No RAMS is drafted until the intake is signed
The intake captures the brief, the site, the live-environment risks, the permits, the isolations and the high-risk triggers before a single method statement is written. It gates the whole production run. On this job the trigger review returns a conditional start: an asbestos survey and a roof-load check must close before any RAMS is issued.
- Client
- Exchange House Roofing
- Site
- Kings Road, Reading · RG1 2AB
- Work type
- Reactive FM, emergency roof make-safe
- Reference
- BAI-JIF-EXH-ROOF-001
- Sector
- Commercial
- Status
- Ready, conditional
Illustrative example: fictional project and parties.
Agree the job before anyone drafts a method
Emergency temporary waterproofing to roughly 120 m² of storm-damaged flat roof at Exchange House, a fully occupied seven-storey office, with make-safe to the two floors below. Reactive works like this are where corners get cut, so the intake is deliberately the first gate: it fixes the brief, the access, the live-environment risks and the high-risk triggers before drafting begins. A method statement written ahead of a signed intake is a method statement written blind.
The intake is completed with AI-assisted structured capture and confirmed by a competent person. It sets the RAMS reference to follow, BAI-RAMS-EXH-ROOF-001, and it hands the drafting team a fixed set of facts, triggers and permits rather than a blank page.
The facts the RAMS is built on
Captured at intake and held as the fixed basis for drafting. Any change on site is reflected in a revised intake before the RAMS is reissued.
| Item | Captured position |
|---|---|
| Building | Seven-storey office, fully occupied, shared tenanted |
| Work area | Flat roof, north-west corner, approx. 120 m², pre-2000 bituminous felt |
| Primary scope | Cold-applied temporary waterproofing overlay following storm damage |
| Make-safe scope | Ceiling inspection and drip containment to floors 5 and 6 |
| Working hours | 07:30 to 16:30, Monday to Friday, roof access after 08:30 |
| Duration | 3 to 4 days, reactive and weather dependent |
| Access and lifting | Internal stairwell for operatives, mechanical hoist to roof via rear courtyard |
| Adverse weather | Suspend rooftop works if sustained wind reaches 16 m/s |
Applicable standards captured at intake: CDM 2015, PASMA and IPAF for work at height, HSE roofing guidance and BS 8000-4.
High-risk trigger review
Twelve triggers were screened: four required, four advisory and four clear or not applicable. The eight rows below are an extract (four required, two advisory, one clear and one not applicable); the other four screened entries are not identified in this table. Every required and advisory trigger carries through into the risk assessment.
| Trigger | Basis | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Work at height | Rooftop works at seven-storey parapet level | Required |
| Lifting operations | Mechanical hoist to roof, lift plan and exclusion zone | Required |
| Live occupied environment | Building occupied throughout, segregation and access control | Required |
| Specialist competency | WAH-trained operatives, PASMA or IPAF, hoist operator | Required |
| Asbestos | Pre-2000 felt, survey required before disturbance | Advisory |
| Structural loading | Roof load to be confirmed against hoist and material weights | Advisory |
| Hot works | Cold-applied overlay specified, no torch work | Clear |
| Gas and confined space | Not applicable to this scope | Not applicable |
The pre-2000 bituminous felt is treated as an asbestos risk until proven clear. A refurbishment and demolition survey must be completed and the felt confirmed clear before any disturbance. Works do not proceed on the roof covering without it.
Permits, COSHH and the go decision
Of the twelve permit lines reviewed, five are confirmed required for this scope, two carry a flag pending survey, and five are not applicable. The confirmed set covers the work-at-height permit, daily roof-access authorisation, the lifting permit for the hoist, the building induction and the site-rules briefing. COSHH is limited to the cold-applied membrane and its primer, both needing safety data sheets before mobilisation and both routed to the COSHH Index.
Conditional. The intake is complete and signed, but two items gate the RAMS: the asbestos survey on the felt, and the structural load check for the hoist and materials. Both must close before the method statement and risk assessment are issued.