Legally if you are involved with the design of buildings a Principal Designer needs to be appointed to manage the H&S aspects of the design. Previously called the CDM Co-ordinator the principal designer role is often carried out by the lead designer but in many cases they may lack the relevant H&S Experience to adequately discharge their duties. Western Building Consultants having been involved as CDM Co-ordinator in Bristol since 2008 have over 10 years experience helping developers and designers comply with the regulations.
With the amendment to the regulations in April 2014 the designers of buildings have once again been handed the accountability for the health & safety of construction projects. We provide our services direct to our clients such as developers but also designers that want to outsource the whole role or some of the responsibilities so they can focus on their projects from a purely design aspect. We also provide consultancy to practices wishing to review their procedures and practices in relation to CDM. Many smaller practices don’t fully understand their obligations and the fact the regulations now apply to all projects including residential extensions.
In our role as a CDM advisor and Principal designer in Bristol, we can assist and advise domestic and commercial clients regarding their duties and liaising with the project team to ensure Health & Safety in construction is maintained at the highest level. We provide these services in Bristol and the South West.
When is an F10 Notification to HSE Required?
The criteria for a project requiring a F10 notification has changed with the last amendment to the CDM regulations, The requirement to notify the HSE is as follows:
“Planned construction work will last longer than 30 working days and involves more than 20 workers at any one time; or where the work exceeds 500 individual worker days.”
If Western Building Consultants is appointed as Principle Designer we would produce the pre-construction phase information, which is in the form of a Pre-Construction Phase plan where we assess the existing onsite risks and design risks associated with the project. If the project is notifiable under CDM regs, we will also submit the F10 to the HSE.
What are the Principle Designer’s duties ?
Often we would also assist the client in discharging their duties such as:
Making suitable arrangements for managing their project, enabling those carrying it out to manage health and safety risks in a proportionate way. These arrangements include:
For notifiable projects commercial clients must:
The principle contractor generally produces the construction phase plan, and keeps HS file on site. But we will often provide supplementary information to assist with this.
We have experience working on small and large projects, our past clients include the MOD, architects and large developers such as the PG Group. As well as advising clients on their duties we can also act as Principal Designer in Bristol or assist other designers to fully discharge their duties.
Why use WBC as your principal designer ?
As fully regulated members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Western Building Consultants are a fully qualified and experienced professional company with years of CDM experience in jobs large and small to help discharge your CDM Coordination/principal designer duties whilst also providing advice on construction health and safety.
Health & Safety Site Audits
Western Building Consultants provide site audits for contractors and developers, helping you comply with Construction Design Management and Health & Safety Regulations. We can provide a one off visit or a package of compliance visits where we carryout a 50 point site audit inspection, including documentation, site set up and a tour of the site and its facilities, these can be programmed or carried out at random to ensure that your team are regularly compliant.
Please contact our head office on 01225789307 or email [email protected] to discuss.