Construction work Code of Practice guide

Information current: 3 August 2026.

This guide gives general information about managing health and safety during construction work. It is not personalised legal advice and does not replace the WHS Act, WHS Regulations, an approved Code of Practice or regulator guidance that applies where the work is carried out.

Scope of the Construction Work Code

Under the Model Code, construction work includes work carried out in connection with constructing, altering, converting, fitting out, commissioning, renovating, repairing, maintaining, refurbishing, demolishing, decommissioning or dismantling a structure. It may include commercial, civil and housing construction, excavation, site preparation, assembly of prefabricated elements and work on essential services.

A structure is broadly described as anything constructed, whether fixed or moveable and temporary or permanent. Buildings, roads, pipelines, tunnels, formwork, earthworks and components or parts of structures can fall within this concept.

The Model Code excludes specified activities, including pre-construction planning and design, manufacture of plant, off-site prefabrication not undertaken at a place specifically established for the construction work, testing, maintenance or repair work of a minor nature, and mining or mineral exploration or extraction. Check the facts and the law in the applicable jurisdiction before deciding that work is included or excluded.

Who should use this guide

The Code is primarily for persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs). It is relevant to builders, principal contractors, subcontractors, self-employed tradespeople and businesses that design, construct, import, supply or install plant or structures. People commissioning construction work, officers, supervisors, workers, labour-hire providers and people who manage or control construction workplaces should also understand the parts relevant to their role.

Under the harmonised WHS Acts represented in the supplied legal sources, workers must take reasonable care of their own health and safety, avoid adversely affecting others, comply—so far as they are reasonably able—with a reasonable instruction given by the PCBU to enable compliance with the applicable WHS Act, and cooperate with a notified reasonable WHS policy or procedure. Other persons at a workplace must take reasonable care, avoid adversely affecting others and comply—so far as they are reasonably able—with a reasonable instruction given by the PCBU to enable compliance with the applicable WHS Act.

Legal status: a Model Code is not an adopted Code

Safe Work Australia is a national policy body, not a WHS regulator. The Commonwealth, states and territories regulate and enforce WHS laws in their jurisdictions. The Safe Work Australia Model Code is therefore model guidance; it does not, by itself, show that identical provisions apply in every jurisdiction.

An approved jurisdictional Code provides practical guidance on meeting standards under the applicable WHS Act and Regulations. The supplied approved Codes explain that a Code may be admitted in court proceedings as evidence of what was known about a hazard, risk or control. They also explain that an alternative method may be used where it provides an equivalent or higher standard of health and safety. A Code does not cover every hazard, and using it does not remove the need to comply with the Act, Regulations and other applicable duties.

New South Wales has an additional statutory rule. From 1 July 2026, section 26A of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 requires a PCBU to comply with an approved Code of Practice or manage the hazards and risks by a different method that provides an equivalent or higher health-and-safety standard. The supplied August 2019 NSW Construction work Code predates section 26A, so its foreword should be read together with the current Act.

Within the Model Code, “must”, “requires” and “mandatory” identify an underlying legal requirement. “Should” describes a recommended course, while “may” describes an optional course.

Jurisdiction differences in the supplied evidence

The definition of a construction project is not uniform. Check the applicable local legislation and approved Code before deciding whether the principal-contractor and WHS-management-plan provisions for a construction project apply.

For a jurisdiction not covered by this table, or after the information-current date, use the current regulator and legislation sources for the place where the work occurs. Do not assume that the Model threshold or wording applies.

Major duties

PCBUs and consultation

A PCBU has the primary duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers and other people are not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the business or undertaking. Multiple PCBUs may hold the same or overlapping duties. Duties cannot be contracted out. Duty holders can agree who will perform particular activities, but each must verify that the arrangements are effective.

PCBUs must consult affected workers so far as is reasonably practicable and must consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders where duties overlap. On a construction site, this may involve the principal contractor, subcontractors, labour-hire providers, designers and businesses controlling plant or work areas.

Designers and people commissioning work

A designer must provide the commissioning PCBU with a written report identifying design-specific construction hazards of which the designer is reasonably aware. A PCBU commissioning construction work must consult the designer about eliminating or minimising design risks, take reasonable steps to obtain the designer’s safety report where required, and provide the principal contractor with available information about hazards at or near the workplace.

Principal contractors and workplace controllers

Under the Model Code, each construction project must have one principal contractor at a time. The local construction-project trigger must be checked because the supplied jurisdictional Codes differ.

Principal-contractor duties described by the Model Code include displaying identifying signage, preparing and maintaining a WHS management plan, obtaining SWMS for high-risk construction work, and making arrangements for site facilities, first aid, emergencies, falls, falling objects, contaminants, hazardous atmospheres, construction materials and waste, stored plant, traffic, essential services and psychosocial risks.

A person with management or control of a construction workplace must, so far as is reasonably practicable, secure it against unauthorised access. Before excavation, that person must take all reasonable steps to obtain current underground essential-services information and provide it to the people carrying out the excavation.

Practical risk-management controls

Use a systematic process throughout planning and delivery:

1. Identify hazards. Consider layout and access, falls, falling objects, excavations, structural stability, mobile plant, electricity, hazardous chemicals, asbestos, noise, manual tasks, heat, UV exposure, confined spaces and interactions between trades. Include psychosocial hazards such as excessive job demands, poor support, isolated work, bullying and harassment.
2. Assess risk where necessary. Consider who may be exposed, the possible severity of harm and how likely it is to occur. A formal assessment may add little where the risk and effective controls are already known.
3. Eliminate risks where reasonably practicable. For example, redesign work so it can be completed at ground level rather than exposing workers to a fall.
4. Use higher-order controls. If elimination is not reasonably practicable, consider substitution, isolation and engineering controls before administrative controls or PPE. Examples include separating people from mobile plant, physical barriers, shoring or battering excavations, material hoists, machine guarding and residual-current devices.
5. Support controls with systems and PPE. Use exclusion zones, permits, sequencing, traffic plans, training and supervision. Select suitable PPE, ensure it fits and train workers in its correct use. PPE is a lower-order control and should not displace a more effective control that is reasonably practicable.
6. Verify and review. Inspect work, consult workers, test controls and review incident, near-miss and monitoring information. Review controls when they are ineffective, before relevant workplace changes, when a new hazard is identified, following consultation or when an HSR requests a review.

SWMS and risk assessments

A safe work method statement (SWMS) is required for high-risk construction work identified under the applicable WHS Regulations. It must be prepared, or already be in place, before that work starts. A SWMS must identify the high-risk construction work, related hazards and risks, the controls to be used, and how those controls will be implemented, monitored and reviewed.

The supplied Model, NSW, WA, Tasmanian and Northern Territory Codes state that workers affected by the high-risk construction work and their health and safety representatives, if any, must be consulted when a SWMS is prepared and reviewed. If no workers are engaged at the planning stage, the Codes state that consultation must occur when the SWMS is first made available to workers. Apply this requirement through the current law and approved Code for the jurisdiction where the work occurs.

The SWMS must be understandable and accessible to affected workers and must address the actual workplace, work environment and workers. A generic SWMS can be a starting point, but it must be reviewed against site-specific hazards and risks and revised where necessary. For a construction project, the SWMS must take account of the WHS management plan and be provided to the principal contractor before the high-risk construction work starts.

Work must be monitored against the SWMS. If high-risk construction work is not being performed in accordance with it, the work must stop immediately or as soon as it is safe to stop and must not resume until it can be performed in accordance with the SWMS. The SWMS must also be reviewed when controls or relevant conditions change.

The Model Code says the WHS Regulations do not expressly require a risk assessment for construction work generally. A risk assessment can nevertheless help identify who may be exposed, understand sources of risk, select controls or test existing controls. A general risk assessment does not replace a required SWMS. A SWMS for high-risk construction work does not remove the need to manage other physical and psychosocial risks.

WHS management plans

The Model Code states that the principal contractor must prepare a written WHS management plan before a construction project starts. The plan must address specified responsibilities, consultation and coordination, incident arrangements, site-specific rules and arrangements for obtaining, assessing, monitoring and reviewing SWMS.

The plan must be site-specific or adapted to the particular project. People carrying out construction work must, so far as is reasonably practicable, be made aware of its contents and their right to inspect it. The principal contractor must keep it current and communicate relevant revisions. Apply the construction-project trigger for the relevant jurisdiction, not the Model threshold by default.

Information, training and supervision

PCBUs must provide the information, training, instruction and supervision needed to protect people from construction-work risks, in a form they can understand. The Model Code states that a person carrying out construction work must successfully complete general construction induction training before starting, subject to the detailed jurisdictional rules. Workplace-specific induction should cover local hazards, controls, emergency arrangements, services, access, reporting, facilities and site rules. Task-specific training and suitable supervision may also be necessary, particularly for inexperienced workers or unfamiliar, remote or isolated work.

Implementation checklist

• Confirm which jurisdiction’s WHS Act, Regulations and approved Code apply.
• Decide whether each activity is construction work and identify any high-risk construction work.
• Check the local construction-project definition and trigger; do not default to $250,000.
• In NSW, record whether the approved Code is followed or how the different method provides an equivalent or higher standard.
• In the NT, document when construction work connected with the project began before applying the $500,000 or $1 million threshold.
• Identify each PCBU and duty holder, including designers, commissioners and workplace controllers.
• Record worker consultation and arrangements for consultation, cooperation and coordination between duty holders.
• Obtain design-safety and underground-services information before relevant work begins.
• Identify physical and psychosocial hazards and select controls using the hierarchy.
• Prepare or obtain a site-specific SWMS before high-risk construction work starts.
• Consult affected workers and their HSRs, if any, when preparing and reviewing each SWMS.
• Provide the relevant SWMS to the principal contractor before project-related high-risk work starts.
• Prepare, communicate and maintain a WHS management plan where the local construction-project provisions apply.
• Verify induction cards, licences, competency, workplace-specific induction and task-specific training.
• Establish workplace security, access, traffic, emergency, first-aid, facility and public-safety arrangements.
• Inspect work and verify that documented controls are actually being used.
• Stop and correct high-risk work that does not follow its SWMS.
• Review controls, SWMS and the WHS management plan after relevant changes, identified failures or consultation outcomes.
• Keep records required by the applicable jurisdictional law.

Common mistakes

• Treating the Model Code as automatically adopted law in every jurisdiction.
• Treating a NSW approved Code as merely optional guidance after section 26A commenced.
• Relying on the NT March 2026 Code’s $500,000 statement for a project that began on or after 28 May 2026.
• Assuming the Model $250,000 construction-project trigger applies everywhere.
• Assuming a contract transfers a WHS duty to somebody else.
• Treating consultation on a SWMS as optional or omitting the workers’ HSRs, if any.
• Using a generic SWMS without adapting it to the site, workers and interacting activities.
• Treating a signed SWMS as proof that controls are operating without inspecting the work.
• Preparing a SWMS for every routine task while overlooking the requirements for high-risk construction work.
• Relying on PPE or paperwork before considering elimination and higher-order controls.
• Limiting hazard identification to physical injury and overlooking psychosocial hazards.
• Providing general induction but no workplace-specific or task-specific information.
• Failing to revise controls, SWMS or the WHS management plan when conditions change.

Official sources

• Safe Work Australia — Model Code of Practice: Construction work
• SafeWork NSW — Construction work Code of Practice
• NSW legislation — Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• NSW legislation — Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025
• WorkSafe WA — Code of practice: Construction work
• WA legislation — Work Health and Safety Act 2020
• WA legislation — Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022
• WorkSafe Tasmania — Construction Work Code of Practice
• Tasmanian legislation — Work Health and Safety Act 2012
• Tasmanian legislation — Work Health and Safety Regulations 2022
• NT WorkSafe — Construction work Code of Practice
• Northern Territory legislation — Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011
• Northern Territory legislation — Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011