RAMS Explained

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What is a RAMS document?

A RAMS (Risk Assessment & Method Statement) is a document prepared by an infrastructure operator before carrying out installation work in a building. It covers:

• Risk Assessment, which identifies the hazards associated with the work and the measures in place to control them
• Method Statement, which describes step by step how the work will be carried out safely

RAMS documents are a standard requirement for construction or installation work in occupied buildings. They protect the people in the building and the people doing the work.

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Why RAMS matter for wayleaves

When an operator installs equipment in a building, whether that is fibre, a communications cabinet or a rooftop antenna, the work carries real risk: working at height, drilling through fire compartmentation, disturbing asbestos in older buildings, working in risers and plant rooms. A proper RAMS demonstrates that the operator has identified the risks specific to that building, planned controls for each one, briefed their team, and prepared for emergencies.

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When a RAMS is submitted

A RAMS is optional when a request is submitted, and can be uploaded at any point in the request lifecycle. This is deliberate. An operator often cannot produce a building-specific RAMS until they have surveyed the site, and a generic template written before the survey is exactly the document this review is designed to catch. The request form carries a toggle for this: “I need to survey the building before producing a RAMS.” Flagging it tells the landlord that the document is coming, and the site visit can be arranged through the request messaging thread. Three routes get a RAMS onto a request:

• The operator uploads it with the request. PDF only, maximum 20 MB.
• The operator uploads it later, from the request page, at any stage.
• The landlord asks for one. If a request arrives without a RAMS, or with one that needs work, the landlord can send a request for it from the request page. Where an AI review has already run, that message is pre-filled with the specific recommendations the review produced, so the operator receives a concrete list rather than a bare ask.

Uploads are versioned. A revised RAMS does not overwrite the original: it is stored as a new version linked to the one it supersedes, so both parties keep the full history. If the request was waiting on information, uploading a RAMS moves it back into review automatically. You can submit a single combined document, or upload the Risk Assessment and the Method Statement separately. Wayline records which of the three you have provided and assesses what is present.

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What the review assesses

Wayline reviews every uploaded RAMS against a fixed set of 14 categories. Eleven apply to every installation. Three apply only where the request covers particular parts of the building, so a given request is assessed against between 11 and 14 categories. Categories that do not apply are marked N/A and are excluded from scoring. A ground-floor installation in communal areas is not penalised for saying nothing about rooftop work. The review also draws on context beyond the document itself:

• Your insurance on file. Where you have uploaded insurance certificates, the review cross-references them against what the RAMS claims. A RAMS that mentions cover without specifics is treated favourably if the platform already holds the policy, and a discrepancy between the two is flagged.
• The request you submitted. The RAMS is compared against the scope of the request. Works described in areas the request never listed, a different installation type, a different building or a materially larger scope are all flagged, regardless of how well written the document is.
• Certifications. Where the RAMS references a qualification such as IPAF or a rooftop worker card, that is noted positively and the landlord is advised to ask for the certificate before works start. A referenced certification is not treated as a gap simply because the certificate is not attached.

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Reading the result

The assessment returns four things. An overall risk level of Low, Medium, High or Critical. For a standard telecoms installation, Low is the normal outcome. High and Critical are reserved for major safety gaps. A document completeness rating of Complete, Partial or Insufficient. Complete means every applicable section is covered. Partial means there are gaps but the document is workable. Insufficient means it is too thin to proceed on. A score out of 100, derived from the category ratings rather than assigned directly. Each rated category contributes a value, and the score is the average across every category that applies: The number is shown in one of four colours, on fixed thresholds: The colour is a reading aid rather than a verdict. Because it follows from the average, a single bad category is diluted by the rest: a document rated satisfactory in ten of eleven applicable categories and not addressed in the eleventh still scores 91 and shows green. Read the per-category breakdown rather than the colour. A per-category breakdown. Each category carries one of the five ratings above, written comments explaining what is present or missing and why it matters, and, where there are gaps, specific recommendations for fixing them. The review also records whether site photographs or annotated plans were found, because their presence is a strong quality signal. Nothing in the assessment is a simple pass or fail. A document can be rated Low risk overall while carrying minor issues in several categories.

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Expert review

A landlord or managing agent can escalate any reviewed RAMS to expert review by the Wayline team for £99. Expert review is landlord-initiated, available once the AI review has completed, and can be requested once per document. A reviewer works through the same categories, records their own rating for each one alongside the rating the AI gave, and writes up their reasoning. The result is presented next to the AI assessment, so you can see where a human reviewer disagreed and why. Operators cannot initiate expert review, and are not charged for it.

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Accepting a RAMS

Once satisfied, the landlord or managing agent marks the RAMS as accepted on the request. This is recorded against the request and the operator is notified, so both sides have a clear record of the point at which the safety documentation was signed off. Acceptance is separate from approving the wayleave terms. A landlord can accept the RAMS and still negotiate commercial terms, or ask for a revised RAMS while terms are already under discussion.

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What a strong submission contains

Drawn from the checklists the review works through, the documents that score well tend to share the same characteristics. They are specific to the building. The review expects a document of roughly 10 to 20 pages for this kind of work. Anything under about five pages usually indicates the risks have not been thought through. A thorough 10-page document written for the actual building beats a 40-page generic template that never names it. They describe the route, not just the outcome. Cable route from entry point through to termination, cabinet and distribution point locations, fixing methods and materials, a numbered sequence of operations, power requirements, and how cables will be labelled. They name people. A project manager or supervisor, a site contact, and an emergency contact for out of hours. They address asbestos explicitly, even if only to say the register will be checked on arrival. Silence on asbestos in a UK building of any age reads as an omission. They commit on fire stopping. How penetrations will be sealed, what material will be used, and an undertaking to reinstate compartmentation. They include images. Annotated photographs with the cable route marked, equipment positions on floor plans, and entry and exit points identified. They state insurance. Public liability and employers’ liability, with amounts. They carry a version number and a revision history, so everyone can tell which document they are reading.