Tiling RAMS: a complete guide for UK tilers and tiling contractors (2026)

Why tilers and tiling contractors need a RAMS

A RAMS is a Risk Assessment and Method Statement combined into one document. For tiling work it is the document that proves you have thought through the dust, the adhesives, the heavy tiles and the cutting before you start.

Tiling looks like a clean, precise trade, and that is exactly why its hazards get overlooked. Cutting porcelain and stone releases silica dust that scars the lungs, cement adhesives and grout burn skin, large-format slabs are heavy enough to need mechanical lifting, and the wet saw combines electricity with water. A main contractor or commercial client will still ask for your RAMS before you start.

If you are a sole-trader tiler on small domestic jobs, you are not always legally required to produce a formal written RAMS for every bathroom. But on any commercial site, new build, refurbishment, or work running under a principal contractor and CDM 2015, a written RAMS is expected and usually mandatory before you can start.

Who asks for a tiling RAMS?

The people who will want to see it include main contractors and principal contractors, shopfitting and fit-out contractors, facilities managers in commercial and public buildings, housing associations and local authorities, and any project manager running several trades at once. A clear, trade-specific RAMS keeps your team safe and gets you through the approval gate without delay.

The hazards a tiling RAMS must cover

A generic RAMS will not pass a competent contractor's check, because it will not address the hazards that are specific to tiling. These are the ones that matter.

Silica dust from cutting

Cutting and grinding porcelain, natural stone and ceramic tiles releases respirable crystalline silica, the fine dust that scars lungs permanently and causes silicosis and lung cancer. This is the most serious health hazard in tiling, and the one assessors look for. The HSE's guidance on construction dust sets the standard.

Your RAMS should set out cutting wet on a wet saw wherever possible to suppress dust at source, on-tool extraction for any grinding, RPE with the correct protection factor and face-fit testing where dust is unavoidable, and cutting away from others. "Operatives will wear a dust mask" is not enough for an assessor who takes silica seriously - and porcelain in particular generates significant dust.

Adhesives, grout and sealants

Cement-based tile adhesives and grout are alkaline and cause cement burns and dermatitis, epoxy grouts are skin and respiratory sensitisers, and sealants and solvents add to the COSHH picture. This is governed by the COSHH Regulations. Your RAMS should cover gloves and skin protection, washing facilities, ventilation in small enclosed rooms like bathrooms, and the safety data sheets for the products used, with particular care for epoxy products.

Manual handling and large-format tiles

Boxes of tiles are heavy, bags of adhesive and screed are awkward, and large-format porcelain tiles and slabs are heavy enough that they cannot be handled safely by one person. The trend toward big-format slabs has made this a defining hazard. Manual handling is governed by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. Your RAMS should set out team lifts and suction frame lifters for large slabs, good handling for boxes and bags, and the awkward postures the work involves.

Kneeling and musculoskeletal injury

Floor tiling is done on the knees, and the work loads knees, backs and wrists over a career. Your RAMS should cover knee pads or knee protection, task rotation, and posture and breaks to manage the kneeling and repetitive work, in the same way flooring does.

The wet tile saw and power tools

The wet saw is the machine that defines the trade, combining electricity with water - so it needs proper electrical protection - and its blade causes lacerations. Angle grinders used for cutting bring dust, hand-arm vibration and noise. These fall under PUWER and the vibration and noise regulations. Your RAMS should cover RCD protection for the wet saw, guarding and safe use, blade safety, and trigger-time limits and hearing protection for grinders.

Working at height and slips

Wall tiling, splashbacks and high-level work mean working at height, usually from hop-ups or a small platform, under the Work at Height Regulations 2005. And tiling is wet work - water from the saw, wet adhesive and grout - so slips are a constant risk, made worse where someone is on a hop-up. Your RAMS should cover the access for height and keeping the floor managed against slips.

A worked example: RAMS for tiling a commercial wet room

It helps to see how the hazards turn into an actual method statement. Take a common job: tiling the walls and floor of a commercial wet room with large-format porcelain, including cutting on site. Here is how a sound RAMS would walk through it.

Before work starts

The RAMS records that cutting will be done wet on a wet saw set up with RCD protection in a ventilated area, that large-format slabs will be handled by two people with suction lifters, that knee protection is provided for the floor work, and that adhesive and grout handling controls are in place for the enclosed room.

Sequence of work and controls

Set up: establish the wet-saw cutting station with RCD protection and ventilation, away from others, and protect the area. Cut: cut tiles wet to suppress silica dust, with RPE for any unavoidable dry cutting or grinding, handling sharp cut edges with care. Handle slabs: lift large-format porcelain with two people and suction frame lifters, never single-handed. Apply adhesive: spread cement adhesive with gloves and skin protection, ventilating the enclosed wet room, managing the wet floor against slips. Tile the floor: work on knee protection with task rotation. Tile the walls: work from a stable hop-up for higher areas. Grout and seal: apply grout and sealant with skin protection and ventilation, extra care with any epoxy grout. Clear up: remove waste and offcuts, manage slurry and water, leave the area safe.

Why this reads as competent

The assessor sees the silica risk controlled by wet cutting, large slabs handled mechanically, the wet saw given electrical protection, and the kneeling, adhesive and slip risks managed. That is the difference between a RAMS for this job and a template with the name changed.

A pre-work checklist for tiling RAMS

Before you submit a tiling RAMS, or before the team starts on site, run through a short check. A RAMS that can answer yes to these is one that will pass and, more importantly, keep people safe.

• Cutting controlled - is wet cutting on a wet saw specified to suppress silica dust, with on-tool extraction and RPE for grinding?
• Wet saw electrics - is RCD protection set out for the wet saw given it combines water and electricity?
• Adhesive and grout - are gloves, skin protection, ventilation and the epoxy-grout sensitiser risk covered?
• Large-format handling - are team lifts and suction lifters specified for large slabs rather than single-person handling?
• Kneeling - are knee protection and task rotation addressed for floor tiling?
• Working at height - is a stable hop-up or platform specified for high wall tiling?
• Slips - is the wet floor from the saw, adhesive and grout managed?
• Vibration and noise - are trigger-time limits and hearing protection set out for grinders?

Common reasons a tiling RAMS gets rejected

Knowing why documents get sent back is the fastest way to write one that does not. These are the failings an assessor sees most often on tiling RAMS.

Silica is waved through. The most common serious failing - "a dust mask will be worn" with no wet cutting, no extraction and no face-fit testing, despite porcelain and stone generating significant silica dust.

Large-format handling is ignored. Assuming big slabs are handled by one person, with no team lifts or suction lifters, overlooks a real injury risk.

The wet saw electrics are missed. Using a wet saw with no mention of RCD protection ignores the water-and-electricity combination.

It is obviously generic. A template that does not name the actual work - wall, floor, porcelain, natural stone, large-format, wet room - or the building is a frequent rejection.

Kneeling and slips are missed. Saying nothing about knee protection or managing the wet floor overlooks injuries tilers commonly suffer.

How to write a tiling RAMS that passes

A tiling RAMS that is accepted first time shares a few features, whatever the surface.

Make it specific to the job

The fastest way to get a RAMS rejected is to submit something obviously generic. Name the site, the tiling type and tile material, whether large-format slabs are involved, the cutting method, and the access. An assessor can tell within seconds whether the document describes this job or is a template with the name changed.

Follow the sequence of work

The method statement should walk through the job in order: setting up the cutting station, cutting, handling and applying adhesive, tiling floor and walls, grouting and sealing, and clearing up. Each stage links to the hazards it creates and the controls that manage them.

Rate the risks honestly

The risk assessment side rates each hazard by likelihood and severity, then again after your controls are in place. This residual-risk approach follows HSE's risk assessment guidance and is what a competent assessor expects, with silica and manual handling rated seriously.

Keep it readable

The people who need to follow a RAMS are the tilers on site, not just the assessor. Plain language, a clear sequence and a short list of real controls beat pages of boilerplate nobody reads.

Legislation and standards behind a tiling RAMS

A tiling RAMS is stronger when it shows the assessor you know the rules that govern the work. The backbone is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, but the details that matter to a tiler sit in the regulations underneath. Cutting tiles dry releases respirable crystalline silica, so the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 apply directly — your method should specify water suppression or on-tool extraction and, where needed, respiratory protection. Adhesives, grouts, primers and solvents are COSHH substances too, and each is better referenced by its safety data sheet than with a vague "use as directed". Powered wet saws and grinders bring the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 into play, and prolonged cutting raises the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, which a thorough RAMS acknowledges with trigger-time limits.

On the standards side, referencing the BS 5385 series for wall and floor tiling signals that your workmanship follows recognised practice, and Tile Association guidance is worth citing where it applies. Naming the right regulations and standards is not box-ticking — it tells the contractor's health and safety manager that the person who wrote the document understands tiling specifically, not just construction in general.

Fitting the RAMS around other trades on site

Tiling rarely happens in isolation. You are usually working after the plasterers and screeders and alongside the second-fix trades, and a good RAMS reflects that. Wet rooms and bathrooms are tight spaces where you may share the room with a plumber or an electrician, so your method should say how you will coordinate access, avoid working directly above or below another trade, and protect finished surfaces. Curing time is a coordination issue as much as a quality one: freshly laid floor tiles cannot take foot traffic, so the RAMS should set out how the area is barriered off and signed while adhesive and grout cure, and how that is communicated to the site manager and the following trades.

Dust and noise from cutting affect everyone nearby, which is why a site may ask you to cut in a designated area or outside. Building that into the method rather than being told on the day marks you out as a contractor who thinks about the whole site, not just their own task — and contractors remember the trades who make coordination easy.

Keeping your tiling RAMS live on site

A RAMS is only worth anything if the people doing the work have read it and the document still matches reality. Before the job starts, brief the team from it in a short toolbox talk and record who attended — that signature sheet is often the first thing an auditor asks to see. If the job changes, a different adhesive is specified, or the substrate turns out not to be what was expected, the RAMS should be revisited rather than quietly ignored, because a method statement that no longer describes the actual work is worse than useless.

Version control matters too. Every RAMS should carry a date and a version so the copy on site is demonstrably the current one and not last year's template with the client's name swapped. Reviewing it at least annually, and after any incident or near miss, keeps it credible. Treating the RAMS as a living document rather than a one-off submission is exactly the habit that turns a single job into a repeat client.

Silica dust: the tiling risk that draws the most scrutiny

If there is one hazard an assessor will look for in a tiling RAMS, it is respirable crystalline silica from cutting. Dry-cutting porcelain and stone throws out fine dust that the eye barely sees, and long-term exposure causes silicosis and other serious lung disease — which is why the HSE treats it as a priority and why a vague line about "wearing a mask" will not do. A strong method sets out the control hierarchy properly: cut wet wherever possible so the dust is suppressed at source, use on-tool extraction rated to M-class when dry cutting cannot be avoided, and only then rely on respiratory protective equipment as the last layer. Where RPE is used it should be the right standard for the task and, crucially, face-fit tested to the individual wearing it, because a mask that does not seal does nothing.

The document should also say where cutting happens — a designated, ventilated area away from other workers — and how offcuts and slurry are cleared up without creating dust again by dry sweeping. On longer or repeated exposure, health surveillance for the operatives may be appropriate, and mentioning it signals a contractor who takes the long-term health of their team seriously, not just the immediate job. Getting the silica section right is often what separates a tiling RAMS that reassures from one that gets sent back.

Doing it the fast way

Writing a full tiling RAMS by hand for every job is exactly the paperwork that eats evenings. That is the problem Complys was built to solve: answer a few questions about the job and the trade, and it generates a complete, tiling-specific risk assessment and method statement you can edit, download and share. The hazards above - silica dust, adhesives, large-format handling, the wet saw, kneeling - come built into the templates, so you start from a document that already knows the trade rather than a blank page.

If you want the wider picture, what a RAMS is and how to write one covers the basics and the difference between a RAMS and a risk assessment clears up the usual confusion. The complete trade list is on the RAMS builder hub.

However it is produced, a tiling RAMS has a single purpose: keep your team safe around silica dust and manual handling, get you onto site without delay, and stand up to a contractor's check.