Construction & Trades · Employer knowledge

Records & evidence

Keep the records the law requires, then use proportionate evidence to show how important risks, training, coordination and follow-up are actually being managed.

Good records support management, but paperwork is not the same thing as effective risk control. Construction businesses should first identify records specifically required by law or a relevant authorisation, then keep additional evidence where it genuinely helps manage work and demonstrate follow-through.

One clear statutory example is notifiable events: section 57 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 requires a PCBU to keep a record of each notifiable event for at least five years from the date notice is given to the regulator. Other record requirements can apply depending on the work, people, plant, substances, licences and employment arrangements involved.

What should a manager have in place?

Build records around decisions and controls, not around producing documents for their own sake. A useful record should help someone understand what happened, what was decided, who owns the next action and whether it was completed.

Required recordsIdentify records that legislation, regulations, licences, authorisations or employment requirements specifically require and apply the correct retention rules to each.

Risk & site evidenceKeep proportionate evidence of important risk decisions, relevant site communication, coordination with other PCBUs and significant changes where this helps show how work was managed.

People & competency evidenceKeep relevant training, competency, supervision and regulated-authorisation information without treating a training certificate as proof of competence for every task.

Actions & verificationRecord significant issues and actions with ownership and follow-up. Where corrective action is needed, check that it was completed and that the change actually addressed the issue.

Manager check

Do we know which records are legally required for the work we actually perform?
Are statutory retention periods applied to the correct records rather than using one invented retention rule for everything?
Can we retrieve important risk, training, licence, incident and contractor information when it is needed?
Do our records show decisions and follow-up, rather than only completed forms?
Can managers see outstanding actions and who owns them?
Do we review whether significant corrective actions worked?

Step 5 · Review

Turn evidence into management action

Records become useful when managers use them to decide what needs attention, assign action and check whether the change worked. Review should be proportionate to the work and should happen when relevant conditions change as well as through normal management follow-up.

SEE → EvidenceLook across incidents, risk controls, training, competency, licences, contractor issues and outstanding actions.

DECIDE → PriorityDecide what needs action based on the work, risk, legal requirements and what the evidence is showing.

ACT → OwnershipAssign the action to someone who can carry it through, with a sensible timeframe and clear expected outcome.

VERIFY → ImprovementCheck that significant action was completed and whether it actually improved the control, process or outcome.

Open the Evidence & Action Register →Review & Improvement Dashboard →Return to the Manager Pathway

Use the Evidence Register →WorkSafe: notifiable events & records →HSWA section 57 →Back to Construction & Trades Hub

NZQC provides practical educational information. It is not legal advice and does not certify that a provider is compliant. Check the official source and the requirements that apply to your service, contracts and scope.