T: 0800 195 3018  E: surv@sbpsurveyors.co.uk  W: www.sbpsurveyors.co.uk     Merseyside and the North West

sbp surveyors ltd    Chartered Building Surveyors and CDMC Co-ordinators

Regulated by the RICS

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007

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Advice to Designers

This information sheet is intended as an aide-memoir to Designers when undertaking their duties under The CDM Regulations 2007, it is not intended to be a substitute for seeking competent professional advice and /or referring to the Regulations and the Approved Code of Practice and other guidance. You may wish to keep this sheet to the front of your project file as a check list.

Designer - a person in the furtherance of a business who prepares or modifies a design or arranges for someone under his control to do so. (Reg 2 and 11 ACoP 115 to 118.

Competency - are you competent to be a designer? (Reg 4 ACoP 221 – 225 and ACoP Appendix 4) or visit our website to check. A primary duty of a designer is to ensure that clients are aware of their duties. (Reg 11(1) ACoP 122, 123). Definitions and Advice to Clients is given on the reverse of this information sheet; you may be find it useful to provide the client with a copy of this sheet.

Design work should not commence on Notifiable projects until a CDM Co-ordinator has been appointed in writing. The project should not have progressed past the initial design stage i.e. past RIBA/RICS Stage 2 prior to appointing a CDMC you should only undertake enough work to establish project viability. (Reg 14(1) ACoP 64 to 68)

When preparing or modifying a design which may be used in construction work a designer shall as far a reasonably practicable, taking into account other design issues, avoid foreseeable risks to the health and safety of any person:

· Carrying out construction work;

· Liable to be affected by such construction work;

· Cleaning any window or any transparent wall, ceiling or roof in or on a structure;

· Maintaining the permanent fixtures and fittings of a structure;

· Using a structure designed as a workplace.

In undertaking these duties the designer must eliminate hazards that give rise to risk and reduce risks from remaining hazards. Collective measures give priority over individual measures. (Reg 11 ACoP 119 -120 and 124 -130) Regulation 12 deals with designs prepared or modified outside Great Britain.

Workplace design shall take account of the provisions of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 in respect of the design of and materials used in, the structure.

Co-operation and Co-ordination: Regulations 5 requires every person involved in a project to seek co-operation and report anything which is likely to endanger the H&S of himself and others. Regulation 6 requires that all duty holders co-ordinating their activities with one another to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the H&S of persons carrying out or affected by the construction work.

Principles of prevention: Duty holders should use these principles to direct their approach to identifying and implementing precautions which are necessary to control risks associated with a project:

a) Avoiding risks

b) Evaluating the risks which cannot be avoided;

c) Combating risks at source

d) Adapting the work to the individual, especially as regards the design of workplaces, the choice of  equipment and the choice of working and production methods, with a view, in particular, to alleviating monotonous work and work at a predetermined work-rate and to reducing their effect on health.

e) Adapting to technical progress

f) Replacing dangerous by the non-dangerous or the less dangerous

g) Developing a coherent overall prevention policy which covers technology, organisation of work, working conditions, social relationships and the influence of factors effecting the working environment

h) Giving collective protective measures priority over individual protective measures; and

i) Giving appropriate instructions to employees.

Design Risk Management (DRM) addresses the H&S aspects of design and planning in project management during the design process and DRM should continue through into the construction phase to assist continuing design and design changes. DRM is part of the design process and continues until the design is translated into a completed structure. The ACoP (144) makes the point that it

is not a legal requirement to record your design deliberations but emphasises the benefits of recording and providing information of the significant risks. An audit trail of significant design decisions provides a quick reminder at later stages of the project and during design review.

Consider ERIC: Eliminate, Reduce, Inform, Control.

Provide sufficient information with the design about aspects of the design of the structure or it’s construction or maintenance to adequately assist clients, other designers and contractors to comply with their duties under the CDM Regulations (Reg 11 and ACoP131-134). Notes on drawings are preferred but specific written information can be provided, consider construction sequences.

Bureaucracy. The ACoP (2) discourages unnecessary bureaucracy. The effort devoted to planning and managing H&S should be proportionate to the risks and the complexity of the project. Focus on the action necessary to reduce and manage risks. Unnecessary paperwork can be a dangerous distraction from the real business of risk reduction and management. (ACoP 4).

The right Information for the right people at the right time (ACoP 57)

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