The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM), which were officially published on April 6, are the main driver for managing the health, safety and welfare of construction projects.
They comprise six draft industry guidance documents aimed at clients, contractors, designers, principal contractors, principal designers and workers and an additional HSE “L” series guide on the regulations.
The new regulations were drawn up following a public consultation last year by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
A number of new changes have come into force under the 2015 CDM Regulations. According to the HSE, they include:
Principal Designer (PD) – The CDM Co-ordinator role under CDM2007 will be replaced by the new PD role. It means responsibility for coordinated the pre-construction phase will rest with a member of the design team.
Client – The new regulations recognise the client as the head of the supply chain and as the party best place to set standards throughout a project
Competence – The detailed requirements will be replaced with a more general framework which splits ‘competence’ into component parts of skills, knowledge, training and experience and organisational capability
Though “domestic” clients are in the scope of CDM 2015, their duties will normally be transferred to other duty holders.
Projects which were already under way before April 6 will be able to comply with the 2007 CDM Regulations for a period of six months.
After October 6, all ongoing projects will have to comply with the new CDM Regulations 2015.
