SWMS rules in New South Wales

• The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 replaced the 2017 Regulation on 22 August 2025. Its provisions are now called sections, not clauses, so cite the 2025 Regulation on your SWMS.
• A construction project is construction work worth $250,000 or more. It needs a principal contractor, site signs with 24 hour phone numbers, and a WHS management plan written before work starts.
• SafeWork NSW says a SWMS must be site specific. A generic SWMS can only be used if it is reviewed for the hazards on that site.
• Keep the SWMS at the workplace until the work is finished. An electronic copy is fine. If the work is not being done the way the SWMS says, stop, and do not restart until it is.
• Silica worker register (from 1 October 2025): register every worker who does high risk crystalline silica processing within 28 days of them starting, online with SafeWork NSW.
• Legacy engineered stone: before removing, repairing, modifying or disposing of installed engineered stone, lodge an online notification that covers the next 12 months. Re-notify within 30 days of any change and keep each notice for 5 years.
• NSW issues demolition licences. An unrestricted demolition licence is needed for load bearing demolition over 15 m, or that involves a chemical installation, a tower crane, a mobile crane over 100 t, pre or post tensioned parts, floor propping or explosives.
• White cards are issued by SafeWork NSW (the training provider applies for you). The card is void after 2 or more years in a row without construction work. A digital white card is in the Service NSW app, but you must still carry the physical card.

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW)
• Code of Practice: Construction Work (SafeWork NSW, August 2019)

Regulator: SafeWork NSW, phone 13 10 50.

• Notifiable incident (death, serious injury or illness, dangerous incident): phone SafeWork NSW on 13 10 50 straight away, 24 hours a day. Do not disturb the site until an inspector arrives, except to help the injured, remove a deceased person or make the area safe.
• Licensed demolition: notify at least 5 calendar days before work starts on a load bearing structure 6 m or more high, demolition using load shifting machinery on a suspended floor, or demolition using explosives. Lodge it through SafeWork NSW's online asbestos and demolition notification system.
• Licensed asbestos removal: notify at least 5 calendar days before removing friable asbestos or more than 10 square metres of non friable asbestos. In an emergency, phone 13 10 50 and lodge online within 24 hours of the call.
• Silica worker register: each high risk crystalline silica worker within 28 days of starting.
• Legacy engineered stone: online notification before the work, covering the next 12 months, and re-notify within 30 days of a change.

SafeWork NSW High Risk Construction Work SWMS template (Word). Our builder covers the same fields and adds the hazards and controls for your job.