Definition
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (as amended) are the UK's primary legislation governing any work carried out in a place where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. They apply to every workplace and work activity where the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 applies, and they bind employers, the self-employed, and anyone who controls the way work at height is done — including a surveyor conducting a solo inspection.
Why this matters for Health & Safety
Falls from height remain the single biggest cause of fatal workplace injury in the UK construction and property sector year after year, according to HSE statistics. For an RICS surveyor, work at height is not an occasional hazard confined to contractors: roof inspections, defect surveys, scaffold walk-arounds and plant inspections are routine parts of many APC pathways, and assessors expect candidates to show they understand the regulatory framework, not just that they "wear a harness."
It also matters because the duties apply personally. A self-employed surveyor who arranges their own access for an inspection is both duty-holder and worker under the Regulations, and cannot discharge that duty by informally accepting the risk themselves.
1. The hierarchy of control
The Regulations set out a clear, ranked hierarchy that must be worked through in order, not picked from freely: first, avoid work at height altogether if the task can reasonably be done another way; second, where it cannot be avoided, use work equipment or other measures to prevent a fall, prioritising collective protection (such as permanent guard rails or a mobile elevating work platform) over personal protection; and third, where a fall cannot be prevented, minimise the distance and consequences of a fall using equipment such as nets or airbags, or arrest the fall with a harness and lanyard system.
2. Avoiding the work altogether
The first and most frequently overlooked step is asking whether the inspection needs physical access at all. Drone surveys, high-resolution zoom photography from an adjacent safe vantage point, or reviewing existing as-built records can sometimes answer the question a client is actually asking, without anyone leaving the ground. Assessors increasingly expect candidates to mention this step explicitly rather than jumping straight to equipment selection.
3. Collective protection before personal protection
Where access is genuinely necessary, the Regulations favour measures that protect everyone in the area — guard rails, toe boards, covered openings — over measures that depend on an individual's equipment and training being correctly used every single time. A harness and lanyard system is a valid and often necessary tool, but it sits below collective measures in the hierarchy precisely because it depends on correct use, inspection, and a viable rescue plan if a fall is arrested.
4. Ladders: restricted, not banned
A persistent misconception is that the 2005 Regulations outlawed ladders. They did not. HSE guidance permits ladders for low-risk, short-duration work — commonly treated as around 30 minutes or less in one position — where a risk assessment shows a ladder is the right tool, three points of contact can be maintained, and the ladder is suitably secured and inspected. The key test is whether a ladder was chosen because the risk assessment supported it, not because it happened to be in the van.
5. Competence, planning and rescue
Beyond equipment, the Regulations require that work at height is properly planned, that those involved are competent (or supervised by someone competent), and that there is a plan for emergency rescue, particularly where fall-arrest equipment is used — a worker left suspended in a harness can suffer suspension trauma within minutes if not recovered promptly.
If asked to describe how you would approach a roof inspection, structure your answer around the hierarchy explicitly — avoid, prevent, minimise/mitigate — rather than jumping straight to "I'd wear a harness." Assessors use this question to check whether a candidate understands the regulatory logic, not just the equipment.
Relevant RICS guidance and legislation
- Work at Height Regulations 2005 (as amended 2007)
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
- HSE guidance: Health and Safety in Roof Work (HSG33)
- RICS Health and Safety professional statement
Ethics and Rules of Conduct angle
Rule 5 of the RICS Rules of Conduct requires members to act in a way that respects the wider public interest, and personal safety sits squarely within that duty: a surveyor who skips proper risk assessment to save time on an inspection is not just breaching health and safety law, but failing the standard of care the profession expects. Where a candidate is instructed to attend a site with inadequate access arrangements, refusing to proceed until safe access is provided is both a legal and an ethical obligation, not an optional extra.
APC questions and answers
Q (Level 1)What counts as "work at height" under the 2005 Regulations?
Any work in a place where, without precautions, a person could fall a distance liable to cause injury. This includes working at or below ground level next to an opening, not just working above ground — inspecting a basement lightwell or an open excavation counts just as much as a roof.
Q (Level 1)What are the four levels of the hierarchy of control in the Work at Height Regulations 2005?
Avoid work at height where possible; use an existing safe place of work (e.g. a permanent walkway); use equipment to prevent falls (e.g. guard rails, a mobile elevating work platform); and where a fall cannot be prevented, use equipment to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall (e.g. nets, airbags) or arrest it (e.g. a harness and lanyard system).
Q (Level 2)Are ladders banned under the Work at Height Regulations 2005?
No. Ladders remain permitted for low-risk, short-duration tasks where a risk assessment shows their use is appropriate — HSE guidance generally treats this as roughly 30 minutes or less at any one position. They must not be the default choice simply because they are convenient.
Q (Level 2)A client instructs you to inspect a flat roof with no permanent edge protection. How would you plan the visit in line with the Work at Height Regulations 2005?
I would first ask whether the inspection can be done without going onto the roof at all, for example by drone or from an adjacent vantage point — satisfying the "avoid" step. If physical access is unavoidable, I would check for an existing safe means of access and edge protection; if none exists, I would arrange temporary guard rails or a mobile elevating work platform rather than relying on a harness alone, since collective protection ranks above personal fall-arrest equipment in the hierarchy. I would also confirm competence, a current risk assessment, and rescue arrangements before attending.
Q (Level 3)Who holds duties under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and how does this affect a self-employed RICS surveyor conducting a lone inspection?
Employers, the self-employed, and anyone who controls the way work at height is carried out all hold duties — a sole-practitioner surveyor inspecting a roof is both the "employer" and the "worker" for the purposes of the Regulations and cannot discharge the duty simply by accepting personal risk. They must still plan, supervise and carry out the work safely, use competent personnel, assess the risks, and select suitable equipment under the same hierarchy as a larger firm would apply.