Height safety design assessment
A free roof access design tool. Work the hierarchy of controls for work on the roof, score each task with an exposure-weighted risk matrix, and print a Design Report that shows your reasoning. Nothing leaves your browser. No sign-up, no email, no gate.
Scope of this tool
This tool covers work on the roof only — up to the edge of the roof. It does not cover facade access: no BMUs, swing stages, davits, rope access off the edge, or anything suspended down the face of the building. For facade access design, contact The Spec Hub directly.
Facade access — go to The Spec HubBuilt around the point made in designing access under a mandatory Code: the design is now the evidence, and the reasoning has to be written down.
Project and building type
What this tool does
The level of specification is widely varied in the height safety industry and at times roof access gets specified from a catalogue or from a historic document that gets copied and pasted. Products are picked and installed without a due consideration of what is fit for purpose. This tool makes you do the thinking in order and produces a record.
You enter the building and roof conditions, every route onto the roof and between roof levels, and each task with how often it happens. It scores fall risk per task with an exposure multiplier, provides some basic checks on your stairs and ladders, and walks you down the hierarchy of controls one rung at a time. Out the other end is a Design Report on your own letterhead (if you required).
Who it's for
- Height safety designers and specifiers — a structured record of the reasoning behind a layout.
- Building owners and facility managers — owner mode checks whether your existing documentation answers the questions a regulator would ask.
- Builders and head contractors — a way to test what an installer has proposed before it goes on the roof.
- Architects — a scope check at design stage, before anyone is on site.
What the Design Report contains
- Project, building type and roof conditions
- Access to the roof and between roof levels
- Every task, its frequency, and its exposure-weighted risk score
- The hierarchy of controls worked in order, with reasons for every rung ruled out
- Residual risk and the standards applied
- Inspection and recertification regime
- Your logo, ABN, author, licence and document reference
What it does not do
It covers work on the roof up to the roof edge. It does not cover facade access — no BMUs, swing stages, davits or rope access off the edge. It is a design aid, not a certified engineering design, and it is not an inspection of the building. The intent is to make sure the fundamentals of the industry codes get considered and recorded.
Common questions
Is there a free roof access design tool?
Yes. This one. It runs in your browser, needs no sign-up, and produces a height safety Design Report you can print or save as a PDF. It covers work on the roof up to the roof edge, not facade access.
How do I document the hierarchy of controls for roof work?
Work down the rungs in order for each task — eliminate the need to go up there, then fall prevention devices, then work positioning, then fall protection systems, then administrative controls. For every rung you rule out, record why. The tool forces that reasoning and prints it against each task.
What is a height safety design report?
A record of how an access design was arrived at: the building and roof conditions, each task and how often it happens, the risk score for that task, which control was selected, what was ruled out and why, the residual risk, and the inspection and recertification regime.
Do I need a design report under the NSW falls Code?
Since Codes of Practice became mandatory in NSW, you either follow what the falls Code says or prove your alternative is equivalent or higher. Either way you need the reasoning written down. A design without that record is hard to defend.
Does the tool cover ladders and stairs?
Yes. It records every route onto the roof and between roof levels — no ladder brackets above 4.5m, fall protection where the top level change is 2m or more, 6m maximum single fixed-ladder flight, stair pitch and handrail rules, and landing requirements as fundamental guidance.