Principal Designer's Handbook

Guide to the CDM Regulations 2015

Association for Project Safety

• Publisher: RIBA Publishing
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781000701494
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

The new CDM regulations came into force on 6th April 2015 changing the face of pre-construction health and safety management on construction projects, large and small. This handbook provides a comprehensive road map to undertaking the new Principal Designer role brings pre-construction health and safety risk management into the hands of architects and other designers. Offering authoritative and straightforward guidance to carrying out these tasks, it also uses case studies and checklists to demonstrate how this can be done quickly and efficiently.

1
The Principal Designer Role

1. 1.1 Role overview
2. 1.2 Different role responsibilities
3. 1.3 Commercial projects
4. 1.4 Domestic projects
5. 1.5 Partial design service

1.1 Role overview

The Principal Designer must plan, manage and monitor the Pre-Construction Phase, and coordinate construction health and safety during this phase to ensure that the project is carried out without risk to health and safety (so far as is reasonably practicable; it is not possible to ensure that construction work is carried out without risk).

Pre-Construction Phase

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The Pre-Construction Phase is any period during which design or preparatory work is carried out for a project, and often continues during the Construction Phase.

Preparation of Pre-Construction Information

The Principal Designer provides assistance to the Client in preparation of Pre-Construction Information, which is continuously developed as follows:

• The Principal Designer will gather and distribute Pre-Construction Information in the Client’s possession at the start of the project. In practice, the information a Client has will depend on the type of Client (domestic or commercial), the size and type of project, and so on. Domestic Clients are unlikely to have much information available, but Commercial Clients should have information about their building and site. For example, Commercial Clients instructing refurbishment should have asbestos, structural and services information.
• The Principal Designer and Designers will identify gaps in the Pre-Construction Information where the Client needs to instruct, either themselves or through a consultant, further investigations and studies during the initial design phases.
• The Principal Designer will distribute appropriate Pre-Construction Information to Designers and Contractors.
• The Principal Designer and Designers will identify Pre-Construction Information gaps as the design proceeds.
• The Principal Designer will gather information from the Designers, complete with Design Risk Management information, to pass to the Principal Contractor or tenderers.
• The Principal Designer will continue to gather Pre-Construction Information from Designers (including Contractors undertaking design) during the Construction Phase, and will liaise with the Principal Contractor about how to manage design risks identified during the Pre-Construction Phase.

Risk management

The Principal Designer must identify, eliminate or control foreseeable risks to health and safety (so far as is reasonably practicable). They are expected to have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience for the size and type of structure(s) on which they are appointed, in order to work with all Designers to identify risk issues to those who construct, use and maintain the structure. This does not mean that all risks must be removed, or all risks listed. Again, remember the definition of ‘so far as reasonably practicable’.

Cooperation of all involved

The Principal Designer must ensure the cooperation of all those involved in a project. They therefore require soft skills and people management capabilities. In many cases a Principal Designer will also be a Designer on the project, and will have both Principal Designer and Designer duties. The Principal Designer has a duty to make sure that the other Designers on the project are also complying with their Designer duties.

The Principal Designer must ensure prompt provision of appropriate Pre-Construction Information to all Designers and all Contractors appointed by the Client. They must pass appropriate Pre-Construction Information to Designers and Contractors at different stages of a project, as and when the information becomes available.

Extent of the role

The Principal Designer must liaise with the Principal Contractor for the duration of their appointment. An initial Principal Designer may be appointed to provide a partial service (for example, production of drawings and specification only). However, the Client must appoint a Principal Designer for as long as the Pre-Construction Phase lasts. The following scenarios may apply:

• If there is no further design or temporary works design when the Pre-Construction Phase has ended, the Principal Designer role can cease and the Principal Contractor could complete the Health and Safety File.
• If there is continuing design or temporary works design which ceases before the end of the project, a Principal Designer must be appointed (the Client takes on the role by default for commercial projects) while design continues.
• If design or the Principal Designer appointment continues to the end of the project, the Pre-Construction Phase is as long as the Construction Phase, and the Principal Designer appointment needs to continue to mirror the Construction Phase for the Principal Designer to deliver the Health and Safety File to the Client.
• The Principal Designer role may be carried out by the Principal Contractor if they have the capability.

Health and Safety File

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The Principal Designer must prepare an appropriate Health and Safety File during the Pre-Construction Phase. Gathering of information for the File should be a continuous process throughout the Pre-Construction and Construction Phases. The Principal Designer should tailor their approach according to the size and type of project, and is responsible for passing the Health and Safety File to the Client, unless the Principal Designer appointment ends before the conclusion of the project. In these circumstances the Principal Designer must pass the partially completed File to the Principal Contractor for completion and handover to the Client, and advise the Client that this has been done.

1.2 Different role responsibilities

The figure below shows who is responsible for carrying out the duties and undertaking the functions within the CDM Regulations 2015. For more about the other duty holders’ roles listed here, see Chapter 5.

Figure 1.1

1.3 Commercial projects

The Client, the Principal Designer and the Principal Contractor are the key triumvirate who plan, manage and monitor health and safety in a commercial construction project. Each has a distinct role under CDM 2015 (Chapter 5), and the roles are joined in the common purpose of preventing workers, the public and users coming to any harm. CDM 2015 anticipates that the Principal Designer will be a design organisation, assuming that they have the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience of the type and size of project as Designers, and have the requisite knowledge and understanding of construction health and safety, the relevant legislation and regulation – and CDM 2015 in particular.

Figure 1.2 Key relationships in Pre-Construction Phase design work for commercial projects

If the Lead Designer is capable of undertaking the design work and managing and coordinating the design team, but is not capable of delivering the health and safety services required of a Principal Designer, then two choices are available:

• The Lead Designer can accept the Principal Designer appointment, but subcontract the Principal Designer role to a suitably experienced consultant; in this scenario, the appointed Principal Designer retains the full legal responsibility for the Principal Designer service supplied by their consultant, OR
• The Client can appoint a separate design organisation or individual as Principal Designer.

Designers and Contractors on commercial projects who historically have not had to produce Pre-Construction Information, Construction Phase Plans and Health and Safety Files will require training in order to combine their CDM 2015 roles with their traditional roles.

Figure 1.3 shows the relationships and overlaps in a typical traditionally procured construction project. It is important to note that the Principal Designer role will continue into the Construction Phase for as long as the Pre-Construction Phase continues or as long as the Principal Designer is appointed. This means liaising with the Principal Contractor and Contractors who are carrying out design work. If the Principal Designer appointment concludes at the end of the Pre-Construction Phase, the Principal Designer must hand the Health and Safety File as developed at that date to the Principal Contractor for completion. However, it is better if possible for the Principal Designer role to continue, to avoid the need to pass completion of the Health and Safety File to a different person and to deal with the continuing design that invariably takes place during the Construction Phase on the vast majority of projects.

Figure 1.3 Overlaps between relationships in a typical traditionally procured construction project

How the Principal Designer fits into the larger project

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In liaison with the Client, Designers and the Principal Contractor, the Principal Designer has an important role in influencing how the risks to health and safety should be managed and incorporated into the wider management of a project.

Decisions about the design taken during the Pre-Construction Phase can have a significant effect on whether the project is delivered in a way that secures health and safety.

The Principal Designer’s role involves coordinating the work of others in the project team to ensure that significant and foreseeable risks emanating from construction, use and maintenance are managed throughout the design process.

The Principal Designer should be appointed as early as possible in the design process, if practicable at the concept stage. Appointing the Principal Designer early (RIBA Stage 2 or earlier, or CIC/NEC equivalent – see RIBA Plan of Work 2013) will provide the Client with help in matters such as pulling together the Pre-Construction Information and giving the Principal Designer enough time to carry out their duties. Remember that in commercial projects the Client takes on the role of Principal Designer by default in the absence of a Principal Designer written appointment.

The duration of the Principal Designer’s appointment should take into account any design work that may continue into the Construction Phase, or any issues that may arise during construction involving the need to make suitable modifications to the designs.

For projects involving early work by a concept Designer, a Project Management company or where a Design and Build Contractor or nova...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• FOREWORD
• INTRODUCTION
• 1 THE PRINCIPAL DESIGNER ROLE
• 2 THE PRINCIPAL DESIGNER IN PRACTICE
• 3 LIAISON WITH THE PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR
• 4 STANDARD AND EXEMPLAR DOCUMENTS
• 5 KEY CDM ROLES
• REFERENCE