Suspended ceiling 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
Replacing damaged ceiling tiles and grid in an occupied office, out of hours
Like-for-like tiles and tees on the existing hangers, from a podium, with the offices empty and the fire alarm left live.
What to change
- Company, people, site and dates
- Which tile and grid it is: the fit-out file, or stop
- Whether a main tee or hanger is damaged: that is a different job
- What is in the void and who isolates it
- Mask class for the dust you will raise
- Whether cutting tiles needs the alarm zone isolated
- Who is in the building
- Emergency arrangements
Sources
- HSE CIS36: construction dust
- HSE EH40: workplace exposure limits
- HSE HSG53: respiratory protective equipment at work
- HSE INDG362: noise at work
- HSE and Ladder Association: safe use of ladders and stepladders (LA455)
- AMF: Thermatex Star tile data sheet
- Knauf AMF: Thermatex mineral ceiling tile safety data sheet
Checked
The same sheet as text
Worked example of a method statement. Change it to fit your job before you use it.
Replacing damaged ceiling tiles and grid in an occupied office, out of hours
Job details
- CompanyHollins & Reed Interiors Ltd
- Site and work areaThird floor, Bridge Court, 2 Wellington Road, Stockport
- Planned dates25 November 2026 (one evening)
- CustomerThornley Vale Estates Ltd
- In charge on siteDan Hollins
- TeamTwo people: Dan Hollins works from the podium; Priya Shah stays at the side of the podium, clear of the open grid, keeps the bay clear, and takes each tile from him there. The building’s electrician comes for the start and the finish.
- WorkReplacing damaged ceiling tiles and grid in an occupied office, out of hours
- Risk assessmentReplacing damaged ceiling tiles and grid in an occupied office, out of hours: worked example RAMS, a separate document
Work and boundaries
- Swap six stained tiles and two bent cross tees, hangers untouched. Areas: One bay of the open-plan office, about 6 m², and the floor below it
Working arrangement
- Access: a podium.
- Working height: grid at about 2.7 m; podium platform at about 0.9 m.
- Ground or floor: level carpeted raised floor.
- The work area will be kept clear of other people.
- The office is empty from 18:00, when we start; we finish by 21:00. A roof leak, since mended, stained six tiles and bent two cross tees in one bay. The building and its ceiling date from 2006, and the fit-out file names the tile and the grid, so the new ones match. The tiles are mineral fibre, 15 mm thick and 600 mm square, about 1.6 kg each at the maker’s 4.5 kg/m². A wet one weighs more, so it comes down in two hands. We use a podium, not steps, because lifting a tile out takes both hands. The only powered tool is the vacuum, for a few minutes, and nothing is drilled, so there is no noise above the lower action value of 80 dB. The mask is FFP3, a fit-tested disposable with an APF of 20, the general level HSE gives for construction dust, though whole tiles with no cutting or sanding raise little. Nothing is cut or sanded, so the fire alarm stays live throughout. Old tiles and tees go out in bags, down the goods lift, to our van.
Emergency arrangements
- Fire: the building’s alarm stays live. Leave the podium, go down the east stair and report to the security officer at the front desk at the Wellington Road assembly point. Anyone hurt, including a fall from the podium: Priya Shah rings 999, or Dan Hollins if she is the one hurt, and stays with the casualty. Dan Hollins is the first aider; our kit is on the trolley in the bay. The security officer at the front desk is told by phone, opens the front doors and brings the crew up in the east 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. Inspect the void before you startCheck the grid and hangers in the bay from below, and check the as-built drawings and fit-out file cover the void, before a tile comes out. Stop if they do not.
- 3. Find and isolate what you will touchFind what is above the bay before you disturb anything: the as-built drawings and the fit-out file. Mark what you find. Have the building’s electrician isolate the light panel beside the bent tee, prove it dead and take it out. They put it back when the grid is done. Do not touch a cable, and cut nothing you do not own.
- 4. Stop things falling on people belowKeep people out of the area below the work so nobody walks under the materials and tools. Keep toe boards and guards in place on any platform, and lanyard tools where you can.
- 5. Set up the podiumSet the podium up as its manual says: full footprint on the floor, locks, gate, toe boards and stabilisers fitted, and checked before anyone climbs. Stand on the platform only, inside the guardrails, with no more than the load the manual allows. Come down before it moves. Nobody rides it. Keep the area below the work controlled.
- 6. 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.
- 7. Keep tile dust downWear a fit-tested FFP3 mask, gloves and eye protection while old tiles come out. Lift tiles out whole and lay them flat. Do not break, shake or sweep them. Vacuum the bay when the old tiles are out. No dry brushing.
- 8. Take out the damaged tiles and teesLift each damaged tile up off the grid and bring it down flat. With the first one out, look through the opening with a torch for anything the drawings missed. Unclip each damaged cross tee. Leave the main tees and every hanger as they are. Stop if a main tee or hanger is damaged: that is a different job.
- 9. Fit the new tees and tilesClip new cross tees from the same system into the same slots, and check the grid is square. Lift each new tile through the opening and lower it into place. Full tiles only: nothing is cut.
- 10. Keep loads off the gridKeep lights, fittings and other loads on their own supports unless the approved system says otherwise. Keep people out below while overhead work is under way.
- 11. 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 Suspended ceiling 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.