CDM Principal Designer H&S Site Audits in Bristol

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 ?

• Plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety in the pre-construction phase. In doing so they must take account of relevant information (such as an existing health and safety file) that might affect design work carried out both before and after the construction phase has started.
• Help and advise the client in bringing together pre-construction information, and provide the information designers and contractors need to carry out their duties.
• Work with any other designers on the project to eliminate foreseeable health and safety risks to anyone affected by the work and, where that is not possible, take steps to reduce or control those risks.
• Ensure that everyone involved in the pre-construction phase communicates and cooperates, coordinating their work wherever required.
• Liaise with the principal contractor, keeping them informed of any risks that need to be controlled during the construction phase.

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:

• Appointing the contractors and designers to the project (including the principal designer and principal contractor on projects involving more than one contractor) while making sure they have the skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capabilityAllowing sufficient time and resources for each stage of the project.
• Making sure that any principal designer and principal contractor appointed carry out their duties in managing the project.
• Making sure suitable welfare facilities are provided for the duration of the construction work.
• Maintain and review the management arrangements for the duration of the project.
• Provide pre-construction information to every designer and contractor either bidding for the work or already appointed to the project.
• Ensure that the principal contractor or contractor (for single contractor projects) prepares a construction phase plan before that phase begins.
• Ensure 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 subsequent work at the site.

For notifiable projects commercial clients must:

• Notify HSE in writing with details of the project.
• Ensure a copy of the notification is displayed in the construction site office.

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.