Tougher CDM Rules Rise from New Foundations

Whether you are a developer, embarking on a new construction project, or the owner or tenant of existing commercial premises looking to make alterations, you need to be aware of new CDM Regulations.

The New Regulations

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 have been replaced by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, in force since April. They apply to “notifiable projects” – construction projects and those involving alterations, where the construction phase is likely to involve more than thirty days or five hundred ‘person days’ of construction work.

Most commercial projects are, therefore, notifiable.

The purpose of the Regulations is to protect health and safety in construction projects and to impose strict duties upon “the client” and upon other “duty holders”.

The Client and Other Duty Holders

The client is anyone who carries out, or looks to or appoints someone to carry out, a construction project.

There are five types of duty holder, each having responsibility under the new Regulations.

These are:

• The client

• Designers

• Contractors

• CDM Co-ordinators

• Principal contractors

Liability of the Client

The client must ensure that arrangements are made which allow construction works to be carried out safely.

A client could previously avoid statutory liability by appointing an agent – a property professional or a contractor, for example - to assume its responsibilities.

This is no longer the case.

Obligations of Duty Holders

Each duty holder, including the client, must (whether or not a project is notifiable) assess the competence of other duty holders, co-operate with and co-ordinate activities with others and ensure the health and safety of those working with them.

This means observing all relevant heath and safety regulations and carrying out relevant risk assessments.

Additional Implications for Notifiable Projects

As soon as possible after initial preparation of the project has begun, the client must appoint a “CDM Co-ordinator” and a “principal contractor” - until these are appointed, the client has responsibility for their functions.

The CDM Co-ordinator is obliged:

• to prepare a Health and Safety Manual (the previous Regulations required only that he supervise such preparation).

• to facilitate communication between all parties involved in the project.

• to ensure that all relevant pre-construction information is provided, in a timely fashion, to those who need it.

• to assist clients in assessing the competency of principal and other contractors.

Designers and contractors may not start work until they have been advised of the names of the CDM Co-ordinator and principal contractor.

The client must provide a pre-construction information pack to the CDM Co-ordinator and to every contractor and designer and ensure that work is not started without construction phase plans and site welfare facilities being in place.

Sanctions

Breach of the new Regulations may lead to criminal sanction - there may also be risk of civil action.

Thorough familiarisation is, therefore, essential for anyone involved in relevant construction projects.