New CDM Regulations

Are you an Architect, Interior Architect, Interior Designer or a Contractor?

Are you aware of the new Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015?

 

Did you know that 35 people were either killed or seriously injured on ‘small construction sites’ alone last year?

Previously the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2007 oversaw Health and Safety on Construction projects in the Commercial Sector.

In most cases a CDM Co-ordinator was appointed to take care of this element of the project. Criminal law applied when accidents occurred on Commercial projects and Civil Law applied on Domestic projects. On the 6^th April 2015 everything changed when CDM 2015 came into force.

The previous role of CDM co-ordinator has been now been replaced with the new role of Principal Designer. The new revised regulation applies to all projects including Domestic client projects and all small builders and contractors will need to comply.

Designers and Contractors must make sure that they are fully compliant with the new regulations and make sure that their clients are fully briefed. The Client will need to appoint a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor on projects that have more than one contractor and these roles must be agreed in writing before any design work is started.

There is a duty to make sure all people doing the job have the right skills, knowledge, training and experience.

If the work is scheduled to last longer than 30 days and have more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point in the project or exceeds 500 person days then notification to the HSE will also apply.

All projects must have a written Construction Phase Plan
and a Health and Safety file.

The new roles are as follows;

CLIENT

The client is ultimately responsible for managing the
health and safety of the construction site (reg4) as they are responsible for ensuring the Principal Designer prepares the health and safety file. They are  responsible for ensuring the maintenance and review of the obligation through the lifetime of the project. The client can pass their duties to the Principle Designer or the Principle Contractor.

PRINCIPLE DESIGNER

The Principle Designer is responsible for CDM implementation during the pre-construction phase.The reasoning behind this move is to fully integrate health and safety into the design of the project and to ensure that these considerations are being made by the person with the most power to influence the design.

DESIGNER

Any additional designers will be responsible for supplying information to the Principle Designer about their designs and the impact on health and safety.

PRINCIPLE CONTRACTOR

Principle Contractors are responsible for managing the construction phase of the project. This involves liaising with the client and Principle Designer throughout the project on any design issues etc. They are responsible for preparing a Construction Phase Plan for the work to be carried out.

CONTRACTOR

A Contractor reports to the Principal Contractor and provides evidence of skills, training and experience relevant to the risks that of the project. The Contractor has to provide workers with instruction and training as necessary.

WORKERS

Workers must listen to the Main Contractor and Contractor and show competence and experience in completing the task.

On small domestic projects not all of the above roles will be required.

Health and Safety inspectors have the right to inspect any site and can issue penalties which can shut the site down and result in heavy fines or in instances where someone has been killed or seriously injured a prison term.

For any more information see www.hse.gov.uk

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