CDM 2015 - Another Milestone Met
5 February 2015
Parliamentary Approval Granted on the 29th January, 2015
The long-awaited CDM2015 Regulations have eventually been published in their final form, although the guidances that were published in 9 January 2015 are still in draft, but unlikely to change significantly. The Regulations can be viewed/downloaded from: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/51/contents/made
Draft guidance on the Regulations
The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE's) guidance L153, Draft Guidance on The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, including the draft regulations, was published on 9 January 2015 and is available from: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l153.htm.
Draft industry guidance
A series of draft industry guides have been published, also on 9 January 2015, for the five duty holders under CDM2015, and one for the workers. The industry guides set out, in practical terms, what actions are required to deliver a safe and healthy construction project. These guides can be downloaded from: www.citb.co.uk/health-safety-and-othertopics/health-safety/construction-designand-management-regulations/
What will change?
Principal designer. The replacement of the CDM co-ordinator role (under CDM2007) by principal designer. This means that the responsibility for coordination of the preconstruction phase, which is crucial to the management of any successful construction project, will rest with a member of the design team. The principal designer however does not have any duty to advise and assist the client, except as regards the preconstruction information.
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. The client has more discrete duties and will be required to be increasingly involved in the project, including the verification of the compliance of the principal designer and principal contractor.
A principal designer and principal contractor are required to be appointed where there may be more than one contractor on the project. A health and safety file is required on projects with more than one contractor.
The client must submit the Notification of Construction Project (F10), for which the criteria have changed.
Competence. This will be split into its component parts of skills, knowledge, training and experience, and, if it relates to an organisation, organisational capability. The guidance refers to the Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) and PAS91, Construction prequalification questionnaires, which have very similar requirements as those in the L144, CDM2007 ACoP, Appendix 4, so the methods used are likely to be similar to now. A construction phase plan will be required on ALL projects.
The technical standards set out in Part 4 of the new Regulations remain essentially unchanged from those in guidance related to CDM2007.
Transitional Arrangements
When CDM2015 comes into force on 6 April 2015, there are transitional arrangements in place that will run for 6 months from 6 April 2015 to 6 October 2015, but only for projects that have commenced prior to the 6 April. Projects that commence after this date must fully comply with CDM2015.
Approved Code of Practice (ACoP)
The HSE plans to develop an ACoP during 2015, including a consultation exercise, so this is unlikely to be available until later in 2015.
Domestic Clients
Duties are applied to domestic clients, but these are transferred to the contractor or principal contractor, or by appointment, the principal designer.