Almost everyone involved in a construction project has a legal obligation under the CDM regulations and is what is known as a duty holder. We expect all our contractors and consultants to know about and fulfil their legal obligations under CDM. Estates Services and all University departments who act as clients are also required to comply with the regulations – more information below.
The scope of CDM
The regulations cover all aspects of construction and maintenance work: preparation for a structure, including site clearance and groundworks, the construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration or other maintenance, installation of services, and demolition and dismantling of a structure.
The regulations aim to improve the health and safety of people working in the construction industry by ensuring that:
- they have the right information about risks
- they are consulted about risks and how they are being managed
- risks are managed from start to finish
- the right people are on site for the right job at the right time
- they cooperate and coordinate their work with each other
- they communicate effectively with everyone else involved in the project
The University’s obligations
The University – Estates Services and other departments who commission work – has a duty as a ‘commercial client’. We have to make sure projects are managed to ensure the health and safety of everyone who may be affected by the work.
This means:
- appointing designers and contractors that have the skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capability for the project
- appointing a principal designer and a principal contractor where more than one contractor will be involved
- allowing sufficient time and resources for a project
- making sure that the principal designer and principal contractor carry out their duties in managing the project
- making sure suitable welfare facilities are provided for the duration of the work
- providing pre-construction information to every designer and contractor tendering for the work or already appointed to the project
- ensuring that the principal contractor prepares a construction phase plan before each phase of work begins
- ensuring that the principal designer prepares a health and safety file for the project and that it is revised as necessary and made available to anyone who needs it for work on site
- notifying the HSE in writing about the details of the project if construction work will last more than 30 working days and involve more than 20 workers at any one time, or where the work exceeds 500 individual worker days
- ensuring that a copy of the HSE notification is displayed in the construction site office
You can find out more about the duties of commercial clients, principal contractors and principal designers on the HSE website as well as further detailed guidance about the regulations – see the link on the right-hand side of the page.
