Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) is the primary health and safety legislation for the construction industry. The regulations were developed to bring planning and management for health and safety into the centre of construction projects. The regulations not only cover the pre-construction phase and construction phase but also the post construction phase and how the building or areas effected by a project will be maintained, replaced and cleaned safely.
The regulations have five duty holders:
- Client;
- Principal Designer;
- Designer;
- Principal Contractor;
- Contractor.
Each duty holder has differing duties to discharge and here at RDS Safety Management with our expert support we can guide all duty holders to ensure compliance with the regulations and best practice.
Our CDM Consultant role provides a project advisor function which will be available to the duty holder for the duration of the project. Our CDM Consultants can just provide an advisory role or carry out work on the duty holder’s behalf to ensure compliance.
CLIENT
General process when a Client engages our services:
- Soon after appointment; An initial design review will be held to understand the brief and design development status;
- Review of available CDM Pre-Construction Information and gap analysis including a site visit;
- Development and issue of collated CDM Pre-Construction Information on behalf of the Client;
- Submission of the F10 to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) where this is required;
- On behalf of the Client review of the Principal Contractors Construction Phase Plan;
- Carry out site health and safety inspections to check on site compliance;
- CDM and health and safety advice throughout the project duration to the Client and project team;
- Development and issue of the Health and Safety File at the end of the project.
PRINCIPAL DESIGNER
General process when a Principal Designer engages our services:
- Soon after appointment; An initial design review including a site visit will be held to understand the brief and design development status;
- Development of the design risk management strategy for the project i.e. design hazard identification and application of the HSE Eliminate, Reduce, Control Model;
- Development of the CDM Risk Register which includes the design teams identified hazards and applied control measures for construction and maintenance;
- CDM, design risk management and health and safety advice to the Principal Designer for the duration of the project;
- Development of the Health and Safety File at the end of the project.
PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR
General process when a Principal Contractor engages our services:
- Where a project is procured via Design and Build then we can offer the support detailed above in the Principal Designer section where required;
- Review of Client CDM Pre-Construction Information to support the process of Construction Phase Plan development;
- Support and development with the Construction Phase Plan;
- Advice to the Principal Contractor on the CDM appointments and where required vetting of those appointments;
- Vetting of Contractors;
- Site health and safety inspections and auditing;
- Assistance with collating Operation and Maintenance Manuals and the Health and Safety File at the end of a project;
- Assistance through Principal Contractor certification via a Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSiP) member scheme such as CHAS or Safecontractor etc.
Further reading: