For a sole trader doing domestic extensions, The Site Book is the best RAMS software once you write more than two RAMS a month. Starter is £0, Pro is £39/month or £360/year, Business is £199/month, and the optional setup service is a £249 one-off, not a subscription. The same setup covers RAMS, a lightweight CPP, COSHH and site inductions from your phone.
For a team of one, this ranking is about economics, not features - budget, self-serve signup, and how many RAMS you actually write a month. The Site Book wins at any regular cadence with Pro at £39/month, or £360/year if paid annually, covering the full CDM suite. RapidRAMS beats it on pure maths if you only write one or two documents a month at about £15 per RAMS. Breakeven lands around two to three RAMS a month depending on billing cycle. RAMs App is a reasonable middle ground for template browsers; CDM Wizard is a free learning starting point; Word and Excel are not recommended for anyone invoicing real clients.
Starter £0; Pro £39/mo or £360/yr; Business £199/mo
£15 per document, no subscription
From £20/mo single user; multi-user tiers available
Free
Microsoft 365 licence (£7.90+/mo per user) + your time
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
Solo / occasional
All contractors
Any -small/domestic jobs
Any
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.
UK contractors needing occasional task-specific RAMS for routine, non-specialist work without a monthly subscription.
General contractors who need template-based RAMS with a familiar library-picker workflow and don't require a full CDM suite.
Builders on small or domestic works who want a free tick-box questionnaire that generates a compliant CDM 2015 Construction Phase Plan.
Anyone willing to write each document by hand who already has Microsoft 365 and doesn't produce RAMS often.
Not ideal for
New product (launched 2026) -smaller customer base and shorter track record than established tools like HandsHQ.
£15 per document becomes expensive fast once you need more than two RAMS a month -flat-rate tools pay for themselves quickly.
Template-based only -no AI that generates site-specific RAMS from a plain-English job description.
Scoped to a single CPP for small or domestic works — no RAMS, COSHH, method statements, inductions, permits or worker tracking.
Each RAMS is written by hand from a blank workbook -manual work that purpose-built tools draft in minutes for competent-person review.
RAMS
AI-generated, site-specific, edit in-browser.
Structured pay-as-you-go RAMS generator for routine, non-specialist work; payment is taken on submission and the RAMS PDF is emailed shortly afterwards.
Template-based library.
DIY -manual Word/Excel template, no substance database.
CPP
Full Construction Phase Plans - not just RAMS.
Questionnaire-driven Construction Phase Plan generator for small/domestic projects; emailable branded PDF.
COSHH
Standalone COSHH document + site-specific register, SDS upload with extraction, and construction-focused library entries that appear in search only after review.
COSHH assessments included.
Method statements
Template-based.
Manual Word template.
Site inductions
Workers sign from their phone - on Business, key H&S details are readable in 9 languages.
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.
—
—
—
—
Worker cert tracking
Cert plus right-to-work evidence records, with expiry reminders.
Incident log
Permits to work
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
Consultant-written toolbox-talk library.
Site attendance
Business includes check-in/check-out and live H&S attendance.
—
—
—
Site portal
Business includes up to 50 active site portal users.
—
—
—
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.
—
—
—
Corrective actions
Business corrective actions with owner, due date and completion state.
—
—
—
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.
Excel exports natively.
AI chat
RAMS / CPP / COSHH generation
The flagship: generates site-specific UK RAMS, CPP and COSHH from a plain-English brief.
—
—
—
—
Right to work
Right-to-work evidence records with expiry reminders, alongside cert tracking.
—
—
—
—
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.
—
—
—
—
QR / mobile sign-in
Site Control (per-site tier) adds a permanent entrance QR for sign-in/out from the worker's phone.
—
—
—
—
Contractor self-onboarding
Site Control (per-site tier) adds contractor self-join via the entrance QR with CSCS upload and approval.
—
—
—
—
RFIs
Site Control (per-site tier) adds RFIs - create, attach, comment, answer and close.
—
—
—
—
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.
—
—
—
—
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.
—
—
—
—
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
A team of one has different economics from a ten-person firm, and the parent best-rams-software-uk roundup doesn't quite fit. For a sole trader, the question isn't which tool has the deepest template library or the most collaboration features - it's how many RAMS you actually write a month and whether you can self-serve sign up without a demo. This page re-ranks the same tools through that lens, with an explicit breakeven figure so you can pick on maths rather than marketing.
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
RapidRAMS
Best for
UK contractors needing occasional task-specific RAMS for routine, non-specialist work without a monthly subscription.
Not ideal for
£15 per document becomes expensive fast once you need more than two RAMS a month -flat-rate tools pay for themselves quickly.
Team size
Solo / occasional
RAMs App
Best for
General contractors who need template-based RAMS with a familiar library-picker workflow and don't require a full CDM suite.
Not ideal for
Template-based only -no AI that generates site-specific RAMS from a plain-English job description.
Team size
All contractors
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
Excel templates
Best for
Anyone willing to write each document by hand who already has Microsoft 365 and doesn't produce RAMS often.
Not ideal for
Each RAMS is written by hand from a blank workbook -manual work that purpose-built tools draft in minutes for competent-person review.
Team size
Any
The bottom line
Pick the option that matches how your team actually works.
Choose RapidRAMS if…
If you are a one-person builder writing one or two RAMS a month at most, RapidRAMS wins on pure maths. Roughly fifteen pounds per document with no subscription is cheaper than any flat-rate plan when your usage is that low. The breakeven against The Site Book's annual Pro price lands at about two RAMS a month - below that, pay-per-document is the honest pick.
Recommended for: Occasional jobs - one or two RAMS a month
Choose The Site Book if…
If you are a sole trader running regular site work and writing more than two RAMS a month, The Site Book is cheaper and wider. Pro is £39/month, or £360/year if paid annually, and covers the full CDM suite - RAMS, CPP, COSHH, inductions, worker sign-off - in one bill, with self-serve signup and a free first project.
Recommended for: Regular work - more than two RAMS a month
Why switch to The Site Book
✓Self-serve signup with no demo gate - start writing RAMS on a Monday morning without booking a sales call first.
✓Starter is £0, Pro is £39/month or £360/year, Business is £199/month, and the optional setup service is £249 one-off.
✓Free first project lets a one-person team see real output - including a site-specific RAMS - before committing a card.
✓Mobile-first authoring and sign-off means the tool works from the cab of a van between jobs, not just from an office desk.
✓Per-worker sign-off, COSHH with Safety Data Sheet upload, and a one-click Audit Pack keep the evidence with the job when a principal contractor asks for your pack.
✓Breakeven maths is explicit: above two RAMS a month, flat rate beats pay-per-document on pure pounds.
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.
UK contractors needing occasional task-specific RAMS for routine, non-specialist work without a monthly subscription.
Team size
Solo / occasional
Sweet spot
A sole trader or small contractor who needs occasional pay-as-you-go RAMS and wants no subscription lock-in.
Strengths
Pay-per-document pricing is friction-free for builders who only need a RAMS occasionally -no monthly commitment.
Structured on-demand workflow for single RAMS documents, with adaptive logic rather than a static Word template.
Weaknesses
£15 per document becomes expensive fast once you need more than two RAMS a month -flat-rate tools pay for themselves quickly.
No CPP, COSHH, site inductions, or any site management tools -RAMS-only scope.
Narrow public scope: the homepage supports RAMS/method statement generation, but gives no evidence of CPP, COSHH, site inductions or broader site-management tools.
Short, straight answers - the same questions real builders ask.
How much does The Site Book cost for a sole trader?
Starter is £0 and lets you create your first project without a card. Pro is £39/month or £360/year and is the usual paid plan for regular RAMS, CPP, COSHH, inductions, and worker sign-off. Business is £199/month for larger teams. The optional setup service costs £249 once; it is not a monthly subscription.
What's the cheapest RAMS software for a sole trader?
It depends on how many documents you write. For one or two RAMS a month, RapidRAMS at roughly fifteen pounds per document is cheapest because you only pay when you draft one. For regular monthly work, The Site Book Pro is £39/month, or £360/year if paid annually, and covers unlimited documents plus the full CDM suite - CPP, COSHH, inductions, worker sign-off.
Do I need full RAMS software if I work alone?
Yes, if you are carrying out work that needs a risk assessment and method statement - which under CDM 2015 is most paid construction work, including domestic jobs above the relevant thresholds. HSE inspectors do not waive the duty for sole traders. What you can skip is enterprise tooling built for H and S managers. A simple tool aimed at one-person teams is enough to produce site-specific RAMS quickly.
Can a sole trader legally produce their own RAMS?
Yes. There is no legal requirement to hold a specific qualification to produce a risk assessment or method statement. CDM 2015 requires that the person is competent - meaning experienced enough with the work and its hazards to assess them sensibly. A sole trader who knows their trade is typically competent to write their own RAMS, especially with software that structures hazards, controls, PPE, and emergency procedures for them.
What RAMS do I need for domestic work as a sole trader?
For a domestic job under CDM 2015, you still need a risk assessment and method statement for the work itself, plus a simple construction phase plan if the project crosses the threshold. A homeowner is the client but the duty-holder responsibilities sit on you as the contractor. The Site Book is built for exactly this audience and generates domestic-ready RAMS, a lightweight CPP and site inductions for the typical house extension, loft conversion, and kitchen-fit scenarios.
How we built this comparison
Competitor pricing and documentation as reviewed 2026-05-06. The Site Book facts re-checked against the product repository on 2026-07-28.
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.
