Additional Services

CDM / Principle Designer

Under UK Law it is a legal requirement for all clients to appoint a CDM Coordinator for all commercial construction projects. Meyer offers an experienced CDM coordinator to ensure that all parties discharge their responsibilities. From the design stage to the final handover of the Health and Safety file, the right team makes a difference on site to reduce risks for all parties ensuring a safe and efficient site.

CDM Principal Designer services are now a key part of any significant building project. The new regulations cover the health and safety side of your building project. As your project manager, we can help ensure that you have all the health and safety needs of your building project covered.

It is a little-known fact that in April 2015 the CDM (Construction Design Management) regulations changed. This means that a CDM Principal Designer is required on all domestic building projects.

The new regulations mean that as a homeowner who is undertaking building work, you have the responsibility to ensure that no one is harmed during the work and that your building is safe to use and maintain in the future. That means you are having to appoint a CDM Principal Designer.

What Does A CDM Principal Designer Actually Do ?

A CDM Principal Designer plans manage and coordinates the safety elements of the planning and design work, and how it applies to your home’s construction project. They coordinate and share information rather than generate technical information. CDM Principal Designers are not Health and Safety experts or architectural designers. Instead, they evaluate safety risks and establish a project procedure for safety.

It is important that you appoint your CDM Principal Designer for your building project as early as possible. They can then help you gather information about the construction works and ensure that your architects or designer have done all they can to check that your new home, extension, or renovation works can be built safely.

The new regulations require the CDM Principal Designer to:

Assist you in identifying, obtaining, and collating the pre-construction information – this might include known site hazards and a plan of how the build will be managed.
Provide pre-construction information to architects or designers, the principal contractor, and contractors.

Ensure that designers comply with their duties and co-operate with each other.
Liaise with the principal contractor for the duration of the appointment.
Prepare the health and safety file.

What Risks Should Your Architect Or Designer Have Considered ?

Most large building projects are complex and involve the use of many different trades on site. There are many types of activities that are particularly high-risk. The role of the CDM Principal Designer is to understand these types of risks and give them careful thought. This ensures that the activities throughout the building works will be carried out safely by all involved. If you don’t appoint a CDM Principal Designer, you will be responsible for the things that they should have done.

High-risk activities are anything that’s potentially dangerous on your building site including: –

Working at height, on ladders or scaffolding, roofs or platforms, and excavations. This includes both the process of creating them and ensuring that no one can fall from or into them.
Supporting structures. The potential collapse of structures means that any support must be installed by someone competent to do so.

Electricity. Any type of involvement with cabling or power during the building works.
Hazardous materials. The removal of asbestos or other contaminants from the site.
Machinery. The use of forklifts, diggers or cherry pickers for both deliveries and construction.

The aim of the role is to prepare the Pre-Construction Health and Safety Plan to pass to the Principal Contractor (your main builder) and brief him on the contents.

The plan will consist of: –

Health and Safety information relating to design for construction and future use.
Identification of risks that are unusual, significant, or hard to manage.
A list of key assumptions made during the design process.
Any information about sequencing?
Any information about phased handovers?
Any temporary support requirements.
The role of the CDM Principal Designer usually continues through construction unless you specifically request in writing that you want the responsibility is to be taken on by the CDM Principal Contractor.

CDM/Principal Contractor

The Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 (CDM) are intended to ensure that all health and safety issues are properly considered during all project development so any risk of harm to those who construct, use and maintain is eliminated or reduced.

One of the key changes introduced with CDM 2015 is the replacement of the CDM Coordinator (CDMC) with a Principle Designer (PD). The PD has the responsibility for the coordination of health and safety during the pre-construction phase. The reason for the change in the CDM Regulations was to ensure that during the design phase responsibility is given to an individual who has the ability to influence the design.

Domestic Clients can choose to have a written agreement with the Principle Designer to transfer their duties to the Principle Designer. The Principle Designer SHOULD be appointed as early as possible in the design process and at least before the start of the Construction Phase, so they have sufficient time to carry out their duties and manage the pre-construction and construction phases. If a Client fails to appoint a Principle Designer, the Client MUST carry out those duties.

If Domestic Clients on projects involving more than one contractor fail to appoint a Principle Designer and Principle Contractor those duties will fall to the designer and contractor in control of the pre-construction and construction phases.

The HSE must be notified of the site and the works being carried out if the construction work is expected to either

project to be notified if the works exceed 30 Construction Days with 20 or more workers
projects exceed 500 person days of construction work
Notification of the project to the HSE is via the HSE Website and by the completion and submission of the electronic notification form.

Meyer are fully experienced in all aspects of the CDM Regulations, working alongside Principal Contractors or Subcontractors to ensure the correct documentation and systems are in place prior to works commencing on site, this can include: –

The development and implementation of the Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan
The development and implementation of Risk Assessment Method Statements (RAMS)
Site Safety Inductions / Toolbox Talks
Site Safety Set Up / Continuous inspections
Assistance / Representation at Site Meetings

GET IN TOUCH

Meyer are ideally placed to provide you with CDM Principal Designer services. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you with CDM Principal Designer services support your building project we’d welcome the opportunity to talk about how we can help.