CDM 2015: a developer's short guide to your duties
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 place legal duties on the client — yes, you. A brief guide to what they are and how to discharge them.
Most developers know the CDM Regulations exist. Fewer realise that the regulations place duties on the client — not just on the designers and contractors — and that those duties cannot be signed away. If you are commissioning construction work, this one is worth ten minutes of your attention.
This is a short, practical guide. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace reading the regulations or the Health and Safety Executive’s guidance.
Who counts as the client?
Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, the client is whoever has construction work carried out for them in the course of a business. If you are a developer, that is you. The regulations distinguish between commercial clients and domestic clients; the duties below apply to commercial clients.
Your duties, in plain terms
The regulations ask the client to make sure the project is set up to be managed safely. You are not expected to manage health and safety yourself — you are expected to put the right arrangements in place and check they are working.
Make suitable arrangements
You must ensure the project has sensible management arrangements for health and safety, and that enough time and resource are allowed to do the work safely. Squeezing a programme to the point where corners get cut is, in effect, a CDM failing.
Appoint the right duty holders
On any project involving more than one contractor, you must appoint, in writing:
- a principal designer, to manage health and safety during the design phase; and
- a principal contractor, to manage it during construction.
If you do not make these appointments, the law treats you as carrying out those roles — which is rarely where a developer wants to be.
Provide pre-construction information
You must give designers and contractors the information they need about the site and the project — existing drawings, surveys, known hazards such as asbestos, and so on. Good information early prevents expensive surprises later.
Check the arrangements are working
The duty does not end at appointment. You should satisfy yourself, through the project, that the arrangements you put in place are actually being maintained.
How clients usually discharge this
In practice, most commercial clients meet their CDM duties by appointing a competent principal designer early and letting them carry the detail.
The principal designer coordinates health and safety through design, draws up the pre-construction information, and keeps the health and safety file that is handed over at the end. Your job is to appoint them in good time, give them what they need, and not undercut the arrangements with an unrealistic programme or budget.
Done well, none of this slows a project down. Done late, or not at all, it becomes a liability that sits with you personally.
We act as principal designer on projects across London and the wider UK, and can advise on your CDM duties before they become a problem. Talk to us early in the design stage.