Shore offer construction design and management, or CDM consultancy services to commercial clients throughout every stage of a building job from planning through to completion. Our experienced team of CDM consultants will be on hand to ensure that your commercial project meets strict regulations.
The CDM Regulations, also known as Construction (Design and Management) are the principle set of regulations for managing the health, safety and welfare of construction projects. Every type of building works, whether commercial or domestic, need to adhere to CDM regulations. They apply to all construction activities within mainland UK, regardless of the size of the project, the nature of the works, or the type of client the works are being undertaken for. They apply a ‘start to finish’ approach to a construction project, ensuring that any development design proposals are “Safe to Build, Safe to Maintain and Safe to Demolish.”
CDM was first introduced in 1994, and with the ever evolving regulation standards, our CDM consultants work to the CDM 2015 standards, the most current version to follow. The regulations outline the need for specific duty holders to be appointed for any type of construction project. These include the client, contractor, designer, principal contractor and principal designer. The idea is that each of these duty holders is responsible for a key set of regulations. For example, commercial contractors who are carrying out the building works have their own responsibilities, and equally the designer will be in charge of putting together sensible and safe plans for the works. Where there are multiple contractors or designers involved in a largescale project, then a principal figure will be appointed who have elevated responsibilities.
To simplify these duties and help you to understand exactly who needs to be held accountable, CDM consulting is essential to ensure compliance and help to progress your project without delays. We would seek to review and identify any potential risks or hazards identified during the design & planning stage, and seek to work with the design team to reduce or mitigate those risks so far as practical. The regulations also stipulate that health and safety files should be created during the construction design management process to provide the client or end user with building specific H&S information to allow them to safely maintain the building.
Our highly experienced and professional commercial CDM consultants in Essex, London, East Anglia and the surrounding home counties offer in-depth consultancy services to the construction industry. Our consultants have a range of experiences, skill sets and qualifications to provide you with a high-quality service tailored to meet your individual needs.
Shore have an extensive commercial CDM consultant team based in the South East. With years of experience under our belt, we have worked thousands of projects since the change to CDM legislation in 2015. We’ve worked with many prestigious clients on projects ranging from small commercial works to multi-million-pound developments across London and the UK.
Many of our clients are repeat business or are introduced to us via word-of-mouth through satisfied customers. The work ethic of our CDM commercial consultancy team relies enormously on both communication and cooperation as being essential to developing long-lasting relationships with our clients and professional teams.
Shore understands the need to produce a proactive service, offering robust and effective solutions to problems, helping to achieve legal compliance with CDM regulations, whilst ensuring that time and cost constraints are met.
If you have any queries at all about construction design and management or want further information about how our commercial CDM consulting services work, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our knowledgeable team of commercial CDM consultants today.
The customer or client is the person at the top of the project tree, ultimately with overall responsibility for the project. They are the person or organisation for whom a construction project is carried out. Clients can be either commercial or domestic, with both having specific duties under the regulations.
The client has a major influence over the way a project is procured and managed. Regardless of the size of the project, the client had contractual control, appoints the designers and contractors and determines the money, time and other resources available.
Under the regulations, should a commercial client fail to appoint in writing other duty holders then by default they are legally responsible for the execution of those obligations and duties. It is therefore imperative that, unless the client is willing to do so, they make those other appointments as soon as practical in the process.
The term designer covers anyone who as part of a business, prepares or modify designs for a building, product or system relating to construction work. Designers therefore can vary from Architects, Structural Engineers, M&E consultants, to Quantity Surveyors and Project Managers.
Depending on the level of involvement you have on a project, and amount of direct influence you have in the design, the client may appoint you as Principal Designer (PD) to undertake the PD duties in accordance with CDM 2015.
Principal Designer
The Principal Designer has overall control of the pre-construction phase of a project with regards to health & safety and should be appointed at the very earliest opportunity on the project, managing through from concept design through to planning the delivery of the construction works.
In liaison with other parties, the Principal Designer has an important role to play in influencing how the risks to health & safety should be managed and incorporated into the wider management of a project.
The Principal Designer’s work should focus on ensuring the design work in the pre-construction phase contributes to the delivery of positive health & safety outcomes, and by bringing together other duty holders to ensure everyone carries out their own duties to achieve this.
Designer
A designer, though not a Principal Designer, still has specific obligations under the legislation, to ensure their designs take into account the general principals of prevention and any pre-construction information to eliminate, so far as is reasonably practicable, foreseeable risks to the health or safety of any person either carrying out or liable to be affected by construction, maintaining or cleaning a structure, or using the structure designed as a workplace.
Designer, as per other duty holders must be able to demonstrate that they have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to fulfil the role in accordance with the regulations.
Under the regulations, Project Managers and/or Contract Administrators have no legal obligation under CDM2015 in their own right, unless they are performing other duties such as Designer or Principal Designer functions, whereby they will be responsible for the provision of those duties as well.
They may however assist the client with the facilitation of appointments of others, however under CDM2015 they have no formal duties. Note: they will have other legal or duty of care responsibilities under their PM/CA roles which is outside the remit of the CDM Regulations.
Principal Designer
The Principal Designer has overall control of the pre-construction phase of a project with regards to Health & Safety and should be appointed at the very earliest opportunity on the project, managing through from concept design through to planning the delivery of the construction works.
In liaison with other parties, the Principal Designer has an important role to play in influencing how the risks to Health & Safety should be managed and incorporated into the wider management of a project.
The Principal Designer’s work should focus on ensuring the design work in the pre-construction phase contributes to the delivery of positive Health & Safety outcomes, and by bringing together other duty holders to ensure everyone carries out their own duties to achieve this.
Designer
A designer, though not a Principal Designer, still has specific obligations under the legislation, to ensure their designs take into account the general principals of prevention and any pre-construction information to eliminate, so far as is reasonably practicable, foreseeable risks to the health or safety of any person either carrying out or liable to be affected by construction, maintaining or cleaning a structure, or using the structure designed as a workplace.
Designer, as per other duty holders must be able to demonstrate that they have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to fulfil the role in accordance with the regulations.
Landlords and or Property Owners usually, but not always, undertake the role of Client, as they are the person ultimately commissioning the instructions. They may however, undertake other works such as specifications to certain elements of the works, or confirming specific methodology or work sequencing of the project.
Client
The client is the person at the top of the project tree, ultimately with overall responsibility for the project. They are the person or organisation for whom a construction project is carried out. Clients can be either commercial or domestic, with both having specific duties under the regulations.
The client has a major influence over the way a project is procured and managed. Regardless of the size of the project, the client had contractual control, appoints the designers and contractors, and determines the money, time and other resources available.
Under the regulations, should a commercial client fail to appoint in writing other duty holders then by default they are legally responsible for the execution of those obligations and duties. It is therefore imperative that unless the client is willing to do so, that they make those other appointments as soon as practical in the process.
Principal Designer
The Principal Designer has overall control of the pre-construction phase of a project with regards to Health & Safety and should be appointed at the very earliest opportunity on the project, managing through from concept design through to planning the delivery of the construction works.
In liaison with other parties, the Principal Designer has an important role to play in influencing how the risks to Health & Safety should be managed and incorporated into the wider management of a project.
The Principal Designer’s work should focus on ensuring the design work in the pre-construction phase contributes to the delivery of positive Health & Safety outcomes, and by bringing together other duty holders to ensure everyone carries out their own duties to achieve this.
Designer
A designer, though not a Principal Designer, still has specific obligations under the legislation, to ensure their designs take into account the general principals of prevention and any pre-construction information to eliminate, so far as is reasonably practicable, foreseeable risks to the health or safety of any person either carrying out or liable to be affected by construction, maintaining or cleaning a structure, or using the structure designed as a workplace.
Designer, as per other duty holders must be able to demonstrate that they have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to fulfil the role in accordance with the regulations.
Principal Contractor (Design & Build)
Under a Design & Build contract, a designer may also on occasions be appointed as Principal Contractor whereby they are also responsible for construction of the end product.
A Principal Contractor is the organisation or person that coordinates the work of the construction phase of a project involving more than one contractor, so it is carried out in a way that secures health and safety. They are appointed by the client and must possess the skills, knowledge, and experience and (if an organisation) the organisational capability to carry out their role effectively given the scale and complexity of the project and the nature of the health and safety risks involved.
Good management of health and safety on site is crucial to the successful delivery of a construction project. In liaison with the client and principal designer, principal contractors have an important role in managing the risks of the construction work and providing strong leadership to ensure standards are understood and followed.
The Principal Contractor is responsible for all things Health & Safety related at site level and must carefully liaise with the client, professional team and Principal Designer where appointed at all times during the process, to offer guidance and co-ordination on construction Health & Safety matters. An example of this may be offering guidance on a construction method or technique, or offering specialist advise on a high-risk construction activity.
More information on the role can be found here.
Principal Contractor (Design & Build)
Under a Design & Build contract, a designer may also on occasions be appointed as Principal Contractor whereby they are also responsible for construction of the end product.
A Principal Contractor is the organisation or person that coordinates the work of the construction phase of a project involving more than one contractor, so it is carried out in a way that secures health and safety. They are appointed by the client and must possess the skills, knowledge, and experience and (if an organisation) the organisational capability to carry out their role effectively given the scale and complexity of the project and the nature of the health and safety risks involved.
Good management of health and safety on site is crucial to the successful delivery of a construction project. In liaison with the client and principal designer, principal contractors have an important role in managing the risks of the construction work and providing strong leadership to ensure standards are understood and followed.
The Principal Contractor is responsible for all things Health & Safety related at site level and must carefully liaise with the client, professional team and Principal Designer where appointed at all times during the process, to offer guidance and co-ordination on construction Health & Safety matters. An example of this may be offering guidance on a construction method or technique, or offering specialist advise on a high-risk construction activity.
Contractor
A Contractor may be an individual, a sole trader, a self-employed worker or a business who carries out, manages or controls construction work in connection with a business. Anyone who directly engages construction workers or manages construction work is a contractor. This includes companies that use their own workforce to do construction work on their own premises.
The main duty of a Contractor is to plan and manage construction work under their control so that it is carried out in a way that controls risks to Health and Safety.
They have a range of other duties that depend on whether more than one Contractor is involved in the project. If so, their duties entail co-ordinating their activities with others involved in the project team – in particular, complying with directions given to them by the Principal Designer or
Principal Contractor.
If there is only one Contractor for the work, they have responsibilities to prepare a construction phase plan and prevent unauthorised access to the site. Where Contractors are involved in design work, including for temporary works, they will carry out duties as designers.
We offer a range of independent and flexible services designed to deliver our clients with effective and robust CDM arrangements:
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 is an Act of UK Parliament defining the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare.
This primary legislation provides the ‘umbrella’ whereby a majority of other health & safety legislation (secondary legislation) falls under, which includes Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1991, and Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 to name a few.
The legislation is in place to clearly define the parameters to which all businesses, persons, organisations or employees must work within with regards to health & safety.
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 “CDM 2015” are the principle set of regulations for managing the health, safety and welfare of construction projects. The aim of the regulations is to make Health & Safety an essential and integral part of any building work being undertaken, including alterations and refurbishment, extensions, demolitions or building works of a new or existing structure.
The Regulations apply to all construction activities within mainland UK, regardless of the size of the project, the nature of the works, or the type of client the works are being undertaken for.
The regulations consider the cradle to grave approach to a construction project and beyond, ensuring that any project or design proposals are “Safe to Build, Safe to Maintain, and Safe to Demolish.”
Clients, amongst other duty holders, are pivotal to ensuring the successful execution of the project as they have the most influence in terms of financial control, final design decisions, and the amount of time allocated to safely undertake the construction activities. They are also responsible for appointing a competent professional team to support them with the works.
There are 6 main duty holders recognised under the legislation:
Other persons may be appointed on a project, such as CDM Advisors or Consultants, however their roles are to assist others with the compliance execution of their legal duties under the legislation.
Whatever your role in construction, CDM 2015 aims to improve health and safety in the industry by helping you to:
Failure to comply with The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 can lead to project Clients being prosecuted by the Health & Safety Executive in the criminal courts.
If you need further guidance on the requirements of the regulations, or would like to discuss appointing us for a particular project please do get in touch.
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