House Raising and Lifting SWMS

Suits house raising and lifting contractors, builders and their engineers who lift timber and masonry houses on jacks and cribbing to build underneath, improve flood immunity or replace the supports. It follows the job in order, from the engineer’s design and lifting plan through asbestos checks, disconnecting services, setting up jacks and cribbing, the lift, work under the raised house, load transfer and lowering, and handover. Restumping on its own and confined space entry are outside this SWMS.

Raising or lowering a house is construction work, and structural alterations that need temporary support to prevent collapse are high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 291(e)), so that item is ticked and a SWMS is required before the work starts (s 299). You can also tick a fall risk of more than 2 metres from the raised floor or an opening, energised electrical installations or services until they are disconnected, a confined space if the subfloor meets the definition, asbestos if the work may disturb it, a trench or shaft deeper than 1.5 metres, powered mobile plant if trucks or cranes work in the area, demolition of a load-bearing element if you take out a load-bearing part before its replacement support is in place (removing old stumps after the temporary supports carry the house is not demolition work), or the contaminated atmosphere item if cutting or grinding masonry creates silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises.

Learn More: What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?
Have you ever been asked to provide a SWMS on a project in Queensland? Read our guide to what a Safe Work Method Statement is and when you need one.

What Is Covered In Our House Raising and Lifting SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• House slipping off jacks or cribbing
• Crush hazards under the raised house
• Uneven lifting, racking and collapse
• Hydraulic hose and jack failure
• Live electrical, gas, water and sewer services
• Asbestos in older houses
• Cramped subfloors and confined space entry
• Falls from the raised floor and openings
• Soft or sloping ground under cribs and stands
• Load transfer and lowering onto new supports
• Wind, rain and heat while the house is raised
• Manual handling of timber, beams and jacks

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 structural alterations or repairs that require temporary support to prevent collapse

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and the site induction
• QBCC contractor licence for house raising valued over $3,300 including labour, materials and GST: raising is building work (renovation, alteration or improvement of a building) and the QBCC has no house-raising class, so hold a builder licence (Builder – low rise covers class 1 and 10 buildings), with the Foundation work (piling and anchors) class covering underpinning, excavation and foundation concreting (Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 s 42 and sch 2; Regulation 2018 sch 1 item 2 and sch 2 pts 4 and 35)
• Structural engineer to assess the house and design the lift, the jack and crib layout, the temporary supports and the new foundations
• Lift supervisor trained and experienced in house raising and the lifting equipment used, who directs the lift and has the authority to stop it
• Workers trained and assessed as competent in the jacks, lifting system and cribbing used before they work unsupervised; never assume new workers know the lifting method
• Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for house jacks or for raising a house
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3), for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator in the movement of a load when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work), where a crane or other plant lifts beams
• Licensed electrical worker, plumber or drainer and gas fitter to disconnect and reconnect services
• Competent person to identify asbestos; licensed asbestos removalist where asbestos must be removed (WHS Regulation ss 485 and 487)
• Asbestos awareness so the crew recognise suspect material, stop work and report it; workers the business reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos removal work or asbestos-related work also need the asbestos identification, safe handling and control measures training that WHS Regulation s 445 requires (asbestos removal has a separate SWMS)
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42), and a rescue plan for the subfloor

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021 (modification of a structure)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice 2021
• Demolition Work Code of Practice 2021 (temporary supports and removal of load-bearing parts)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 (when a subfloor meets the definition)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (heat, remote or isolated work, emergency plans)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2, and construction work equipment (s 140)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 (Qld): gas work licences (s 726)
• Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld): plumbing and drainage licences (s 56)
• Workplace Health and Safety Queensland guide: Working safely in the house relocation industry (guidance, not law)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (21 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages
• Business, client, job and document details typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• The high risk construction work checklist, worded as WHS Regulation s 291, and the construction project question (s 292)
• A worker and health and safety representative consultation record
• Qualifications, plant, PPE, hazardous chemicals, safety equipment, permits, references and emergency arrangements filled in for this work
• A 5 x 5 risk matrix, and job steps with initial and residual risk scores and the people responsible
• Implementing, monitoring and review requirements, an additional controls log, revision history and a worker sign-on sheet

Review and adjust it for your site, your plant and the way your crew does the job, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. If you have any trouble downloading this SWMS, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.