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LEGISLATIVE COMPLIANCE

CONSTRUCTION DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS (CDM)

The 2007 Construction Design and Management Regulations

Construction remains a disproportionately dangerous industry where improvements in health and safety are urgently needed. The improvements require significant and permanent changes in duty holder attitudes and behaviour.

In what is arguably the most important health and safety legislative development of 2007, the CDM Regulations (commonly known as CDM 2007) came into force on the 6th April. Since the original CDM Regulations were introduced in 1994, concerns were raised that their complexity and the bureaucratic approach of many duty holders frustrated the Regulations’ underlying health and safety objectives. These views were supported by an industry-wide consultation in 2002 which resulted in the decision to revise the Regulations.

The new CDM 2007 Regulations revise and bring together the CDM Regulations 1994 and the Construction (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 into a single regulatory package.

PROjEN - CDM COORDINATOR

Since the inception of the 1994 CDM regulations, PROjEN have supported many clients to ensure compliance with the legislation. As the CDM Coordinator PROjEN's involvement with clients is flexible and multi-faceted. We can provide CDM support as a stand alone role, such as CDM coordinator on internal projects, or alternatively the role of Principal Contractor, CDM coordinator and Designer can be represented within a turnkey project or alliance scenario.

CDM 2007

CDM 2007 places legal duties on virtually everyone involved in construction work, however a number of key duty holders have specific duties as follows:

Clients - A 'client' is anyone having construction or building work carried out as part of their business. This could be an individual, partnership or company and includes property developers or management companies for domestic properties.
CDM coordinator - A 'CDM coordinator' has to be appointed to advise the client on projects that last more than 30 days or involve 500 person days of construction work. The CDM coordinator’s role is to advise the client on health and safety issues during the design and planning phases of construction work.
Designers - The term 'designer' has a broad meaning and relates to the function performed, rather than the profession or job title. Designers are those who, as part of their work, prepare design drawings, specifications, bills of quantities and the specification of articles and substances. This could include architects, engineers and quantity surveyors.
Principal contractors - A 'principal contractor' has to be appointed for projects which last more than 30 days or involve 500 person days of construction work. The principal contractor's role is to plan, manage and co-ordinate health and safety while construction work is being undertaken. The principal contractor is usually the main or managing contractor for the work.
Contractors - A 'contractor' is a business who is involved in construction, alteration, maintenance or demolition work. This could involve building, civil engineering, mechanical, electrical, demolition and maintenance companies, partnerships and the self-employed.
Workers - A ’worker’ is anyone who carries out work during the construction, alteration, maintenance or demolition of a building or structure. A worker could be, for example, a plumber, electrician, scaffolder, painter, decorator, steel erector, as well as those supervising the work, such as foreman and chargehands.

In addition to working alongside our clients, PROjEN have been active in the interpretation and development of the legislation. This means that our advice on procedural and documentation issues is comprehensive and well developed. This covers areas such as:

CDM Compliance and Training

A PROjEN CDM compliance audit can provide clients with an objective third party view of their company strengths and weaknesses in this area. This audit has a two stage approach, information gathering followed by a detailed report. If changes are recommended, the PROjEN team can assist with the implementation measures. Beyond the understanding of the CDM regulations lies a need for a safety driven business culture. PROjEN can support learning programmes by a number of different techniques

Tool box talks on the duty holder roles
CDM mentoring for inexperienced construction staff
Advice on the development of Design Risk Assessments
The Preparation and development of the CDM outputs
How to prepare and manage a Health and Safety File

General Health and Safety Compliance

Health and Safety is key to every business and none so more than our own. PROjEN are proud of the fact that to date we have won RoSPA Gold Medal Awards based on our excellent performance to date and our ability to manage projects with safety high on the agenda. Areas which we offer advice on to other businesses include:

General Construction Site Safety
Health and Safety Auditing
Advice on Construction Risk Assessments
Interpretation of the Regulations

If you would like to know more on any areas associated with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations then please call us on 01928 752500 and ask for the Health and Safety Department.