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Plumbing RAMS Builder
Plumbing risk assessment and method statement
Draft RAMS for isolating and draining down, fitting or replacing pipe, cold joints, sanitaryware, pumps and valves, radiator swaps and water pressure tests. Add your site details, edit the suggestions that fit and check the PDF draft.
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Prepare the Plumbing RAMS
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What will you be doing?
More details
Pick everything this RAMS covers. The questions that follow are chosen from what you tick here.
What a Plumbing RAMS covers
Wet plumbing on cold joints: isolating and draining systems, running and replacing pipe, fitting sanitaryware, changing pumps, valves and radiators, and pressure testing with water.
- Isolate/drain
- Fit/replace pipe
- Cold joint
- Sanitaryware
- Pump/valve replacement
- Water pressure test
- Radiator replacement
Suggested steps and hazards for Plumbing
What it offers for fit/replace pipe before you have answered anything.
Check the route before you cut
- Use service information and a suitable detector before cutting or drilling.
- Stop if old lagging or an unknown material is in the route.
Hazard
A hidden service or asbestos material is struck or disturbed
Who might be harmed and how
Plumbers and people in nearby rooms
Controls in place
- Check the asbestos information before disturbing the building.
- Use a controlled route and stop for an unknown service.
The route and its materials must be understood before cutting or drilling starts.
HSE: Locations of asbestos and taking the right action Support the pipe and its fittings
- Fix the pipe on supports that suit its material and route.
- Do not leave a joint carrying the weight of the pipe.
Hazard
Pipe movement or support failure causes a leak or falling material
Who might be harmed and how
Plumbers and people below the route
Controls in place
- Use sound supports at the agreed positions.
- Check the wall or structure before fixing to it.
Suitable supports keep movement and load away from the joints.
Water Regs UK: Installing pipework Keep joints where they can be reached
- Leave every joint accessible for inspection and repair.
- Fit an access panel if the agreed route needs a cover.
Hazard
A hidden leak damages the building before it can be found
Who might be harmed and how
Plumbers, occupants and people below
Controls in place
- Do not close in a joint without an agreed access arrangement.
- Record the route before covering it.
Reachable joints allow leaks to be found and repaired without opening the building again.
Water Regs UK: Installing pipework
What the builder asks about Plumbing
Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
The job
- What pipe are you fitting?
- Which fitting is in the job?
- What are you changing?
- What component are you replacing?
- What are you fitting?
- What water is in the pipe?
- What water will the joint carry?
Where
- Is the building older than the year 2000? Older buildings can have asbestos in them.
- What pipes or cables run where you will drill, fix or open the system?
How it’s done
- What will you stand on to reach the work?
- What is feeding the section?
- What test has been specified?
- Where will the water go?
- How will you join the pipe?
What your Plumbing RAMS includes
Method statement
The sequence of the work, step by step. The suggestions are a starting point; you write the method for the job as it will be done.
Risk assessment
Each hazard, who could be harmed, the controls in place and any further action. There is no risk score: you judge each row against the real site, and adding a hazard does not put its controls in place.
PDF draft for review
The document as you left it, for someone competent to check. A download is not approval and not permission to start work.