Combustible Cladding Removal SWMS

For facade, remediation and building contractors removing combustible cladding from existing buildings. It follows the work in order, from identifying asbestos and planning to access, cold cutting, lowering panels, insulation removal, fire risk control and waste disposal. Installing new cladding uses the Wall Cladding Installation SWMS.

The work at height item is pre-ticked. Also tick the asbestos disturbance item if asbestos may be disturbed (older buildings, fibre cement backing), and the powered mobile plant item if cranes, forklifts or elevating work platforms move in the work area.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our Combustible Cladding Removal SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the removal and identify the materials behind the cladding” to “Clean up, dispose of waste and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from scaffold, platforms and edges
• Panels and tools falling on people below
• Fire in combustible panel cores, insulation and waste
• Sparks and heat from cutting
• Asbestos behind or beside older cladding
• Dust from polyethylene, insulation and silica
• Sharp aluminium edges and flying fragments
• Heavy, wind-catching panels and manual handling
• Crane and hoist lowering of panels
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Storage and disposal of combustible waste
• Heat, wind and fatigue at height

High Risk Construction Work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Experience or training in removing external cladding systems; new workers work under an experienced supervisor
• High risk work licence in the scaffolding class that matches the scaffold, for whoever erects, alters or dismantles it where a person or object could fall more than 4 m (a separate SWMS covers scaffold erection)
• High risk work licence for the boom-type elevating work platform class where the boom length is 11 m or more; trained and familiarised operators for scissor lifts and smaller platforms
• High risk work licence for the class of any crane, hoist or forklift used to lower or move cladding, and the dogging class or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3) for anyone who slings loads or directs a plant operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• A competent person to identify asbestos in the building before work starts, or the material is assumed to contain asbestos (WHS Regulation s 422)
• Training in the identification and safe handling of asbestos and its control measures for workers who may be involved in asbestos removal or asbestos-related work (WHS Regulation s 445); asbestos removal is done by a licensed removalist under its own SWMS (except 10 m2 or less of non-friable asbestos, which a competent person trained under s 445 may do: s 458(2) and (3))
• Training in the fall arrest or travel restraint system and the rescue plan for anyone who uses a harness system
• Fire safety training and a trained fire watch for any hot work, and training in the building’s emergency plan
• First aid equipment and trained first aiders as the first aid assessment shows the site needs (WHS Regulation s 42)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 78 to 80 and 306C to 306J (managing fall risk, rescue, 2 m threshold for non-housing construction work, edge protection and other fall controls)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 54, 55 and 315E to 315M (falling objects, hoardings, gantries and catch platforms)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 43, 52, 53 and 355 (emergency plan; ignition sources in a hazardous atmosphere; flammable and combustible substances kept to the lowest practicable quantity; ignition sources kept out of a hazardous area)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 419, 422, 445, 458, 466 and 473 (asbestos work prohibition and exceptions, identification, training, licensed removal, notice to the regulator and clearance inspection)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice 2021 (if asbestos is found, a licensed removalist works under its own SWMS)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Welding Processes Code of Practice 2021 (hot work and fire precautions, where cutting with hot methods)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld) (general reference for fire safety in buildings and combustible cladding rectification work; building approvals are for the owner and certifier)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 8 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: hard hat; cut-resistant gloves and long sleeves for sharp panel edges; safety glasses or goggles for cutting, with a face shield for grinding
• Emergency arrangements for: fire in cladding or waste, fall from a platform or edge and suspected asbestos found
• Plus the parts every Work Safety QLD SWMS shares, from the s 291 checklist to the worker sign-on sheet (see the layout in our free SWMS template)

Adjust it for your site, plant and crew, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.