UK construction terms, explained

A confined space is a largely enclosed place where there is a foreseeable risk of serious injury from hazardous conditions such as lack of oxygen or gas.

COSHH is the UK law requiring employers to assess and control exposure to hazardous substances such as dust, fumes and chemicals.

A CSCS card evidences that the holder has the training and qualifications for the job they do on site, and has passed the health and safety test.

The hierarchy of control is the order in which risk controls should be considered, from eliminating the hazard down to relying on PPE.

Hot works are any tasks generating heat, sparks or flame, such as welding, cutting, grinding or soldering, that could start a fire.

LOLER covers lifting equipment and lifting operations, requiring them to be strong enough, properly planned, and thoroughly examined at set intervals.

A method statement sets out, step by step, how a task will be carried out safely, using the controls identified in the risk assessment.

A near miss is an unplanned event that did not cause injury or damage but had the potential to, and is reported so the cause can be fixed.

A permit to work is a formal written authorisation to carry out high-risk work, issued only once specific controls have been confirmed in place.

PPE is equipment worn to protect against risks that could not be removed by other means. It is the last control in the hierarchy, not the first.

PUWER requires work equipment to be suitable, maintained, inspected and used only by people who have been trained, with adequate guarding and controls.

RAMS stands for Risk Assessment and Method Statement: two documents that set out the hazards of a task and the safe way to carry it out.

A toolbox talk is a short, focused safety briefing delivered on site, with a record of who attended.

Work at height is any work where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury, including at or below ground level.

The defects liability period is the time after practical completion during which the contractor must return and put right defects that appear.

Handover is the transfer of a completed building to the client, along with the information and training needed to operate and maintain it.

An O and M manual is the compiled information a client needs to operate and maintain a completed building, handed over at practical completion.

Practical completion is the point at which the works are complete enough for the client to take possession, triggering a series of contractual consequences.

A site induction is the briefing every person receives before working on a site, covering its specific hazards, rules and emergency arrangements.

Snagging is the process of finding and fixing minor defects and unfinished work before a construction project is handed over.

A CVR compares the cost incurred on a project against the value earned, to show whether the job is actually making the margin expected.

The final account is the agreed statement of the total sum due under a construction contract, settling the contract sum, variations, claims and adjustments.

JCT contracts are the most widely used standard forms of construction contract in the UK, published in a suite covering different procurement routes.

Preliminaries are the project-wide costs of running a site, such as management, welfare, plant, scaffolding and insurance, rather than the work itself.

A provisional sum is an allowance in the contract for work that cannot be fully defined at tender, replaced later by the actual cost of the work instructed.

Retention is a percentage of each payment withheld by the client as security, released in stages at practical completion and after the defects period.

A variation is an authorised change to the scope of works, altering what the contractor has to build and adjusting the contract sum accordingly.

The Building Safety Act 2022 created a new regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings, with dutyholders, gateways and a golden thread of information.

CDM 2015 sets out how construction projects must be planned, managed and monitored, and assigns duties to clients, designers and contractors.

An F10 is the notification sent to the HSE when a construction project passes the size thresholds set out in CDM 2015.

The golden thread is the accurate, accessible and up to date information about a building and the decisions taken about it, kept through its life.

The HSE is Great Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety, responsible for enforcement, guidance and RIDDOR reporting.

ISO 45001 is the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, used to structure and certify how safety is managed.

RIDDOR requires employers to report specified workplace injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences to the enforcing authority.