RAMS for Foundation Work (UK) – Generate in Minutes
By the Riskora Editorial Team · Reviewed against our editorial standards · Last reviewed
Generate structured RAMS for foundation work — strip foundations, trench fill, raft foundations, and pile caps. Covers excavation stability, concrete pours, service avoidance, and groundwater management.
UK (RAMS) example document — Two-Storey Rear Extension — 14 Birchwood Lane, Reading. Client: Mr & Mrs A. Whitfield (Private Client). Site: 14 Birchwood Lane, Reading, RG1 5JT. Scope: Construction of a two-storey rear extension (6.4m × 4.2m) to an existing semi-detached dwelling. Works comprise breaking out of existing rear elevation, trench-fill foundations to 1.0m, traditional cavity blockwork to first floor, pre-stressed concrete lintels, timber roof structure with natural slate finish, plus alterations to existing rear wall to form structural opening with rolled steel joist (RSJ 203×102 UB23). Works programmed over 9 weeks with a peak site team of 6 operatives. Hazards assessed: Manual handling — blocks, lintels, plasterboard, Working at height — independent scaffold & roof structure, Buried services strike during excavation, Collapse of excavation / trench wall, Hand-arm vibration (HAVS) — breaking out, drilling, Silica dust — cutting blocks, brick, concrete, Vehicle/pedestrian segregation — narrow domestic street.
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What should foundation work RAMS include?
Foundation RAMS must cover the foundation type (strip, trench fill, raft, piled), excavation method and depth, trench support or battering arrangements, service detection and avoidance procedures, concrete delivery and pouring methodology, groundwater management, backfill and compaction, manual handling of reinforcement and formwork, and weather restrictions for concrete placement.
Foundations Combine HSG47, CDM 2015 and BS 8004 Duties on Day One
The first thing the digger touches on a new site is hidden infrastructure — and HSG47 'Avoiding danger from underground services' is the document that defines competence here. CAT and Genny scans, statutory undertaker drawings, trial holes and permit-to-dig procedures aren't optional, they're how strikes get prevented. Once the trench is open, BS 6031:2009 governs earthworks safety and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 hold the contractor responsible for trench support whenever there is any risk of collapse — generally at depths above 1.2 m or in cohesionless ground at any depth. BS 8004:2015 'Code of practice for foundations' defines the design and execution standard, and BS 8500/BS EN 206 govern the concrete itself. Wet concrete is highly alkaline (pH 12–13) and causes chemical burns under COSHH. A foundation RAMS that doesn't reference these documents isn't a foundation RAMS. Understanding the legal requirements for risk assessments in the UK is the first step toward getting your documentation right.
How Riskora Helps
Riskora generates foundation RAMS structured around HSG47, BS 6031, BS 8004 and CDM 2015. The builder prompts for foundation type (strip, trench fill, raft, pile cap, ground beam), service detection procedure (CAT/Genny + statutory drawings + trial holes), trench support method (battering, stepping, trench box, sheet pile), concrete specification (BS 8500 designation), pour methodology (skip, pump, direct chute), groundwater management (sump pump, well-point, dewatering), and concrete burn controls (waterproof gauntlets, eye protection, emergency wash-off). If you're new to RAMS, our step-by-step guide to writing a RAMS explains the fundamentals before you start generating.
Who it's for
- Groundworks contractors preparing RAMS for residential foundation work
- Main contractors managing foundation phases on commercial projects
- Self-build project managers documenting foundation construction
- Piling contractors producing RAMS for pile cap and ground beam work
- Housing developers standardising foundation RAMS across multiple plots
Understand the Fundamentals
Before you generate your document, these guides cover the knowledge that underpins every good RAMS, risk assessment, and method statement.
What Is a RAMS Document?
Understand the two components of a RAMS and why they're required before work begins on site.
How to Write a RAMS Document
A step-by-step guide to structuring your RAMS from project details through to sign-off.
UK Legal Requirements for Risk Assessments
What the law requires under MHSWR 1999 and CDM 2015, and what 'suitable and sufficient' means.
Who Needs a RAMS?
Find out whether your work requires a RAMS and who is responsible for producing one.
RAMS vs Risk Assessment — Key Differences
When you need a full RAMS versus a standalone risk assessment, and how the two documents work together.
How to Write a RAMS (UK Guide)
A practical walkthrough of writing RAMS from scratch, covering structure, common mistakes, and what reviewers look for.
Key Risks and Considerations
- •Trench collapse — excavations over 1.2m without adequate support
- •Service strikes — gas, electric, water, and telecoms during excavation
- •Concrete burns — wet concrete contact causing alkali burns to skin
- •Formwork failure — inadequate or poorly struck formwork during pour
- •Manual handling — reinforcement bars, formwork panels, concrete vibrators
- •Plant movements — excavators, concrete trucks, and dumpers near open trenches
- •Groundwater — flooding of excavations and instability of trench sides
- •Falls into excavations — unprotected trench edges
- •Noise and vibration — compaction equipment, concrete vibrators
What UK Law Actually Says
Direct quotes from the named regulations, with plain-English explanations of what each one means in practice.
Regulation 22(1)(b), Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
“Suitable and sufficient steps must be taken to prevent any person, work equipment, or any accumulation of material from falling into any excavation.”
Foundation excavations almost always exceed 1m and become Reg 22 territory. Edge protection, vehicle exclusion and spoil management around the foundation trench all need explicit treatment in the RAMS — not generic 'work safely' language.
Read the source on legislation.gov.uk →Regulation 19, Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
“All practicable steps must be taken, where necessary to prevent danger to any person, to ensure that any new or existing structure, or any part of such a structure, which may become unstable or in a temporary state of weakness or instability due to the carrying out of construction work, does not collapse.”
Underpinning and foundation work next to an existing structure is exactly what Reg 19 is written for. RAMS must reference the temporary works design and the structural engineer's input — not assume the existing building will stay up.
Read the source on legislation.gov.uk →The Numbers Behind the Risk
Why this matters — the most recent published figures from the Health and Safety Executive and ONS.
12 collapse-related construction deaths
Workers killed by collapse or overturning in construction in 2023/24. A meaningful share involve foundation, underpinning or basement work where existing structure stability was inadequately assessed.
Source: HSE — Construction sector statistics 2023/24 →60-day average enforcement notice
Typical enforcement-notice timeline served by HSE on contractors found undertaking foundation work without an appropriate temporary works regime.
Source: HSE — Enforcement statistics →Worked Example: RAMS for Underpinning a Subsiding Bay Window
A specialist contractor is engaged to underpin the front bay window of a 1920s semi-detached house affected by clay-shrinkage subsidence. The job involves four 1m × 1m × 2.5m underpinning pits in sequence, with mass-concrete fill and pinning to the existing footing.
The structured builder sequences the activity carefully: (1) structural engineer's underpinning design referenced (drawing number, designer's PI insurance noted), (2) services confirmed isolated/diverted with utility records reviewed, (3) pit 1 hand-dug under a 'hit-and-miss' pattern with no two adjacent pits open at once, (4) pit sides supported with proprietary trench sheets to full depth, (5) shutter cast and concrete poured to within 75mm of the existing footing, (6) dry-pack mortar pinned 24 hours later before next pit opens, (7) sequence repeated for pits 2, 3 and 4 with the engineer monitoring movement throughout.
Movement monitoring uses installed tell-tales recorded daily — any movement above the engineer's threshold pauses work for review. Operatives are CSCS-carded with specific underpinning experience. The RAMS runs to 11 pages and is read alongside the temporary works register. Total time to produce: 12 minutes for a high-risk job that absolutely demands the rigour.
Common Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
1. Opening multiple adjacent underpinning pits simultaneously
Why it fails: The hit-and-miss sequence is fundamental to underpinning safety. Skipping it removes the lateral support the existing structure relies on and risks collapse.
Fix: Document the sequence as named pit numbers with explicit hold points between adjacent pits. Curing times for poured pits are non-negotiable hold points.
2. No reference to the engineer's underpinning design
Why it fails: Underpinning without a structural engineer's design is high-risk and CDM-non-compliant. RAMS that don't name the engineer or reference the design are a red flag.
Fix: Always reference the engineer's drawing number, the engineer's name and PI insurance, and the design loadings being relied on.
3. No movement monitoring during the works
Why it fails: Subsiding buildings can move further during the work. Without monitoring (tell-tales, optical levels), you only find out when something cracks audibly.
Fix: Install tell-tales or markers at strategic points and document the monitoring regime: who reads them, how often, what triggers a stop.
Key Features
- Foundation type presets (strip, trench fill, raft, pile caps)
- Excavation depth and support hazard libraries
- Service detection procedure templates
- Concrete pour methodology steps
- Groundwater management controls
- Formwork and reinforcement handling
- Download to PDF
Example Structure (UK Standard)
- Foundation type and design details
- Site conditions and ground investigation results
- Excavation method, depth, and support arrangements
- Service detection and avoidance procedures
- Concrete specification and pour methodology
- Formwork and reinforcement handling
- Hazard identification with risk ratings
- Control measures
- PPE requirements
- Groundwater management
- Backfill and compaction procedure
- Emergency procedures
Common Questions Before Getting Started
Will this take long?
Under 5 minutes. Select your trade, pick hazards, download.
Is it complicated?
No training needed. The guided builder walks you through every step.
Do I need experience?
If you know what work you're doing, you can use Riskora.
Is it free to try?
Yes. The Free plan needs no card — generate, review and download one free PDF. Upgrade any time for branding, DOCX, sign-off and higher limits.
Create your RAMS in under 5 minutes
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All documents generated by Riskora should be reviewed by a competent person before use on site. Riskora provides structured templates — professional judgement is always required.
"The foundation is the first thing you build and the last thing you want to get wrong. If the RAMS don't cover the trench, the services, and the pour, you're building on hope."
What your RAMS actually contains
Riskora builds a structured, client-facing document — not a generic AI paragraph. Every section is shaped around your job, your site and your team.
Hazards
Task-specific hazards for the job, captured row by row — not a generic list pulled from an old RAMS.
Controls
Control measures mapped to each hazard with residual risk scoring after controls are applied.
PPE
PPE requirements tied to the activity and site, ready to brief to the team.
Method steps
Step-by-step method statement structured around how the work is actually sequenced on site.
Emergency arrangements
First aid, rescue plan, emergency contacts and site-specific escalation routes.
COSHH prompts
Substance prompts when the work involves chemicals, dusts, fumes or sealants — flagged early, not missed at review.
Sign-off
Operative sign-off captured against the document — names, dates and acknowledgement of the brief.
Version history
Every change tracked so you can show what was issued, when, and which version the team signed.
Approval status
Clear approval state on every document — draft, in review, approved, issued — visible across the team.
Audit trail
Who created it, who reviewed it, who signed it. A complete trail you can hand to a principal contractor or auditor.
From copied-and-pasted to site-specific
The reason RAMS get rejected is rarely the format — it's that the document is obviously generic. Riskora rebuilds it around this job, this site and this task.
Generic template copied from an old job.
- • Hazards and controls that don't match this site or task.
- • Method steps written for a different sequence of work.
- • No emergency arrangements specific to the location.
- • Client flags it as generic and asks for a rewrite.
Site-specific document structured around this job, site and task.
- • Hazards captured from the actual scope you pasted in.
- • Method steps sequenced for how the work runs on site.
- • Emergency arrangements and rescue plan tied to the location.
- • Approved internally, briefed to the team, signed off and stored.
From job details to signed-off document
A four-step workflow used by contractors, consultants and safety teams to turn informal job details into client-ready safety paperwork.
- 1Paste job details
Drop in a client email, a WhatsApp from the site manager, a scope of works or a tender note. Anything that describes the job.
- 2Riskora structures the document
Riskora turns your brief into hazards, controls, method steps, PPE, emergency arrangements and COSHH prompts.
- 3Review, edit and download
You stay in control of every section. Tweak anything, then download a clean PDF or share a link.
- 4Brief the team and record sign-off
Brief operatives, capture their sign-off and keep a full audit trail of who signed which version.
Built by people who've written this paperwork on real sites
Riskora is built by a founder with hands-on site and document experience — designed for contractors, consultants and safety teams who need to issue, brief and prove safety paperwork without losing a day to admin.
- Built for contractors, consultants and teams
Solo trades, principal contractors and in-house safety teams all run on the same workflow. - Supports multiple countries
UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, US and Canada — wording and document types match the local standard. - Not just documents
Sign-off, approvals, version history and an audit trail — the management workflow around the paperwork.
Frequently Asked Questions
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References & Further Reading
Primary UK sources covering the legal and practical framework behind RAMS, risk assessments and method statements.
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Final RAMS must be reviewed and approved by a competent person before use.
Riskora is an assistive document preparation tool. All documents generated must be reviewed, verified, and approved by a competent person before use on site. Riskora does not replace professional safety judgment, and no output should be treated as a legal compliance guarantee.