Best Compliance Software for Domestic Builders (UK 2026)
For UK domestic building work, CDM 2015 §14(1) puts the duty-holder roles on the contractor rather than the homeowner client, so the right software produces plain-English paperwork, not commercial project-management depth. The Site Book ranks first for domestic builders - plain-English CPP and RAMS for house extensions, loft conversions and kitchen fits - at Starter £0, Pro £39/mo or £360/yr, Business £199/mo. CDM Wizard is an honest free fallback for a basic CPP; Haspod's template library covers domestic jobs too.
Domestic construction work sits under CDM 2015 §14(1), which puts the duty-holder roles on the contractor rather than the homeowner client - and that changes what compliance software actually needs to do. Commercial project-management depth is irrelevant; plain-English templates for house extensions, loft conversions, and kitchen fits are what matters. The Site Book ranks first for its domestic-focused positioning. CDM Wizard earns an honest second for free domestic CPPs. Haspod's template library covers domestic templates too. Procore, Evalu-8, and SafetyCulture are explicitly excluded - they're commercial-oriented tools where the homeowner-facing nuance of CDM 2015 §14(1) is not the design centre.
The Site Book fit and HandsHQ product scope were rechecked on 2026-07-21; the CDM 2015 §14(1) duty-holder basis and other retained vendor sources remain as previously reviewed.
Starter £0; Pro £39/mo or £360/yr; Business £199/mo
Free
£799/yr (annual upfront)
Team size
1 internal user on Pro; 10 management logins and 50 active site portal users on Business. Any invited seat can be a field-only Site Supervisor limited to assigned sites/projects. Worker document signing has no per-signature charge; Business can optionally require a 4-digit PIN for shared-link sign-off, and project workers count as active portal users while assigned
Any -small/domestic jobs
1–50
Best for
UK builders and principal contractors - from sole traders to builder-run firms of around 50 staff - who need CDM documents plus lightweight site H&S operations: RAMS, CPP, COSHH, inductions, toolbox talks, site attendance, site files, document review evidence, subcontractor evidence and worker/visitor portal access.
Builders on small or domestic works who want a free tick-box questionnaire that generates a compliant CDM 2015 Construction Phase Plan.
Small-to-mid UK businesses (sole trader up to ~50 users) that prefer browsing an 810+ template library and customising by hand, and are comfortable with annual-only upfront commitments. Documents / Training / Talks are sold as separate annual subscriptions or bundled in the Pro Plan.
Not ideal for
New product (launched 2026) -smaller customer base and shorter track record than established tools like HandsHQ.
Scoped to a single CPP for small or domestic works — no RAMS, COSHH, method statements, inductions, permits or worker tracking.
Annual-only billing with no monthly option and no automatic renewal -every plan requires a £799+VAT upfront commitment for 12 months, which is a heavy lift for sole traders testing the product.
RAMS
AI-generated, site-specific, edit in-browser.
Via template library
CPP
Full Construction Phase Plans - not just RAMS.
Questionnaire-driven Construction Phase Plan generator for small/domestic projects; emailable branded PDF.
Template
COSHH
Standalone COSHH document + site-specific register, SDS upload with extraction, and construction-focused library entries that appear in search only after review.
Template
Method statements
Template library
Site inductions
Workers sign from their phone - on Business, key H&S details are readable in 9 languages.
Training Plan add-on
Multilingual inductions (9 languages)
On the Business plan, workers read and acknowledge key H&S details in 9 languages; the language used is recorded in the audit trail and translations are site-team reviewable.
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—
Worker cert tracking
Cert plus right-to-work evidence records, with expiry reminders.
Incident log
Permits to work
Template only
Site diary
Pro includes editable daily entries; owner/admin deletion is permanent, while a Business Site Supervisor's delete can be restored. Live entries and photo counts appear in the Audit Pack.
Subcontractor tracking
Toolbox talks
Talks Plan add-on
Site attendance
Business includes check-in/check-out and live H&S attendance.
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—
Site portal
Business includes up to 50 active site portal users.
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—
Site files
Drawings, plans, H&S docs, procedures, RAMS, CPP and emergency information.
—
—
Document review
Business review status and history, plus optional named-approver routing (accept/reject each version with recorded reasons before issue) and client review via share links.
—
—
Subcontractor evidence
Business evidence record, review and archive workflow.
—
—
Site inspections
Business inspections with checklist items.
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—
Corrective actions
Business corrective actions with owner, due date and completion state.
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PCPP import
Upload an existing PCPP and reuse the structure.
Document checking
Data export
Includes the Audit Pack: one merged PDF covering documents, sign-offs, worker evidence, attendance, incidents, COSHH, permits and up to the latest 500 live Site Diary entries.
PDF/DOC download
AI chat
RAMS / CPP / COSHH generation
The flagship: generates site-specific UK RAMS, CPP and COSHH from a plain-English brief.
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Right to work
Right-to-work evidence records with expiry reminders, alongside cert tracking.
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—
Mobile app
Workers sign and get inducted from their phone browser with nothing to install; a native builder app is in development, not yet in the public app stores.
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QR / mobile sign-in
Site Control (per-site tier) adds a permanent entrance QR for sign-in/out from the worker's phone.
—
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Contractor self-onboarding
Site Control (per-site tier) adds contractor self-join via the entrance QR with CSCS upload and approval.
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—
RFIs
Site Control (per-site tier) adds RFIs - create, attach, comment, answer and close.
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RAMS sign-off (per worker)
Per-worker RAMS sign-off is tracked on Business; an optional 4-digit PIN adds shared-link identity evidence, and Site Control can block check-in until the current version is signed.
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Live people-on-site
Business adds a live people-on-site H&S view plus evacuation and muster roll-call.
—
—
Document-review evidence
Business keeps version history with a per-version record of review, issue and worker acknowledgement.
—
—
Multi-site dashboard & exports
Unlimited projects with account-wide exports and the merged Audit Pack; no cross-site rollup dashboard below the Site Control tier.
—
—
SSOW
Delivered as the method statement inside the RAMS rather than a separate safe-system-of-work document.
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Reading this table: a tick means supported, a dash means partly supported, and a cross means we checked and it is not supported. An em dash (—) means we have not verified that capability for that product either way — treat it as unknown, not as a missing feature, and check with the vendor.
Why this matters
Domestic construction is a different buying context from commercial construction, and the parent best-construction-compliance-software roundup doesn't quite capture it. CDM 2015 §14(1) shifts duty-holder responsibilities onto the contractor when the client is a homeowner, so the tooling question isn't 'which platform has the deepest project management layer' - it's 'which tool produces documents a homeowner can read and a sole trader can generate without an H and S qualification'. This page ranks on exactly that question and excludes commercial-first tools on purpose.
Who each tool is for
At-a-glance fit per product - pulled from the same data that drives the snapshot table.
The Site Book
Best for
UK builders and principal contractors - from sole traders to builder-run firms of around 50 staff - who need CDM documents plus lightweight site H&S operations: RAMS, CPP, COSHH, inductions, toolbox talks, site attendance, site files, document review evidence, subcontractor evidence and worker/visitor portal access.
Not ideal for
New product (launched 2026) -smaller customer base and shorter track record than established tools like HandsHQ.
Team size
1 internal user on Pro; 10 management logins and 50 active site portal users on Business. Any invited seat can be a field-only Site Supervisor limited to assigned sites/projects. Worker document signing has no per-signature charge; Business can optionally require a 4-digit PIN for shared-link sign-off, and project workers count as active portal users while assigned
CDM Wizard
Best for
Builders on small or domestic works who want a free tick-box questionnaire that generates a compliant CDM 2015 Construction Phase Plan.
Not ideal for
Scoped to a single CPP for small or domestic works — no RAMS, COSHH, method statements, inductions, permits or worker tracking.
Team size
Any -small/domestic jobs
Haspod
Best for
Small-to-mid UK businesses (sole trader up to ~50 users) that prefer browsing an 810+ template library and customising by hand, and are comfortable with annual-only upfront commitments. Documents / Training / Talks are sold as separate annual subscriptions or bundled in the Pro Plan.
Not ideal for
Annual-only billing with no monthly option and no automatic renewal -every plan requires a £799+VAT upfront commitment for 12 months, which is a heavy lift for sole traders testing the product.
Team size
1–50
The bottom line
Pick the option that matches how your team actually works.
Choose The Site Book if…
For a standard homeowner job - house extension, loft conversion, kitchen fit - the CDM 2015 §14(1) domestic client rules put the duty-holder responsibilities on you as the contractor. The Site Book is built for exactly that audience. Plain-English CPP and RAMS, a simple homeowner-readable brief, and document output a homeowner can actually understand without an H and S qualification in the room. Starter is £0 for your first project; Pro is £39/month or £360/year.
Recommended for: Domestic client (homeowner) projects under CDM 2015 §14(1)
Choose The Site Book if…
Work for a letting agent, a small landlord, or a property manager is still domestic construction, but the client isn't a homeowner - it's a commercial client buying domestic work. CDM 2015 §14(1) no longer applies because the client is commercial, but the work itself stays small-scale. The Site Book still fits; Haspod's template library is a reasonable second pick for firms that want to hand-edit rather than generate from a brief.
Recommended for: Commercial-client domestic work - letting agents, small landlords, property managers
Why switch to The Site Book
✓Purpose-built for domestic work under CDM 2015 §14(1) - not a commercial tool with domestic bolted on as an afterthought.
✓Plain-English CPP and RAMS a homeowner can actually read - no enterprise EHS jargon designed for industrial audits.
✓No commercial PM features cluttering the interface - fewer clicks to produce a domestic-extension CPP.
✓Priced for sole traders and small firms running domestic jobs - Starter £0, Pro £39/mo or £360/yr, Business £199/mo; optional setup is £249 one-off for one job, not a subscription.
✓Ships everything a domestic builder actually needs: CPP, RAMS, COSHH, inductions, toolbox talks - in one subscription.
Full breakdown per product
Strengths, weaknesses, fit, and the sources every claim came from.
Starter £0; Pro £39/mo or £360/yr; Business £199/mo
Best for
UK builders and principal contractors - from sole traders to builder-run firms of around 50 staff - who need CDM documents plus lightweight site H&S operations: RAMS, CPP, COSHH, inductions, toolbox talks, site attendance, site files, document review evidence, subcontractor evidence and worker/visitor portal access.
Team size
1 internal user on Pro; 10 management logins and 50 active site portal users on Business. Any invited seat can be a field-only Site Supervisor limited to assigned sites/projects. Worker document signing has no per-signature charge; Business can optionally require a 4-digit PIN for shared-link sign-off, and project workers count as active portal users while assigned
Sweet spot
A builder-run principal contractor on a domestic or commercial project who needs ready-to-sign CDM documents, worker sign-off, a live people-on-site view, practical site files, subcontractor evidence records and lightweight inspections/actions - without a dedicated H&S department to run them.
Strengths
UK construction compliance tool that ships RAMS + CPP + COSHH + inductions (readable and acknowledgeable in 9 worker languages on Business, with the language audit-recorded) + worker sign-off, including optional 4-digit shared-link PIN evidence on Business, plus site attendance, portal users, site files, document reviews, subcontractor evidence and inspections/actions.
Generate a site-specific RAMS first draft from a natural-language brief in under five minutes, ready for competent-person review - not a template library you hand-fill.
Controlled document workflow without an enterprise contract: version history and a recorded issue confirmation before a document is shared with a client or downloaded in the app on every plan, re-sign on revision with superseded signatures preserved plus PCPP import, cert tracking and document checking from the £39/month Pro plan - and on Business, optional named-approver routing (a designated approver accepts or rejects each version, with recorded reasons, before it can be issued) plus client approve/reject/request-changes via share links.
Transparent pricing: Starter £0, Pro £39/month or £360/year, Business £199/month with 10 management logins and 50 active site portal users. Worker document signing has no per-signature charge; project workers count as active portal users while assigned.
Build RAMS for any trade - add your own work types and method statements alongside the built-in library, reusable across projects, including a ready-made Commercial Solar PV group. Save a finished job as a reusable project template, or clone it, so the next job of the same shape starts from your own setup.
COSHH goes deep: a standalone COSHH assessment document, upload-a-Safety-Data-Sheet extraction, a site-specific substance register and an expert-reviewed library - plus per-worker RAMS sign-off and a one-click Audit Pack covering documents, sign-offs, worker evidence, attendance, incidents, COSHH, permits and up to the latest 500 live Site Diary entries.
Weaknesses
New product (launched 2026) -smaller customer base and shorter track record than established tools like HandsHQ.
Procore integration is in final testing rather than publicly launched -until it ships, compliance docs export as PDFs rather than syncing into Procore. A public REST API and signed webhooks are live on the Site Control tier; Autodesk Construction Cloud is not integrated.
Site files are a practical portal for drawings, plans and procedures, not formal drawing revision control.
UK-focused content (CDM 2015, HSE guidance) -international contractors on non-UK projects would need to adapt the output.
Check the product detail
These maintained Help Centre guides show exactly how the controls behind this comparison work.
Small-to-mid UK businesses (sole trader up to ~50 users) that prefer browsing an 810+ template library and customising by hand, and are comfortable with annual-only upfront commitments. Documents / Training / Talks are sold as separate annual subscriptions or bundled in the Pro Plan.
Team size
1–50
Sweet spot
SME builders and sole traders who want a template library they can browse, download, and hand-edit -not an AI document generator -and who are willing to commit to 12-month upfront billing.
Strengths
Mature 20,000+ user membership with an 810+ template library covering RAMS, method statements, CDM templates, COSHH, and forms -the broadest out-of-the-box template catalogue in UK CDM compliance.
Pro Plan bundles Documents + Training + Talks for £997/yr with a ~28% bundle discount -cheaper than buying all three as separate annual subscriptions.
SME-friendly pricing tiers mean a sole trader can start on the Talks Plan (£99/yr) for toolbox content and scale to Documents (£799/yr) as volume grows.
Each membership plan includes 10 users before extra-user pricing applies.
Weaknesses
Annual-only billing with no monthly option and no automatic renewal -every plan requires a £799+VAT upfront commitment for 12 months, which is a heavy lift for sole traders testing the product.
Documents, Training, and Talks are separate subscriptions unless you step up to the £997/yr Pro Plan -costs stack fast if you want the full CDM suite and toolbox content together.
Extra users add annual cost: Documents and Training list £30+VAT/year each, Talks lists £15+VAT/year, and Pro lists £45+VAT/year.
No AI document generation -every template must be hand-customized for each site, which keeps RAMS production slow compared with AI-assisted generators.
No worker certificate tracking, incident log, permit system, or site diary -the library covers documents but not the ongoing site-operations layer.
Short, straight answers - the same questions real builders ask.
Do I need a CPP for a domestic extension?
Yes, if the project crosses the CDM 2015 thresholds - which most domestic extensions do once more than one contractor is on site or the work lasts more than thirty days. The construction phase plan does not need to be as detailed as a commercial CPP, but it must exist and cover the site-specific hazards. The Site Book generates a plain-English CPP suitable for domestic client jobs in a few minutes.
Who's the principal contractor for a homeowner's job?
On a domestic project, CDM 2015 §14(1) automatically transfers the client duties to the contractor unless a principal designer is appointed. In plain English: if a homeowner hires you, you're treated as both contractor and principal contractor for CDM purposes, and the duty-holder paperwork sits on you. That's why domestic-builder compliance tools matter - the homeowner isn't going to produce any of it.
What's the simplest compliance tool for domestic-only work?
The Site Book is built for sole traders and small firms running domestic jobs. It ships plain-English CPP and RAMS, a construction phase plan suitable for homeowner projects, COSHH assessments, site inductions, and toolbox talks. CDM Wizard is a free alternative for CPPs specifically but not a complete tool. Haspod's template library covers domestic templates but requires hand-editing rather than generating from a brief.
How much does compliance software cost for a domestic builder?
The Site Book is Starter £0 (your first project free), Pro £39/month or £360/year, and Business £199/month. The optional setup service is £249 one-off - it covers the Site Book paperwork for one job and is not a subscription. CDM Wizard is free but produces only a basic CPP, and Haspod is an annual-upfront template membership with Documents at £799/year, so budget for the whole year in advance.
Are commercial tools like HandsHQ overkill for domestic builders?
They can be, but HandsHQ is not enterprise-only: it publishes direct-signup individual RAMS plans as well as team tiers. For a domestic builder doing extensions or loft conversions, compare the RAMS allowance and template workflow with a product that also creates the CPP, induction and wider project record. Procore, Evalu-8 and SafetyCulture address broader operational or EHS needs that many domestic jobs will not require.
Does the homeowner have any CDM duties on a domestic job?
Effectively none of the duty-holder paperwork. Under CDM 2015 §14(1) the domestic client's duties transfer automatically to the contractor - or to the principal contractor where more than one contractor is involved - unless the homeowner appoints a principal designer to hold them. In practice the homeowner is not going to produce a construction phase plan or RAMS, so the paperwork burden lands on the builder; domestic-focused tools exist to generate exactly those documents from a short brief.
How we built this comparison
The Site Book fit and HandsHQ product scope were rechecked on 2026-07-21; the CDM 2015 §14(1) duty-holder basis and other retained vendor sources remain as previously reviewed.
Every pricing, feature, and fit claim in this comparison is checked against public vendor documentation and, where relevant, independent sources. The “source basis” footer on each product card lists the exact URLs and the date we fetched them. The internal freshness dashboard flags source evidence after 45 days; priority pricing is scheduled for monthly review and feature or ownership claims for quarterly review. Last reviewed on .
UK construction compliance tool that ships RAMS + CPP + COSHH + inductions (readable and acknowledgeable in 9 worker languages on Business, with the language audit-recorded) + worker sign-off, including optional 4-digit shared-link PIN evidence on Business, plus site attendance, portal users, site files, document reviews, subcontractor evidence and inspections/actions.
Generate a site-specific RAMS first draft from a natural-language brief in under five minutes, ready for competent-person review - not a template library you hand-fill.
Controlled document workflow without an enterprise contract: version history and a recorded issue confirmation before a document is shared with a client or downloaded in the app on every plan, re-sign on revision with superseded signatures preserved plus PCPP import, cert tracking and document checking from the £39/month Pro plan - and on Business, optional named-approver routing (a designated approver accepts or rejects each version, with recorded reasons, before it can be issued) plus client approve/reject/request-changes via share links.
Transparent pricing: Starter £0, Pro £39/month or £360/year, Business £199/month with 10 management logins and 50 active site portal users. Worker document signing has no per-signature charge; project workers count as active portal users while assigned.
Build RAMS for any trade - add your own work types and method statements alongside the built-in library, reusable across projects, including a ready-made Commercial Solar PV group. Save a finished job as a reusable project template, or clone it, so the next job of the same shape starts from your own setup.
COSHH goes deep: a standalone COSHH assessment document, upload-a-Safety-Data-Sheet extraction, a site-specific substance register and an expert-reviewed library - plus per-worker RAMS sign-off and a one-click Audit Pack covering documents, sign-offs, worker evidence, attendance, incidents, COSHH, permits and up to the latest 500 live Site Diary entries.
