Digital Permit to Work: Why UK Contractors Are Going Paperless

Paper permit books have been the backbone of permit-to-work systems on UK sites for as long as most of us can remember. They are cheap, they are familiar, and they require no IT infrastructure. For decades, that was enough.

But the limitations of paper are becoming harder to ignore. Permits go missing. Close-outs get forgotten. Handwriting is illegible during investigations. And when a client, principal contractor, or HSE inspector asks to see your permit records, the answer is often an uncomfortable silence followed by a trip to a filing cabinet that may or may not contain what you need.

A digital permit to work system replaces the paper book with a phone, tablet, or computer. The process is the same — create, approve, monitor, close — but the execution is faster, more reliable, and produces an automatic audit trail. Here is what that looks like in practice.

How a digital permit to work system works

The workflow mirrors what you already do on paper, but with structured enforcement at every step:

1. Permit creation

The permit holder opens the app or web platform, selects the permit type (hot work, confined space, electrical isolation, working at height, or general), and fills in the required fields: location, description of work, hazards, and the precautions checklist.

Unlike a blank paper form, a digital system presents the right fields for each permit type. A hot work permit shows fire-watch requirements and extinguisher checks. A confined space permit includes atmospheric monitoring and rescue plan fields. The user is guided through the process rather than left to remember what to include.

2. Authorisation

Once the permit is submitted, the designated authoriser receives a notification. They review the permit details, confirm they have inspected the area (or are satisfied with the conditions described), and approve it digitally. This approval is time-stamped and tied to their user account — far more robust than a scribbled signature on wet paper.

If the authoriser is on another site, they can review and approve remotely. This eliminates the common bottleneck where work is delayed because the authoriser is physically unavailable to sign a paper form.

3. Active permit monitoring

While the permit is live, it is visible to anyone with access — the site manager, the principal contractor, the health and safety team. If a permit is approaching its expiry time, the system can flag it. If multiple permits are active in the same area, that is visible too.

4. Close-out

When the work is complete, the permit holder completes the close-out section: confirming the area is safe, isolations have been removed, fire watch has been completed, and detection systems have been re-activated. The authoriser signs off the close-out, and the permit is formally closed.

On paper, the close-out is the step that gets missed most often. Digitally, the system can flag any permit that has not been closed within its validity period, making it almost impossible to forget.

The real benefits of going digital

Compliance that actually holds up

HSE guidance (HSG250) requires that permit-to-work systems include a clear audit trail. Paper can provide this in theory, but in practice, permits get lost, damaged, or stored inconsistently. A digital system creates a permanent, searchable record of every permit ever issued — who created it, who approved it, when it was opened, and when it was closed. This is exactly what inspectors and auditors want to see.

Faster turnaround

On a busy site, waiting for an authoriser to physically come to the permit book and sign a form can delay work by hours. Digital authorisation eliminates this. The authoriser reviews and approves from their phone, and the permit is live within minutes.

Fewer incomplete permits

The most common failing in paper PTW systems is the incomplete permit — missing close-outs, unsigned authorisations, blank checklist items. A digital system enforces mandatory fields. If a required section is not completed, the permit cannot progress to the next stage.

Better visibility for principal contractors and clients

If you work as a subcontractor, your principal contractor may require evidence that permits are in place. Sharing a digital permit — or giving them view access to your system — is far simpler than photocopying paper forms or sending photos of permit books.

Reduced admin

Filing, photocopying, scanning, and archiving paper permits takes time that nobody enjoys. A digital system handles storage automatically. Exporting a batch of permits as PDFs for a monthly report takes seconds.

Common concerns about going digital

"Our lads are not tech-savvy."

This is the objection we hear most often. And it is worth taking seriously — any system that your team will not use is worthless, regardless of how good it is on paper. The key is choosing a digital tool that is genuinely simple. If someone can use WhatsApp, they can use a well-designed permit app. The learning curve should be minutes, not days.

"What about sites with no signal?"

Poor connectivity is a real issue on UK construction sites, especially in basements, tunnels, and rural areas. A good digital permit system should work offline — allowing permits to be created and completed without an internet connection, then synced automatically when connectivity returns.

"Is it actually accepted by HSE?"

HSE does not mandate a specific format for permits. HSG250 describes what a permit system should include, not what medium it should use. A digital permit that follows the HSG250 structure — hazard identification, precautions checklist, dual signatures, close-out — is fully compliant. In fact, the automatic timestamping and audit trail of a digital system arguably provides stronger evidence of compliance than paper.

"What does it cost?"

This used to be the real barrier. Enterprise PTW platforms designed for oil and gas or large industrial facilities cost hundreds or thousands of pounds per month. But a new generation of tools is designed specifically for smaller contractors, with free tiers and flat-rate pricing that starts from around £35 per month.

Making the switch

If you are considering moving from paper to digital, a practical approach is to run both in parallel for a short period. Issue your next few permits digitally while keeping the paper book as a fallback. Once your team is comfortable — which typically takes a week or two — retire the paper.

The important thing is that your permit-to-work system is actually used, consistently and properly. Digital tools make that easier by guiding users through each step, enforcing completeness, and creating an audit trail automatically. But the tool is only as good as the culture behind it. A digital permit that nobody takes seriously is no better than a paper permit that nobody reads.

PermitPad: digital permits for small UK contractors

PermitPad is a digital permit to work system built for small and mid-sized UK contractors. It includes HSE-aligned templates for hot work, confined space, working at height, electrical isolation, and general permits — each with guided checklists, mandatory dual-signature workflows, and automatic time-stamped audit trails.

It works on any phone, tablet, or computer. The free plan includes 2 users and 5 permits per month, so you can try it on a live project without any upfront cost. If it works for your team, paid plans start at £35 per month with flat-rate pricing — no per-user fees. Sign up free and issue your first permit in under five minutes. See pricing plans for details.