RAMS template vs paying a consultant
Last updated 17 October 2026
A template is a starting point once you add this job. A consultant can visit and sign their own advice. They are not the same product.
A RAMS template gives you the hazards and the method for a trade, which you then fill with this site. Paying a consultant buys someone’s time and judgement, and sometimes a visit. A site-ready RAMS your principal contractor can review can start from a template, but a competent person still has to check that it fits the address. A template is not a cheaper consultant, and a consultant is not a magic acceptance.
The RAMS template explains what the pack should contain. The trades are the bases you can draft from. The free draft is watermarked and built from the template. Paying for the tailored version is a separate step at download, and it is still a draft.
Worked example
A three-person roofing firm has a domestic re-tile next week. They do this work every month.
- The template already lists falls, fragile surfaces, weather and dropped materials. They delete the lines that are not on this roof and add the school-run footpath and the roof lights.
- A supervisor who will be there briefs the gang and signs the sheet. That person is their competent person for this job.
- They do not need a consultant to invent edge protection they already know how to install. They would need one if the roof was fragile in a way they do not understand, or if the client asked for an independent review.
- The document is ready to show the householder or the principal contractor. Whether that reader accepts it is their decision, after they read it.
What neither option removes
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The employer’s duty to protect workers and others stays with the duty holder.
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The assessment has to be suitable and sufficient for the work.
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, where the work is construction. A template does not draw up the construction phase plan, and neither does an unread consultant’s PDF.
Questions
Is a template cheaper because it is worse?
A template is cheaper because nobody has walked your site. It becomes useful when someone who knows the job adds the address, the plant and the odd hazards, and a competent person checks it. A consultant’s fee is for that judgement and, if you agree it, for their visit.
Can a template make the RAMS legally compliant?
No. Neither a template nor a paid draft is a certificate of compliance. The duty holder still has to put suitable controls in place under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and, where it applies, CDM 2015.
When is a consultant the better choice?
When nobody on the job understands the hazard, when the work is outside the templates, or when a client has asked for an independent competent person. A template does not appoint one.