What Welfare Facilities Are Legally Required on a Construction Site?

Site welfare isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s the law. Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), every construction site in Great Britain must provide adequate welfare facilities for workers from day one, before work starts. Get it wrong and you’re not just risking a demotivated crew; you’re risking HSE enforcement. Here’s exactly what’s required, what “adequate” means in practice, and the simplest way to provide it.

The Legal Basis: CDM 2015, Schedule 2

Welfare requirements on construction sites are set out in Schedule 2 of CDM 2015. The duty sits primarily with the principal contractor (or the contractor on a single-contractor project), and the facilities must be in place before anyone starts work — not arranged once the job is underway.

Critically, the rules apply to sites of all sizes. A two-person job on a domestic property still needs welfare provision. There’s no small-site exemption.

What You Must Provide

Toilets

• Suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences, adequately ventilated and lit, kept clean
• Separate rooms for men and women where possible, or lockable single facilities
• Wash facilities immediately available nearby

Washing facilities

• Wash basins large enough to wash hands, face and forearms
• Clean hot and cold (or warm) running water — this is a common failure point; cold-only isn’t compliant
• Soap and a means of drying
• Additional showers where the work is dirty or involves hazardous substances

Drinking water

• An adequate supply of wholesome drinking water, clearly marked
• Cups provided unless it’s a drinking fountain

Changing rooms and lockers

• Where workers wear special clothing and can’t be expected to change elsewhere
• Facilities to dry wet clothing
• Secure storage for personal belongings and for clothing not worn on site

Rest facilities

• A place to sit and take breaks, shielded from the weather
• Means to heat food and boil water (so workers can prepare a hot drink and food)
• Tables and seating with backs for the number of workers

What “Adequate” Actually Means

The regulations deliberately avoid rigid numbers in most areas, requiring facilities “suitable and sufficient” for the workforce. In practice that means scaling to your headcount — one toilet and a single kettle won’t cut it for a crew of twenty. As a rough industry guide, provision is often planned around one toilet per 7–10 workers, but the real test is whether facilities are genuinely sufficient for the number of people and the nature of the work.

Facilities must also be maintained — a filthy, unstocked toilet block technically present on site still fails the “kept clean and orderly” requirement.

The Common Failure Points

HSE inspectors see the same gaps repeatedly:

• No hot water — cold-only wash facilities are one of the most cited failings
• Welfare arranged late — nothing in place on day one because the site “wasn’t ready”
• Facilities on new/remote sites — no mains water or power, so nothing gets provided
• Neglected maintenance — provision that starts fine but isn’t serviced
• Undersized for the crew — one unit for a workforce that’s since grown

That “no mains water or power” problem is the big practical one — and it’s exactly what modern welfare units solve.

The Simple Solution: Self-Contained Welfare Units

For most sites, the cleanest way to meet every CDM welfare requirement in one go is a mobile welfare unit — a towable, self-contained cabin combining toilet, hot-water wash facilities, a canteen/rest area with seating and food-heating, and a drying area, all in a single secure unit.

The key advantage is independence: a good welfare unit runs on its own built-in generator and water supply, so even a brand-new site with no electrics and no mains water has fully compliant facilities from the moment it’s delivered. That removes the single most common reason sites fall short.

Select A Skip supplies welfare units and site equipment nationwide — welfare cabins, portable toilets, perimeter fencing and more — so you can get a site welfare-compliant before work starts, wherever it is in the UK.

Don’t Forget the Rest of Site Setup

Welfare is one piece of getting a site up and running legally and safely. You’ll typically also need perimeter fencing to secure the site, storage for tools and materials, and skips or waste collection for the waste the job produces. Sourcing it all from one supplier means a single delivery to coordinate and one point of contact — worth it when you’re trying to get a site open on schedule.

The Bottom Line

Welfare isn’t optional, isn’t size-dependent, and must be ready before work begins. The regulations are detailed, but meeting them is straightforward: a self-contained welfare unit covers toilets, washing, drinking water, rest and drying in one compliant package, even on sites with no services connected.

Setting up a new site? Get in touch and we’ll get welfare, fencing and waste sorted before day one — we reply the same working day.

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This article is general guidance, not legal advice. For definitive requirements see the HSE’s guidance on CDM 2015 and construction site welfare.