SUBJECT to Parliamentary approval, new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) will come into force on 6 April 2015, according to a draft guidance document released by the Health & Safety Executive in early January.
This draft Legal (L) Series guidance is on the legal requirements for CDM 2015. It’s being made available before the Regulations come into force on 6 April to help anyone who has duties under the Regulations to prepare in advance.
What will change?
The HSE summarises the key areas as follows:”
• Principal designer. The replacement of the CDM co-ordinator role (under CDM 2007) by principal designer. This means that the responsibility for coordination of the pre-construction phase – which is crucial to the management of any successful construction project – will rest with an existing member of the design team.
• Client. The new Regulations recognise the influence and importance of the client as the head of the supply chain and they are best placed to set standards throughout a project.
• Competence. This will be split into its component parts of skills, knowledge, training and experience, and – if it relates to an organisation – organisational capability. This will provide clarity and help the industry to both assess and demonstrate that construction project teams have the right attributes to deliver a healthy and safe project.
Commenting, Margaret Sackey, Health and Safety Panel Chair with the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) said: “ICE welcomes the publication of the draft CDM Regulation package, and the consideration given to points the Institution and its members raised during the consultation – in particular, issues surrounding clarity, competence, the Principal Designer and application of the guidance to SMEs. This package represents the third attempt to ensure that health and safety risk management is well embedded in a project throughout the design and construction process, and it is essential that it is fit for purpose in all regards.
“We will now review the draft package closely and respond accordingly with the aim of ensuring the final regulations and guidance are as effective and workable as possible, reflecting the concerns of the industry.”
The technical standards set out in Part 4 of the new Regulations will remain essentially unchanged from those in guidance related to CDM 2007. HSE’s targeting and enforcement policy, as a proportionate and modern regulator, also remains unchanged.
