Responsibilities of Duty Holders under CDM Regulations 2015, UK

Before CDM Regulations, while more or less all people at work were subjected to the law, it was clear that not all of those people had duties towards those who might be adversely affected by their decisions.

The aim of CDM Regulations 2015 is to:

• Manage the projects effectively, right from the outset.
• Sensibly plan the work, so the risks involved are identified earlier and managed through the construction of a project
• Target efforts where it can do the most good
• Discourage unnecessary bureaucracy
• Have the right people for the right job at the right time
• Cooperate and coordinate your work with others
• Have the right information about the risks and how they are being managed
• Communicate this information effectively to those who need to know
• Consult and engage with workers about the risks and how they are being managed

Commercial Client’s Role

A commercial client is any individual or organisation that carries out a construction project as part of a business. 

Commercial clients have a crucial influence over how projects are run, including the management of health and safety risks. Whatever the project size, the commercial client has contractual control, appoints designers and contractors, and determines the money, time and other resources for the project.

For all projects, commercial clients must:

• make suitable arrangements for managing their project, enabling those carrying it out to manage health and safety risks in a proportionate way. These arrangements include:

1. appointing the contractors and designers to the project (including the principal designer and principal contractor on projects involving more than one contractor) while making sure they have the skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capability
2. allowing sufficient time and resources for each stage of the project
3. making sure that any principal designer and principal contractor appointed carry out their duties in managing the project
4. making sure suitable welfare facilities are provided for the duration of the construction work

• maintain and review the management arrangements for the duration of the project
• provide pre-construction information to every designer and contractor either bidding for the work or already appointed to the project
• ensure that the principal contractor or contractor (for single contractor projects) prepares a construction phase plan before that phase begins
• ensure that the principal designer prepares a health and safety file for the project and that it is revised as necessary and made available to anyone who needs it for subsequent work at the site
• For notifiable projects (where planned construction work will last longer than 30 working days and involves more than 20 workers at any one time; or where the work exceeds 500 individual worker days), commercial clients must:
• notify HSE in writing with details of the project
• ensure a copy of the notification is displayed in the construction site office

Domestic Client’s Role

A domestic client is any individual who has construction work carried out on their home, or the home of a family member, that is not done as part of any business. While CDM 2015 places client duties on commercial clients in full, such duties for domestic clients normally pass to:

• the contractor, if it is a single contractor project, who must take on the legal duties of the client in addition to their own as contractor. In practice, this should involve little more than what they normally do in managing health and safety risks
• the principal contractor, for projects with more than one contractor, who must take on the legal duties of the client in addition to their own as principal contractor. If the domestic client has not appointed a principal contractor, the client duties must be carried out by the contractor in control of the construction work

If a domestic client has appointed an architect (or other designer[4]) on a project involving more than one contractor, they can ask them to manage the project and take on the client duties instead of the principal contractor. The designer then takes on the responsibilities of principal designer[5] and must have a written agreement with the domestic client, confirming they have agreed (as principal designer) to take on the client duties as well as their own responsibilities. 

Any designer in charge of coordinating and managing a project is assumed to be the principal designer. However, if they do not have a written agreement with the domestic client to confirm they are taking on the client duties, those duties automatically pass to the principal contractor.

Designer’s Role

A designer is an organisation or individual whose business involves preparing or modifying designs for construction projects, or arranging for, or instructing, others to do this. Designs include drawings, design details, specifications, bills of quantity and design calculations.

Designers can be architects, consulting engineers, quantity surveyors and interior designers, or anyone who specifies and alters designs as part of their work. They can also be principal contractors, specialist contractors, tradespeople or even commercial clients, if they get actively involved in design work for their project.

A designer’s decisions can affect the health and safety of all those involved in constructing a building and those who use, maintain, refurbish and eventually demolish it.

Designers must:

• make sure the client is aware of the client duties under CDM 2015 before starting any design work
• when preparing or modifying designs:

1. take account of any pre-construction information provided by the client (and principal designer, if one is involved)
2. eliminate foreseeable health and safety risks to anyone affected by the project (if possible)
3. take steps to reduce or control any risks that cannot be eliminated

• provide design information to:

1. the principal designer (if involved), for inclusion in the pre-construction information and the health and safety file
2. the client and principal contractor (or the contractor for single contractor projects) to help them comply with their duties, such as ensuring a construction phase plan is prepared

• communicate, cooperate and coordinate with:

1. any other designers (including the principal designer) so that all designs are compatible and ensure health and safety, both during the project and beyond
2. all contractors (including the principal contractor), to take account of their knowledge and experience of building designs

Working as a designer for a domestic client is no different to working for a commercial client. However, the domestic client’s legal duties are normally taken on by the contractor (or the principal contractor on projects involving more than one contractor) and the designer must work to them as ‘client’ under CDM Regulations 2015. Alternatively, the domestic client can ask the principal designer to take on the client duties, although this must be confirmed in a written agreement.

Principal Designer’s Role

A principal designer is a designer who is an organisation or individual (on smaller projects) appointed by the client to take control of the pre-construction phase of any project involving more than one contractor.

Principal designers have an important role in influencing how risks to health and safety are managed throughout a project. Design decisions made during the pre-construction phase have a significant influence in ensuring the project is delivered in a way that secures the health and safety of everyone affected by the work.

Principal designers must:

• plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety in the pre-construction phase. In doing so they must take account of relevant information (such as an existing health and safety file) that might affect design work carried out both before and after the construction phase has started
• help and advise the client in bringing together pre-construction information, and provide the information designers and contractors need to carry out their duties
• work with any other designers on the project to eliminate foreseeable health and safety risks to anyone affected by the work and, where that is not possible, take steps to reduce or control those risks
• ensure that everyone involved in the pre-construction phase communicates and cooperates, coordinating their work wherever required
• liaise with the principal contractor, keeping them informed of any risks that need to be controlled during the construction phase
• When working for a domestic client, the client duties will normally be taken on by another duty holder (often the principal contractor on projects involving more than one contractor). However, the principal designer can enter into a written agreement with the domestic client to take on the client duties in addition to their own.

Principal Contractor’s Role

A principal contractor is appointed by the client to control the construction phase of any project involving more than one contractor.

Principal contractors have an important role in managing health and safety risks during the construction phase so they must have the skills, knowledge, experience and, where relevant, organisational capability to carry out this work.

The principal contractor must:

• plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the entire construction phase
• take account of the health and safety risks to everyone affected by the work (including members of the public), in planning and managing the measures needed to control them
• liaise with the client and principal designer for the duration of the project to ensure that all risks are effectively managed
• prepare a written construction phase plan before the construction phase begins, implement, and then regularly review and revise it to make sure it remains fit for purpose
• have ongoing arrangements in place for managing health and safety throughout the construction phase
• consult and engage with workers about their health, safety and welfare
• ensure suitable welfare facilities are provided from the start and maintained throughout the construction phase
• check that anyone they appoint has the skills, knowledge, experience and, where relevant, the organisational capability to carry out their work safely and without risk to health
• ensure all workers have site-specific inductions, and any further information and training they need
• take steps to prevent unauthorised access to the site
• liaise with the principal designer to share any information relevant to the planning, management, monitoring and coordination of the pre-construction phase

When working for a domestic client, the principal contractor will normally take on the client duties as well as their own as principal contractor. If a domestic client does not appoint a principal contractor, the role of the principal contractor must be carried out by the contractor in control of the construction phase. Alternatively, the domestic client can ask the principal designer to take on the client duties (although this must be confirmed in a written agreement) and the principal contractor must work to them as ‘client’ under CDM 2015 Regulations.

Contractors’ Role

A contractor is anyone who directly employs or engages construction workers or manages construction work. Contractors include sub-contractors, any individual self-employed worker or business that carries out, manages or controls construction work. They must have the skills, knowledge, experience and, where relevant, the organisational capability to carry out the work safely and without risk to health.

Contractors and the workers under their control are most at risk of injury and ill health from construction work. Contractors therefore have an important role in planning, managing and monitoring their work to ensure any risks are controlled.

Contractors on all projects must:

• make sure the client is aware of the client duties under CDM 2015 before any work starts
• plan, manage and monitor all work carried out by themselves and their workers, taking into account the risks to anyone who might be affected by it (including members of the public) and the measures needed to protect them
• check that all workers they employ or appoint have the skills, knowledge, training and experience to carry out the work, or are in the process of obtaining them
• make sure that all workers under their control have a suitable, site-specific induction, unless this has already been provided by the principal contractor
• provide appropriate supervision, information and instructions to workers under their control
• ensure they do not start work on site unless reasonable steps have been taken to prevent unauthorised access
• ensure suitable welfare facilities are provided from the start for workers under their control, and maintain them throughout the work

In addition to the above responsibilities, contractors working on projects involving more than one contractor must:

• coordinate their work with the work of others in the project team
• comply with directions given by the principal designer or principal contractor
• comply with parts of the construction phase plan relevant to their work

Where a contractor is the only contractor working on a project, they must ensure a construction phase plan is drawn up before setting up the site.

When working as the only contractor for a domestic client, the contractor takes on the client duties, as well as their own as contractor. However, this should involve them doing no more than they will normally do to comply with health and safety law.

Where a domestic project involves more than one contractor, the principal contractor normally takes on the client duties and the contractor will work to the principal contractor as ‘client’. If the domestic client does not appoint a principal contractor, the client duties must be carried out by the contractor in control of the construction phase. Alternatively, the domestic client can ask the principal designer to take on the client duties (although this must be confirmed in a written agreement) and the contractor must work to them as ‘client’ under CDM 2015.

Workers’ Role

A worker is anyone working for or under the control of a contractor on a construction site. Examples of workers include plumbers, electricians, scaffolders, painters, decorators, steel erectors and labourers, as well as supervisors like foremen and charge hands.

Workers have an important role and should take an active part in helping to manage health and safety risks. In particular, workers must:

• only carry out construction work if they have the relevant skills, knowledge, training and experience - or they are provided with the training and supervision that enables them to do it safely and without risk to health
• make themselves aware of the health and safety risks involved in work on every site and the way those risks are managed
• always follow site rules and procedures
• cooperate with other duty holders, such as the contractor in control of their work and the principal contractor (who controls the overall project when there is more than one contractor) 
• report any risks they find to whoever controls the work on site, whether the risks affect their own health and safety or anyone else, including other workers and members of the public
• Employers must consult their workers (or their representatives) on any health and safety matters that affect them. Many employers go further by using positive worker involvement to highlight areas of concern and implement effective practices.