When it comes to construction works, there’s a long list of regulations you need to follow. Honestly, it can get a little confusing trying to keep it all straight! But one of the more important parts of construction is making sure everyone is safe and well, and no injuries happen that could be avoided. In other words – health and safety. If you’re commissioning construction works – whether you’re extending your home or doing works to a commercial premises – you need to be aware of what the regulations require of you, and what you need to do to meet them.
First things first, CDM stands for the Construction Design and Management. The CDM regulations 2015 form the fundamental legislation that covers health and safety on construction sites. Specifically, it identifies three key people (known as Dutyholders) who each have a set of responsibilities that must be met, and it’s their job to make ensure that all works are undertaken safely. It’s those three key people who are held accountable if it isn’t!
The three roles set out by the regulations are:
Of course there are more roles identified under these, like contractors or workers, who all have their own obligations set out. But the Client, Principal Contractor and Principal Designer are ultimately responsible for their performance. The buck, as they say, stops with them.
In today’s post we’re focusing on just one of those roles – The Client.
Clients are generally divided into two different types, and each has a different level of obligation. You can either be a domestic client (where the work is being carried out in your own home) or a commercial client (where the works are done as part of a business).
The good news for domestic clients is that the requirements are much less onerous than thatfor commercial clients, and you also have a ‘get out of jail free’ card to make sure your duties are properly completed. The main duties a client has is to ensure that the other parties involved are competent, and can complete the required work safely. In practice this can be as simple as asking your chosen contractor about their track record in manging health and safety risks, and enough time and money is available for the contractor to prepare and carry out the job in a safe manner.
However, the CDM regulations have been written in a way that recognises that most domestic clients will have little to no experience in project management or construction – which is where your ‘get out of jail free’ card comes in. The regulations allow for the client duties to be passed to the contractor (or the contractor acting as Principal Contractor is there’s more than one), or a designer who is managing the works (like an architect or a surveyor). This means they can take on the client duties by written agreement, and do them alongside their own duties.
Even if you do this, the important question to ask as a domestic client is that the contractor will make sure that the other parties involved in the works are aware of their duties under the legislation, and have the resources they need to consider and implement those duties. In other words – they need to know what they’re doing, and have the resources available to do it properly.
Now, if you’re a commercial client, then your scope of duties is much wider than a domestic client, and just as important as other duty holders in the process. Your main duties here are to ensure a suitable arrangement for managing your projects so that the health and safety risks can be managed in a suitable way.
The easiest way to do this is:
As you can see, quite a lot more responsibility! Fortunately for commercial clients, most of the more involved duties here can be passed onto the Principal Designer, or another competent construction professional using a written agreement – making the process much simpler for you!
Yes. Always yes!
Whatever the size of the works, the regulations still apply, and those completing the works will automatically be assumed to take on the roles of Principal Contractor, Principal Designer and Client.
The one thing we do want to highlight before we finish is when you need to inform anyone of works being undertaken. Once a project meets a defined threshold, there’s a legal duty to inform the HSE via an F10 Notification. This happens when one or more of these thresholds are met:
If one or both of those are met (or you think it might), then we would strongly advise filling in and submitting an F10 Notification. It’s a reasonably simple process, and your construction professionals will be able to help you do this, or even do it on your behalf.
If you have any questions about the CDM regulations and how the affect you, we would love to help. Just get in touch with our friendly team on 02381 55 00 51, and we would be delighted to assist you with advice or assistance.
For more expert advice on surveying and property matters, check out our range of informative videos on our website or YouTube channel. Harrison Clarke Chartered Surveyors is here to guide you every step of the way!
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