before taking the hood off.
14. Keep the ways out clear of strip wasteClear stripped material from the floor as you go and never stack it by a door. Leave nothing on the floor overnight that does not need to be there.
15. Place and load skips safelyPut skips on stable ground with space for collection and away from escape routes. Keep waste below the sides and prevent loose material blowing out.
16. Use the agreed removal methodUse the tool and sequence that match the material and the agreed scope. Keep hands clear and lower removed pieces instead of dropping them.
17. Remove stable pieces in orderWork from the top down, with ceilings first and floor coverings last. Before a ceiling bay comes out, check how the partition heads under it are fixed, and brace any head held only by the grid. Support each section before its last fixing comes out. Remove manageable pieces and clear them before starting the next.
18. Bring down the ceiling, partitions and carpetCeiling first. Tiles come out whole, then the grid is unclipped and passed down in lengths. Then unscrew the partitions and benches, and lift the carpet last. Put on cut-resistant gloves and safety glasses before anyone touches the grid, because the cut ends are sharp.
19. Label and separate each streamPut each kind in its labelled container as it is produced. Keep plasterboard apart from everything else, so it stays out of any landfill cell taking biodegradable waste.
20. Move waste by a planned routeUse a trolley or wheeled bin where it reduces carrying. Keep the route clear and never throw waste down openings or stairs.
21. Clear up with a vacuumAt every break and at the end of each day, go over the floor with the M Class vacuum. No dry sweeping. Empty it into a sealed bag outside by the skip, with the hood still on.
22. 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.

See both together in the Strip out RAMS example.

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 Strip out 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.