RAMS request triage guide
RAMS “Rejected by Building Control”? What to Check
That phrase can describe several different requests. Find out who asked, what decision they are making and whether they need Building Regulations evidence, safer working arrangements or a contract requirement.
TL;DR
Building control approval concerns compliant design and building work. RAMS are health and safety documents commonly reviewed by a client or principal contractor. Ask who made the request, get the concern in writing and establish whether it relates to Building Regulations, CDM or a contract or site rule before revising anything.
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Start With the Requester
“Building control rejected the RAMS” is not enough information to choose the right response. The request may have come from a building control body, the client, the principal contractor, a consultant or somebody passing on another person's comments. Each may be checking a different thing.
Who made the request?
Get the person, organisation and role. Ask whether they are acting as building control, for the client or for the principal contractor.
Which document and version?
Confirm the RAMS title, work package, revision number and the pages or controls being questioned.
What is the concern?
Ask for the comments in writing and for the regulation, contract term, site rule or evidence requirement behind them.
What outcome is needed?
Establish whether the issue affects a building-control decision, site access, contract acceptance or a health and safety control.
Treat a genuine request seriously, but do not start rewriting the whole document from a verbal summary. A short written list of the actual concerns gives you something clear to answer.
Separate Building Regulations From Site Safety
The functions are different even when the same people or organisations hold more than one role. Building-regulations roles focus on compliant design and building work. CDM roles focus on managing health and safety for workers and others affected during construction.
Building Regulations function
The question is whether the design and completed building work meet the applicable requirements, and whether the required plans, evidence, notifications and inspections support that decision.
CDM and worksite safety function
The question is how construction risks will be planned, managed, monitored and communicated. RAMS can help record hazards, controls and a safe sequence of work.
A building control professional can still ask for information that is relevant to their function. Higher-risk-building work in England has a separate Building Safety Regulator approval route. Establish which body is asking and the purpose of its request.
Check the nation
The detailed GOV.UK building-duty guidance cited below applies to England. The GOV.UK approval overview links to separate routes for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. HSE's CDM 2015 guidance applies in Great Britain; Northern Ireland uses CDM 2016 and HSENI guidance.
Review What the RAMS Actually Says
A risk assessment should identify the hazards, who might be harmed, the level of risk and the controls needed. A method statement can then explain the safe sequence for higher-risk, complex or unusual work. HSE notes that method statements are useful for many construction activities, while written arrangements are specifically required for demolition, dismantling and structural alteration.
Check the document against the work that will happen on this site. The description, people, plant, materials, access, sequencing, interfaces with other trades, emergency arrangements and controls should match the job. Change a control because the work or risk requires it, rather than adding stock wording to make the document longer.
A client or principal contractor may set a format, review gate or site-access condition through the contract or project rules. Ask for those criteria. Meeting them does not transfer the contractor's responsibility for planning and controlling its own work, and no wording can guarantee that a reviewer will accept a document.
Check the Competence Evidence
No general rule requires every RAMS to carry an SMSTS or NEBOSH sign-off. Competence must fit the role, the work and the risks. HSE describes principal-contractor competence in terms of proportionate skills, knowledge and experience, plus organisational capability where relevant.
Evidence can include training and continuing professional development records, relevant experience, previous-work references, supervision and business systems. England's building-duty guidance likewise gives formal training and a portfolio of relevant work as examples. A certificate can be useful evidence; its name alone does not prove competence for every task.
If a requester insists on a named qualification, ask whether it is a legal requirement, an appointment criterion, a contract term or a site rule. Then provide suitable evidence or raise the requirement with the client or principal contractor before the work starts.
Respond Step by Step
Identify the requester and function
Record who asked and whether they are checking Building Regulations evidence, health and safety arrangements, a contract term or site access.
Get each concern in writing
Ask for the affected document, revision, page or task and the requirement or outcome behind each comment.
Sort the evidence from the controls
A missing drawing, calculation or compliance record needs the right project evidence. A weak work method needs a safer, site-specific control or sequence.
Revise and check the real work
Have somebody competent for the activity confirm that the new wording matches the people, equipment, conditions and method that will be used.
Return a traceable revision
Give the document a new revision and date, answer the comments point by point and send it to the person who requested it.
For a high-risk method, unfamiliar work or an unclear regulatory request, get advice from a competent health and safety or building-control professional whose expertise matches the question.
If It Is a Formal Building-Control Decision
Work from the actual notice or decision, not the phrase “RAMS rejected”. Confirm the approving body, the application or inspection it relates to, the cited requirement and the date. Ask that body which review, appeal or determination route applies to that decision in the relevant nation.
A client or principal contractor declining a RAMS under a contract or site rule is a different process. Use the project's review and escalation arrangements. If HSE or HSENI has issued a formal notice, follow the notice and the regulator's instructions, and obtain professional advice where needed.
For official starting points, use the GOV.UK building-regulations approval guide and follow its links for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The Building Safety Regulator's duty-holder guidance is specifically for England.
Before You Revise the RAMS
Pros
- A written request tells you who is asking, what decision they are making and which document they need.
- Separating Building Regulations evidence from CDM and site-safety evidence keeps the response focused.
- A site-specific review can improve hazards, controls, sequencing and communication before work starts.
Cons
- Treating every request as a formal building-control rejection can send you into the wrong process.
- Adding an SMSTS or NEBOSH badge does not by itself prove competence for the work.
- A generic revision that does not answer the written concern may still be refused under contract or site rules.
| Request type | Function to check | Useful next step |
|---|---|---|
| Building Regulations evidence request | Compliance of design or building work | Ask for the relevant requirement, missing evidence and status of the decision. |
| Client document review | Contract assurance or client arrangements | Get the review criteria and answer each written concern. |
| Principal-contractor site review | CDM coordination, site rules or access | Revise affected controls or explain how the current RAMS answers the concern. |
| HSE inspection | Health and safety enforcement | Provide current records, cooperate and act on identified risks or formal notices. |
| Named qualification request | Competence evidence or a contract condition | Ask whether the requirement is legal or contractual and provide proportionate evidence. |
Turn written comments into a clearer revision
The Site Book helps you draft site-specific RAMS and keep your job paperwork together. Review every draft against the work, the requester's written comments and competent advice where needed.
Create a free job pack →Frequently asked questions
Why might building control ask for RAMS?
Building control functions concern whether design and building work meet the applicable building regulations. RAMS record health and safety risks and the planned method of work. A building control professional may still make a legitimate information request, including where information is relevant to building-regulations compliance or a higher-risk-building process. Ask who made the request, what requirement it relates to and whether it is a formal building-control decision or a separate document review.
Who usually reviews construction RAMS?
A client or principal contractor commonly reviews RAMS for contract assurance, coordination or site access. That review does not remove the contractor's responsibility to plan and control its work. HSE may also inspect health and safety arrangements and take enforcement action within its remit. Focus on the function being exercised rather than assuming that every reviewer is acting as building control.
What competence evidence should support a RAMS?
No general rule requires every RAMS to be signed by someone holding SMSTS or NEBOSH. Competence must be suitable for the role and work. Training records and qualifications can be evidence, alongside relevant experience, knowledge, supervision and organisational capability. A client, principal contractor or contract may set a project-specific evidence requirement, so ask for the basis of any named-certificate request.
How should I answer comments on my RAMS?
Ask for the requester, document version, each concern and the required outcome in writing. Separate comments about Building Regulations evidence from comments about health and safety controls, coordination, contract terms or site access. Then answer each point: provide the missing evidence, revise the real control or method where needed, mark the new version clearly and return it to the person who asked.
Can I appeal a RAMS rejection?
First establish what was decided. A client or principal contractor refusing a RAMS for contract or site-access purposes is not the same as a formal building-control decision. If you have a formal decision, use the decision notice and the relevant nation's official guidance to identify any review, appeal or determination route. The detailed GOV.UK building-duty guidance cited here applies to England; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate systems.
Related guides
Building Control Compliance
Find the approval, inspection and evidence guidance relevant to your job and nation.
Building Control for Extensions
Understand common approval routes and inspections for extension work.
How to Write Construction RAMS
Build a clearer risk assessment and method statement around the real work.
Build a clearer RAMS draft
Start with the job, the hazards and the method. Then check the draft against the actual site and any written review comments.
Sources
- Design and building work: meeting building requirements — Building Safety Regulator · Accessed 13 September 2026
- Building regulations approval: when you need approval — GOV.UK · Accessed 13 September 2026
- Administration: method statements — HSE · Accessed 13 September 2026
- Managing risks and risk assessment at work — HSE · Accessed 13 September 2026
- Are you a principal contractor? — HSE · Accessed 13 September 2026
- The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 — HSENI · Accessed 13 September 2026