Site welfare requirements: UK CDM rules

England, Wales and Scotland use the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015: the minimum welfare provisions are in Schedule 2. Northern Ireland uses the separate CDM Regulations 2016: welfare is in Schedule 3. The five facility categories below appear in both schedules.

Welfare is needed from the start and throughout construction. A short project, a small team, a mobile site or a project that is not notifiable is not a blanket exemption. Arrange the facilities before mobilisation and maintain provision during dismantling and demobilisation.

• Commercial client: make management arrangements that ensure welfare is provided, including enough time and resources. Confirm the arrangements before contractors start.
• Principal contractor: on a project with more than one contractor, organise suitable welfare throughout the construction phase and coordinate its use and upkeep.
• Contractor: ensure the relevant welfare requirements are met, so far as reasonably practicable, for the contractor and workers under their control. On a single-contractor project, plan the welfare as part of managing the works.
• Hire supplier: specify and provide the contracted equipment and services. Hiring a unit or buying a servicing package does not remove the client's or contractors' CDM duties.

For domestic projects, client duties normally pass to the contractor on a single-contractor project or to the principal contractor where there is more than one. A written agreement can transfer them to the principal designer. A householder's project carried out by contractors is not exempt merely because it is domestic.

Check who takes the client role using HSE's domestic-project guidance, or check your role under HSENI's Northern Ireland duties guidance.

Provide sufficient suitable toilets in readily accessible places. Keep them and their rooms clean, ventilated and lit so far as reasonably practicable. Separate rooms for men and women are required unless each toilet is in its own room that locks from the inside.

What to arrange: Confirm the number and layout, safe routes, toilet paper, sanitary waste arrangements, cleaning and servicing. A weekly emptying visit does not replace cleaning between visits.

Legal provisions: paragraph 1 of GB CDM 2015 Schedule 2 and NI CDM 2016 Schedule 3.

Washing facilities belong beside toilets and near required changing rooms. They must include clean hot and cold, or warm, water, with running water so far as reasonably practicable, cleaning products and a way to dry. Provide showers where the work or health risks require them.

What to arrange: Choose a basin large enough for hands, face and forearms. Specify the heater, water supply and replenishment, soap and towels or dryers. Hand sanitiser alone is not a replacement for suitable washing facilities. Keep washing separate from eating and rest areas where hazardous substances could contaminate food.

Legal provisions: paragraph 2 of GB CDM 2015 Schedule 2 and NI CDM 2016 Schedule 3.

An adequate supply of wholesome drinking water must be readily accessible. Mark drinking supplies where health or safety requires it. Provide suitable drinking vessels unless people can drink easily from a water jet.

What to arrange: State who replenishes and checks mains, bottled or stored water. Keep drinking water protected from contamination and distinguish it from non-drinking supplies.

Legal provisions: paragraph 3 of GB CDM 2015 Schedule 2 and NI CDM 2016 Schedule 3.

Changing rooms are required where workers need special work clothing and cannot reasonably change elsewhere for health or propriety reasons. Provide seats, separate rooms or separate use by men and women where needed, and drying facilities where necessary. Provide secure storage for clothing and personal effects where needed.

What to arrange: Allow for wet clothing and the number changing together. Keep contaminated protective clothing separate from ordinary clothes; specify lockers, seating and a safe drying arrangement.

Legal provisions: paragraph 4 of GB CDM 2015 Schedule 2 and NI CDM 2016 Schedule 3.

Provide accessible rest rooms or areas with enough tables and seats with backs for simultaneous users, arrangements to prepare and eat meals, and a way to boil water. Maintain an appropriate temperature. Provide for pregnant or nursing workers to rest lying down where necessary.

What to arrange: Agree break-time occupancy, food preparation, heating and ventilation. Keep the space clean and free of stored plant, tools and materials; an office label alone does not make a cabin a suitable rest area.

Legal provisions: paragraph 5 of GB CDM 2015 Schedule 2 and NI CDM 2016 Schedule 3.

HSE advises flushing toilets where possible, connected to water and drainage where available. A tank-based flushing system can be used where mains services are absent. Portable chemical toilets may be appropriate where flushing provision cannot be made, including some temporary or remote locations; suitable washing facilities are still necessary.

The CDM schedules require sufficient suitable provision but do not set one toilet-to-worker ratio for every site. HSE refers to workplace tables as an indication; the Workplace Regulations behind those tables do not themselves apply to construction sites.

Guidance example for Great Britain: HSE cites a BSI recommendation of one portable chemical toilet for seven people working a 40-hour week. Servicing and actual use must be considered. The illustration below assumes weekly emptying; longer hours, shifts or heavier use can require more units or more frequent servicing.

This illustrates HSE's cited guidance for portable chemical toilets, with a 40-hour working week and weekly emptying. It is not a statutory CDM minimum, a flushing-toilet calculation or proof that the facilities are sufficient. Longer use, shifts, servicing, privacy and the work may require more provision. For Northern Ireland, use Schedule 3 and confirm the arrangements under HSENI guidance.

Read HSE's guidance on toilet numbers, servicing and washing.

A shared toilet can be used by men and women when each toilet is in a separate room that locks from the inside; HSE says this must be separate from any urinals. Provide suitable sanitary waste disposal. A line of cubicles around shared urinals is not the same arrangement.

Facilities used only for washing hands, forearms and faces can be shared. Other washing facilities, including showers, need separate provision or a lockable room intended for one person at a time. Changing rooms may require separate rooms or separate use for men and women. Plan privacy and access for the actual workforce.

Showers are conditional on the work or health risks, not a universal number per worker. Consider the contamination from the task and any specialist decontamination arrangements required; a generic welfare cabin may not provide them.

The method of providing facilities can change; the need for suitable welfare remains. For mobile work, consider a mobile welfare unit or an accessible central compound with satellite provision where necessary. Account for the time and route workers need to reach it, including traffic delays.

Existing facilities in an occupied building, café or other premises may be usable under HSE guidance if the owner has agreed, they remain available whenever workers are on site, and cleaning and replenishment are arranged. Check suitability, access, opening hours and a fallback if access is lost. Public toilets nearby are not automatically an adequate arrangement.

The legislation qualifies particular provisions with phrases such as “so far as reasonably practicable” or “where necessary”. These are not permission to omit welfare merely to avoid hire costs. For example, the washing provision still specifies clean hot and cold, or warm, water, while running water is required so far as reasonably practicable.

HSE: existing facilities, mobile work and site location.

Name who checks cleanliness, water, heating, soap, towels, toilet paper and waste levels. Agree servicing access, emptying and refill intervals, breakdown response and replacement provision. HSE warns that daily cleaning may not be enough on a muddy or heavily used site.

Review capacity when the workforce, hours or tasks change. Rest spaces must stay available for breaks; do not turn them into stores. Keep drinking water protected and separate contaminated clothing from ordinary clothing. Record faults and the action taken.

Use HSE's checks for changing, eating, rest and drinking water and cleaning and consumables when preparing the maintenance plan.

The tool lists matters to include in a quotation request. It does not calculate a statutory number of cabins or certify that a site complies. The project team must select the relevant national framework and assess the actual arrangements.

Prepare your site welfare enquiry

Guidance checked on 28 September 2026.