Changes to CDM – who will be responsible for health and safety?

Changes to CDM – who will be responsible for health and safety?

Subject to Parliamentary approval, new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) will come into force on 6 April 2015.

What will change?

• Principal designer. The replacement of the CDM co-ordinator role (under CDM 2007) by principal designer. This means that the responsibility for coordination of the pre-construction phase – which is crucial to the management of any successful construction project – will rest with an existing member of the design team.
• Client. The new Regulations recognise the influence and importance of the client as the head of the supply chain and they are best placed to set standards throughout a project.
• Competence. This will be split into its component parts of skills, knowledge, training and experience, and – if it relates to an organisation – organisational capability. This will provide clarity and help the industry to both assess and demonstrate that construction project teams have the right attributes to deliver a healthy and safe project.

CDM Coordinators

Will no longer exist as a statutory appointment from 6^th October 2015;

Anticipated 6 month Transitional Period:

–       Any existing CDM appointment will be allowed to run until October 2015 at the least;

Some of the CDMC’s role will be taken on by the new Principal Designer.

Principal Contractors:

Very little change in here

Contractors

Very little change, but if there is no Principal Contractor, a construction phase plan is required – for every project.

When there is more than one contractor working on a project, a contractor must comply with any directions given by the principal designer or the principal contractor.

No explicit requirement for contractors to provide information to PC. 

The principal designer role – what does it involve?

The Principal Designer is responsible for planning, managing, monitoring and coordination of health and safety during pre-construction phase, taking into account the general ‘principles of prevention’.

Who can do the role? Explicit requirement for competence has been removed from the CDM Regulations, however the Principal Designer must be a designer in control of the pre-construction phase appointed by the client and capable of planning, managing, monitoring and coordinating the health and safety of the project during the pre-construction phase.

For more information, please follow the HSE link: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l153.htm

Source: HSE website and Ayrshire Occupational Health & Safety Group session on CDM regulations.