Window cleaning 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
Window cleaning method statement example
Cleaning the outside of a two-storey office with a water-fed pole
All from the ground, in an open office set back behind its own car park, on cold November mornings.
What to change
- Company, people, site and dates
- Overhead lines: walk and measure every side
- Pole length against window height
- A coned area that reaches a public footway needs a different plan
- Where the hose runs
- Frost and wind on the day
- Working alone: hourly contact
- Emergency arrangements
Sources
- HSE: window cleaning
- Federation of Window Cleaners: safety in window cleaning using water-fed pole systems (on HSE’s site)
- HSE GS6: avoiding danger from overhead power lines
- Work at Height Regulations, regulation 6: avoid work at height
Checked
The same sheet as text
Worked example of a method statement. Change it to fit your job before you use it.
Cleaning the outside of a two-storey office with a water-fed pole
Job details
- CompanyHollins & Reed Window Cleaning Ltd
- Site and work areaAlder House, 3 Bridgefield Way, Stockport
- Planned dates18 and 19 November 2026
- CustomerThornley Vale Estates Ltd
- In charge on siteDan Hollins
- TeamTwo people, both trained in water-fed pole work: Dan Hollins leads; Priya Shah works with him and they swap between the pole and the cones. They stay on the same side of the building, in sight of each other. New starters do not join this job until they are practised on a short pole.
- WorkCleaning the outside of a two-storey office with a water-fed pole
- Risk assessmentCleaning the outside of a two-storey office with a water-fed pole: worked example RAMS, a separate document
Work and boundaries
- Clean the outside glass from the ground. Areas: Front and entrance elevation, with the walkway and first parking bays; Side and rear elevations, with the parking bays below them
Working arrangement
- Access: the floor or ground.
- Other people will be using the area.
- The offices stay open. Why from the ground: every window can be seen from the car park and the top of the first-floor glass is about 6.5 m up, so a 7.5 m pole does the whole job and nobody needs a ladder, a cradle or a lift. The coned area is about 7.5 m wide, and the building sits behind its own car park, so it never reaches the public footway. The entrance side is done from 07:00 to 08:30, before staff arrive, and the building manager keeps the parking bays under each side empty on its day. The hose runs from the van, parked inside the cones, and never crosses the car park aisle. The only overhead line is the low-voltage line along the rear boundary, about 15 m from the rear wall. Cold mornings mean waterproofs and gloves, and a break in the van between sides.
Emergency arrangements
- Anyone hurt, including a slip on the paving or a struck visitor: Priya Shah rings 999, or Dan Hollins if Priya is the one hurt, and sends for the office first aider, J. Patel, at reception. Our own first aid kit is in the van. Reception opens the car park barrier and meets the crew at the Bridgefield Way entrance, and the van moves if it blocks the way to the casualty. Before reception opens, the building manager’s key holder does this, and our own first aid kit is the first aid. Fire: the building’s alarm. Lower the pole, leave it inside the cones and go to the assembly point at the front corner of the car park, and report to the building manager.
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. Stay on the groundEvery window is cleaned with a water-fed pole from the ground. Nobody works from a ladder, a roof or a platform. Look at every window from the ground first. If you cannot see it clearly, leave it out and tell the client. Look for loose gutters, flashing and other parts a pole could knock down.
- 4. Check the pole and the water systemCheck the pole for worn, cracked, dented or bent sections, loose clamps, a loose brush head and worn butt rings. Check the filters are in date and the system has had its annual sterilisation. Check the tank is secured in the van and the full tank keeps the van within its payload.
- 5. Keep the pole away from overhead linesEvery side of the building has been walked. No overhead line is within 10 m of where the pole goes up. Raise and lower the pole only at the places checked on the walk, and only with the brush against the building. Never lift the pole away from the building to rinse it, lower it or walk it to the next window.
- 6. Check the weather before you startStop handling cleaning equipment and water-fed poles when the wind is strong enough to catch them. Stop for ice or any risk of lightning. Rain alone does not stop this job: no overhead line is within 10 m.
- 7. Cone off the area around the poleCone off an area as wide as the pole is high. Put warning signs out for wet ground and hoses, and wear hi-viz. Use bright hose, with a sign wherever it crosses a walkway.
- 8. Clean with the lightest pole that reachesUse the shortest, lightest pole that reaches the top of the window. Purified water only, with no chemicals. Brush the glass and frame from the top down, then rinse. Work from the legs: a single step forward and back takes the effort off your arms. Swap sides, and share the pole across the team. Never leave a raised pole unattended, even for a moment. Wear safety boots: a pole can slip through your hands.
- 9. Keep the wet paving safeSqueegee water off walkways and entrances as you go. In frost, grit the walkways and stop if the water freezes on the paving or in the hoses.
- 10. Check the glass and ground before handing backCheck the glass, seals, ground and equipment before leaving. Tell the client about damaged glass, leaks or residue before the area is reopened.
- 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 Window cleaning 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.