Building Maintenance Unit Operation SWMS

Suits facade access contractors, window cleaners and building managers who work from a building maintenance unit cradle. It covers pre-use inspection and records, ground exclusion zones, roof access and rigging, travelling the cradle, facade work, wind limits, rescue, stowing and defect reporting.

Cleaning and minor maintenance from a building maintenance unit is not construction work (WHS Regulation s 289(3)(d)), and a SWMS is required by law only before high risk construction work starts (s 299), so no item is pre-ticked; this template also works as a written safe work procedure. Where the facade repair is construction work beyond minor repair and involves a fall of more than 2 metres, tick the fall item (s 291).

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

What Is Covered In Our Building Maintenance Unit Operation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Inspect the unit and its records before use” to “Record keeping and defect reporting”. The hazards and controls include:

• Cradle or rope failure
• Plant registration and inspection records
• Falls from the roof edge and cradle
• Objects dropped onto people below
• Wind and storm limits
• Cradle striking the facade
• Overloading the cradle
• Chemical splashes
• Stranded person and rescue
• Unauthorised use of the unit
• Manual handling at the facade
• Defect reporting and logbook

High Risk Construction Work

None of the high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this job is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick any that apply on your site.

Licences, Training and Competency

• No high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 covers operating a building maintenance unit; each operator is trained and assessed as competent on that unit by the owner’s competent person, using the maker’s operating instructions
• Competent person to carry out the maintenance and inspection of the unit (WHS Regulation s 213)
• General construction induction training card (white card) where the work is construction work
• Training in the rescue procedure for the unit (WHS Regulation s 80)
• Site induction
• First aid certificate for the person appointed as the job’s first aider

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• AS 2550.13 Cranes – Safe use – Building maintenance units

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 9 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: safety boots; hard hat with chin strap; safety harness and lanyard; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: stranded or suspended person and power failure or jam
• 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.