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Schedule 2 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 sets out exactly what is required, and who is responsible for providing it. A site without proper welfare provision is a site with a compliance gap.
Schedule 2 of CDM 2015 specifies five categories of welfare provision that must be available at every construction site, regardless of size or duration. The HSE’s welfare overview summarises each one.
Sanitary conveniences with adequate ventilation and lighting, kept clean. Separate facilities for men and women where reasonably practicable. Numbers depend on workforce size and duration.
Basins large enough to wash face, hands and forearms. Clean hot and cold running water, soap and a means of drying. Showers where work involves cement, lead or other hazardous substances.
An adequate and readily accessible supply of drinking water, clearly marked where there is any risk of confusion with non-potable water.
Suitable changing rooms where workers must change into special work clothing, plus secure storage for personal clothing. HSE guidance sets out what ‘suitable’ means in practice.
A sheltered rest area with seating, tables and the means to heat food and drinks, arranged so non-smokers are not exposed to tobacco smoke or contamination.
The HSE’s CIS59 information sheet provides practical detail on minimum provision for different site types.
Garic delivers and services welfare units across the UK mainland from depots in Bury (Lancashire), Falkirk (Scotland), Sandy (Bedfordshire), Dudley (West Midlands) and Reading (Berkshire), covering construction, infrastructure, rail and utilities projects from the north of Scotland to the south of England. Delivery includes transport to site, installation and, for static cabins, positioning and levelling. Ongoing servicing covers tanker waste removal, water replenishment and maintenance throughout the hire. For complex projects requiring multiple or combined welfare units, our site planning service allows our team to advise on the best solution for your project.
Garic offers short and long-term hire agreements. For short-duration works, mobile welfare units and welfare vans can be delivered, positioned and collected with relatively short lead times, without the site preparation that larger static units may need. For longer projects, static cabins provide a more permanent welfare base, with Garic managing maintenance, tanker servicing and servicing visits throughout the hire. CDM 2015 requires welfare to be in place from the start of the construction phase regardless of project duration, so even short-term works need compliant provision from day one.
Self-contained welfare units operate independently of any site services infrastructure, making them practical for remote locations, early-stage sites and transient works. Power is provided by an on-board generator (diesel), solar panels, a hybrid system or microgrid technology depending on the unit. Water is stored in on-board tanks. Waste is managed via holding tanks emptied by tanker servicing. Garic provides tanker servicing as part of its hire arrangements, handling waste removal and water replenishment on a scheduled basis throughout the hire. Eco and solar-hybrid units such as the Eco Cabin+ 24, Combi Cabin 24 Eco and Welfare Van Eco operate primarily on solar and battery power, reducing generator runtime and the associated fuel costs and emissions.
Static welfare units are designed for fixed sites over longer periods. They are positioned at a fixed point and combine toilet, changing, drying, canteen and kitchen facilities in a single self-contained structure. Multiple units can be combined to cover larger teams. The Garic static welfare range runs from the Combi Junior 15 (four people) to the Combi Cabin 48 (24 people). Mobile and towable units are built for transient or shorter-duration works. The Armadillo range can be hitched to a vehicle and repositioned as the job progresses. Welfare vans operate as road-legal self-contained units for short-duration highway and roadside operations. Both types meet CDM 2015 Schedule 2 requirements. The right choice depends on project duration, whether the site is fixed, workforce size and available power options.
CDM 2015 distributes welfare responsibility across three duty-holder roles. Commercial clients must ensure that principal contractors or, on smaller projects, contractors have appropriate welfare arrangements in place. This applies to all construction work regardless of duration. Principal contractors carry primary operational responsibility on notifiable projects; they must ensure welfare is in place from the very start of the construction phase and maintained throughout. Contractors must provide welfare for the workers under their control. On smaller projects without a principal contractor, the full duty falls to the contractor. HSE inspectors routinely check welfare provision on site visits and have authority to issue improvement notices, prohibition notices or pursue prosecution where provision falls below the required standard.
Schedule 2 of CDM 2015 requires five types of welfare provision at every construction site, regardless of size or duration: toilets (adequately ventilated, lit and kept clean, with separate male and female facilities where reasonably practicable); washing facilities (hot and cold running water, soap and a means of drying); drinking water; changing rooms and lockers (where special work clothing is required); and rest areas (sheltered, with seating, tables and means to heat food and drinks, protected from tobacco smoke). The number and specification of each depends on the scale of the workforce and the nature of the work. Where work involves exposure to hazardous substances such as cement or lead, showers may also be required. The HSE’s CIS59 information sheet provides practical guidance on minimum provision for different site types.
Low- and zero-emission power options for welfare units include solar-powered cabins, hybrid welfare systems with integrated battery storage, and low-emission or HVO-compatible generator backup. These solutions reduce reliance on diesel-only generation, minimise generator runtime, and support quieter site operation while maintaining reliable heating, lighting, and welfare facilities.
Garic supplies modular, sustainable welfare and site energy solutions for construction, infrastructure, and utilities projects across the UK. Our range includes solar-powered welfare cabins, mobile welfare units, battery storage systems, and low-emission hybrid generators, all delivered, installed, and supported nationwide. We work with project teams to design compliant, efficient, and reliable site setups tailored to project requirements.
CDM 2015 is explicit: welfare must be in place from the start of the construction phase. That means planning welfare at the same time as the rest of your site layout, not treating it as something to sort out once other logistics are confirmed.
The HSE is clear that the positioning of facilities needs to be considered before work starts. For fixed sites, you need to account for future moves as the project progresses, access for tanker servicing, distance from the furthest parts of the site, and whether any workers in remote areas need satellite provision.
Garic’s site design solutions take this on from the planning stage. When you get in touch with us, our site design team will advise on the best solution for your project before it’s started.
