Designer, Developer, D&B Contractor, Architect or Client. How does CDM effect you?
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 Coordinator or CDM Consultant, 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 Coordinator in Bath 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 principal designer services directly 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 Bath, we can assist and advise domestic and commercial clients regarding their duties and liaise with the project team to ensure Health & Safety in construction is maintained at the highest level. We provide these services in Bath and the South West.
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 Principal 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.
Often, we would also assist the client in discharging their duties such as:
For notifiable projects commercial clients must:
The principal 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 Bath and Bristol or assist other designers to fully discharge their duties.
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 carry out 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.
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.
Please contact our head office on 01225789307 or email enquiries@westernbuildingconsultants.co.uk to discuss.
Being socially responsible and promoting excellent ethics is at the forefront of our business. Our staff are happy and content and this is shown through our positive approach to your project. We work to the highest professional standards as required by both the RICS and CIAT. You can rest assured that when you employ WBC you will be supporting an organisation that champions local, national and international projects through schemes such as FairTrade, Mentoring Plus and the Bath percent club. This is backed up by a rigorous Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. We sponsor many grass roots sports clubs such as Combe Down Rugby Club, Frome Park Bowls Club & Cardiff Harlequins.
We are realistic with timescales and honest about what you will receive. Most people underestimate the time involved with a building project, but we are upfront about what is involved and will be clear about how long a project might take. Throughout the project we will continue to update you about progress and will advise you if there will be a disruption in the timetable.
We have vast planning experience and are adaptable to most architectural styles and ages of buildings. We are perfectly able to adapt to the style of your property from contemporary to traditional, urban to rural. We have designed projects in most styles and can use our broad experience to help design the best solution for your property, using whatever construction technology best suits your needs. Whether you plan a modest alteration or something spectacular WBC can help you achieve your project goals.
We employ qualified professionals with a variety of skill sets and the latest training. many of our employees have specialist post graduate qualifications. We also train selected staff through university programmes and professional qualifications to ensure our clients get the best trained surveyors and up to date advice. You will receive a professional, comprehensive and cohesive consultation and guidance throughout the project, ensuring that your development is handled with a consultant level of knowledge.
We are here for you when you need us, with our survey to completion guarantee. You won’t be left alone, we will fit in wherever you need us in the project or guide you through the whole process. You will have the knowledge that someone is always at hand whatever level of service you need.
Whilst offering exceptional value for money we also bring a positive, approachable, pragmatic, realistic and well rounded attitude to your project. You will feel at ease discussing issues with your project, our pragmatic approach to design and refurbishment means that we can often deliver built in VALUE. One example of this is recognising where cost savings can be made in the design without compromising the overall scheme and offering a higher standard of technical specification over many of our competitors, this reduces the need for outside engineering input and ultimately saves you money in fees. We are grounded which means that we can deliver a build in a cost conscious manner in order to make sure our projects are buildable.
Where we do not have the in house skills to tackle an element of a project we are well networked locally to utilise outside consultants that we have built up relationships with over many years. You will get the best of local knowledge and be introduced to like minded trusted suppliers with excellent professional services.
We can provide the majority of services required for a small project in house, making us practically a one stop shop. Having most services in house means that we are often fully accountable for the professional services on your project, this ensures simplicity, communication and efficiency. By utilising a multi-disciplinary approach we are able to keep professional costs for the project extremely competitive and hassle free, essentially you only pay for one set of overheads.
We have unparalleled technical knowledge and produce comprehensive architectural designs and surveys. You will be getting market-leading technical advice that has been approached with imaginative problem-solving techniques. This helps us to identify potential problems with a build before they arise.
Our knowledge adds value, an example of this is that most architects do not provide any advice on the structure of a building during the building regulations approval stage, relying on a structural engineer to produce all work relating to the super structure. At Western Building Consultants we provide structural advice on many areas, such as timber design for floors and roofs, limiting the scope of the engineers work and saving you money.
Having a large team of surveyors means that your project is unlikely to be held up due to other circumstances, there will always be at least two surveyors familiar with the project therefore continuity and a personal service will be retained. On larger schemes a bigger team will be assembled with the required specialist knowledge to fully support your project.
Merlin House
No 1 Langstone Business Park,
Priory Drive
01633982588
Commerce Park, Unit R17, Marshall Way
01373488566
Western House,
2 Rush Hill
01225789307
Sophia House,
28 Cathedral Road
02922679366
Kingston House,
Lydiard Fields
01793234516
Studio 1a,
31 Berkeley Square
0117 3294290
Unit 2, Byre Workshops, Winterbourne Court Farm Barn, Church Lane, Winterbourne
0117 3294290