Hot work permit: the free template to fill in and print
Fill in the form below and download a PDF ready to sign. No sign-up, no email — the document is produced in your browser.
What the hot work permit template contains
The usual sections, already written
Parties and references, authorised operatives, specific hazards, fire precautions, isolations, firefighting equipment, atmospheric testing, fire watch and signatures: nothing to rebuild — you untick what does not apply.
Filled in under two minutes
The basic fire precautions come pre-ticked, and the specialist sections (hazardous area, atmospheric testing) stay folded away until you open them. You add the names, the date and the time window.
Your form stays with you
No email to hand over, no account to create: the PDF is built on your own machine and its contents are not sent to us.
Generate your hot work permit
Complete the fields, tick the precautions actually in place, and download the PDF to be signed on site.
Paper frames the job. It does not prove it.
A permit signed at the office the day before, or tidied up the morning after, looks exactly like one signed at the work area at the right time. That is precisely what an insurer will look at after a fire.
A signature does not prove attendance
On paper, anyone can sign anything at any time — including the next morning, back at the office, to tidy up a permit that was forgotten.
Nobody sees it expire
The permitted window is written on a sheet of paper in someone’s pocket. Nothing signals that it has passed and the work is still going.
The fire watch gets forgotten
The watch after the work is the most neglected part of a hot work permit — and that is precisely when the fire starts.
The same permit, but signed at the work area
You prepare the permit from the office and display the QR code at the work area. The operative scans it and signs from their phone — on site, at the stated time.
Time-stamped signature, verified position if you require it
The operative signs with their finger on their phone after scanning the QR code: the time comes from our servers, not from the phone. Turn geofencing on and their position is validated by our servers as they sign — no more permits signed back at the depot. Set a backup code for plant rooms where GPS does not reach: signing stays possible, and it is flagged as such on the permit.
Expires on its own
The permit has a validity window. Past the finish time it expires by itself: anyone scanning the QR code sees an expired permit, not a valid-looking document left lying around. You can also close it manually once the fire watch is over.
What the QR code permit keeps
- ✓ Permit type, description and safety measures
- ✓ The authorising manager and their signature
- ✓ The operative, their company and their time-stamped signature
- ✓ Validity window and status (pending, active, expired, closed)
The “Permit to work” type also covers work at height, confined spaces and electrical work. It is available on the free plan.
Free plan available — no credit card
Hot work permit — frequently asked questions
Is a hot work permit mandatory?
There is no single rule that applies everywhere, but in practice it is rarely optional. Most fire insurance policies make cover conditional on a permit being raised for spark-producing work, and most principal contractors require one before that work starts on their site. Check your policy and your site rules: working without a permit usually means working without cover.
Who has to sign a hot work permit?
Three signatures as a minimum: the person authorising the work on behalf of the client or principal contractor, the operative carrying it out, and whoever is keeping the fire watch. The permit is signed before work starts, once the precautions are actually in place — not afterwards.
How long should the fire watch last after the work?
This is the step most often skipped, and a fire can smoulder for hours after the last spark. Practice varies: one hour is a common minimum, two hours is a frequent requirement, and some sites and insurers ask for longer. Rather than pick a figure for you, the generator lets you set 1, 2 or 4 hours and prints it on the permit in black and white.
Does the generator store what I type?
No. The PDF is produced directly in your browser: what you enter — company, operative, location of the work — is never sent to us, no email is asked for, and none of it is kept. Close the tab and nothing remains; you simply keep the file you downloaded. We only measure use of the generator, anonymously and without cookies: how many permits are produced and which types of work are ticked in our list, never your own entries. After downloading, you can choose to share your form with us to help improve the template — that is an explicit click on your part, never automatic.
What is the difference between this PDF and a QR code permit?
The PDF is a document: it proves you framed the job, but nothing shows that the person who signed was actually on site, or at what time. A BuildQR permit adds that proof: the operative signs by scanning the QR code displayed at the work area, and the signature is time-stamped by our servers. Require it, and their position is checked by our servers as they sign — with a backup code you can set for places where GPS does not reach, a signature that used the code being flagged as such. The permit then expires on its own at the end of the validity window.
What does the QR code permit cost?
The PDF generator is free and will stay free, with no account to create. The “Permit to work” QR type — which also covers work at height, confined spaces and electrical work — is available on the free plan, time-stamped signature and server-side position check included. Paid plans raise your quotas (QR codes, scans, storage): full details on the Pricing page.
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Hot work permit
The free template to fill in and print — and the QR code version signed on site.
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A printable sign-in sheet, plus the geofenced QR code check-in.
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Cleaning rounds, security checks, readings — printed or QR.
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Quantities, condition and two signatures at the delivery — printed or QR.
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Make, serial number, warranty and service history — printed, or stuck on the machine as a QR.
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Ready to get started?
Your first QR code takes about two minutes
✓ No credit card required•✓ free plan for good, or a 14-day trial•✓ Email support, answered by a person