Building a Safer Future
29 May 2018
As our readers know we have, for many years, been stating that ensuring compliance means safer construction sites. The regulations are there to protect all parties and following them means you can ensure that you have done everything in your power to comply with the law. ToolKit CS is the leader in CDM compliance software and it has a proven track record, just ask the many users.
Many organisations believe that they can demonstrate compliance, but can they? What if you have multiple sites and/or multiple projects? How do you manage this? How can you have a 'top level view' of what is going on? How can you ensure that people involved in your projects are following the correct procedures? How can you demonstrate (with confidence) that you are right on track?
It's simple really, you need to be able to measure your deliverables, have standard but intelligent document templates, check key dates, give warnings when something is about to be non-compliant and provide statistical information based on the CDM regulation requirements. Along with this you need to have confidence in what you build, this is where BIM can aid in the design of the structure. We are not far from the path of intelligent buildings and this in itself will pose additional issues during design. So, we must get it right!
Many still see CDM as an 'added burden' and many Principal Designers state that CDM is not part of their remit. We need to change these negative assumptions. CDM is not meant to be a burden, it was introduced to provide a process to manage construction projects safety, effectively and with as little risk to those employed to construct the project as possible.
Over the years the CDM regulations have been tweaked and improved to provide and promote 'best practice' and we should embrace these changes and utilise tools to help us manage the process effectively. The Client on any CDM project has the duty to comply and there are heavy penalties if they don't. Likewise, all the 'principals' on CDM projects have their duties too and these cannot be passed down to others to fulfil, there is no escaping the law.
But let's remember the underpinning reasoning of CDM, to control, manage and provide safer building projects. To minimise health issues and to have less accidents and potential deaths on building sites. Surely these are goals what we all want to aim for?
If you would like to find out more about how ToolKit CS can help you comply with the CDM regulations then please visit aisolutions.uk/CDM and view our online video or call a member of the team on 01525 850080 to arrange your FREE Consultation and Live Demonstration of CDM ToolKit CS.