01When a CDM principal designer is required

Regulation 5(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015: where there is more than one contractor, or if it is reasonably foreseeable that more than one contractor will be working on a project at any time, the client must appoint in writing a designer with control over the pre-construction phase as principal designer, and a contractor as principal contractor. Regulation 5(2): the appointments must be made as soon as is practicable, and in any event before the construction phase begins.

Three points that decide the answer on most small projects:

• The test counts contractors, not designers. One design practice on a job with a builder and an electrician still crosses the line.
• A contractor is anyone who carries out, manages or controls construction work in the course of a business, so subcontracted trades count.
• They do not have to be on site at the same time. Sequential trades count.

The practical consequence is that the great majority of domestic extensions, lofts and refurbishments require the appointment.

02What happens on a domestic project if nobody is appointed

Regulation 7(2): if a domestic client fails to make the appointments required by regulation 5, the designer in control of the pre-construction phase of the project is the principal designer, and the contractor in control of the construction phase of the project is the principal contractor.

HSE puts it the same way on its principal designers page: on a domestic client project where the client does not appoint a principal designer, the role must be carried out by the designer in control of the pre-construction phase.

Two things follow that are worth being precise about.

An exclusion in your fee proposal is worth having, and does not move the role

Excluding the principal designer service from your appointment records what was agreed between you and your client, and makes the fee proposal accurate. It does not change how regulation 7(2) allocates the role, because that regulation allocates by reference to control of the pre-construction phase rather than by reference to a private contract. What moves the role is the client appointing somebody else, in writing.

The commercial position is different

On a project for a commercial client, regulation 5(3) leaves the principal designer's duties with the client where no appointment is made. The designer is not drawn in. It is domestic work, where an appointment is least likely to be made, that puts the role on the design practice.

03The designer duties that stay with you either way

Regulation 9 applies to anyone who prepares or modifies a design, whoever is appointed principal designer. In summary:

1. Regulation 9(1)

   Do not start design work unless satisfied the client is aware of their duties under the Regulations.

2. Regulation 9(2)

   When preparing or modifying a design, take account of the general principles of prevention and any pre-construction information, and eliminate foreseeable risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

3. Regulation 9(3)

   Where elimination is not possible, reduce or control the risks through subsequent design work, and provide information about them to the principal designer for the pre-construction information and the health and safety file.

4. Regulation 9(4)

   Provide sufficient information with the design about its design, construction and maintenance to help the client, other designers and contractors carry out their own duties.

Appointing an external principal designer moves the coordination role in regulations 11 and 12. It does not and should not reduce the duties above.

04What ClearCDM takes on

• The written principal designer appointment, made by the client.
• Planning, managing and monitoring health and safety through the pre-construction phase, and coordinating it, under regulation 11.
• Gathering the pre-construction information from the client, the designers and a site visit, identifying what is missing and who can supply it, and issuing it to whoever is pricing and building, under regulation 11(6).
• Checking that each designer has dealt with the risks their design creates, under regulation 11(4).
• Liaising with the principal contractor, under regulation 11(7), including providing the information they need for the construction phase plan under regulation 12(3).
• Preparing the health and safety file under regulation 12(5), and where the appointment runs to completion, issuing it to the client at practical completion.
• Assessing whether the project is notifiable and, where it is, submitting the F10 on the client's behalf.

What ClearCDM does not do: the Building Regulations principal designer role, the construction phase plan, anything to do with running the site, a commercial client's own duties, or design.

05What we ask you for

One short online form per project, around ten minutes. It asks what your design leaves behind that could not be designed out, and lets you attach what you already hold rather than retyping it. Useful answers usually cover:

• What is being removed or opened up, and what is holding the building up while that happens.
• Anything that has to be done in a particular order for the building to stay safe.
• Loads, temporary support and any assumed sequence in the structural design.
• Work at height the design creates and cannot remove: roof levels, openings, edges, fragile surfaces.
• Anything the survey turned up about the existing building: materials, condition, hidden services.
• Anything awkward about maintaining or cleaning the finished building.

What is not useful: generic risk assessments, standard hazard notes, or whole document sets sent as a precaution. HSE guidance asks for information that is clear, concise and easily understandable, and length works against that.

06How the appointment happens

1. You build the client's quote

   In the ClearCDM quote tool, choosing the architect, engineer or designer route. Two minutes. It produces a link carrying your name, practice and email as the person who prepared it.

2. Your client checks and sends it

   The appointment is theirs to make, because regulation 5 puts it with the client.

3. We review and confirm

   Normally within one working day.

4. Appointment

   The appointment pack and the published terms of appointment, accepted by a short signed online form. That signature is the written appointment regulation 5 requires.

5. You do one form

   And that is your involvement, unless the design changes.

07Typical fees

Published, fixed, and read off a schedule rather than taken as a percentage. All figures exclusive of VAT.

Continuing through the construction phase to the health and safety file handover starts at £450 plus VAT for six months or less. The fee is fixed and covers what the job ordinarily needs, wherever the project is: there is no expenses line and nothing is added afterwards.

08CDM principal designer and Building Regulations principal designer

Two separate roles under two separate sets of regulations, and a project in England can need both.

One caution. Regulation 11D(2) of the Building Regulations lets a client certify in writing that the person who is the CDM principal designer is treated as appointed as the Building Regulations principal designer. That is sensible only where the same organisation genuinely does both jobs. Do not use it to name ClearCDM, because we do not provide the Building Regulations role.

09A paragraph you are welcome to adapt

For a fee proposal or a client letter:

Your project will involve more than one contractor, so the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 require you to appoint a principal designer and a principal contractor in writing before work starts. Our fee does not include the principal designer role. If no appointment is made, the regulations place the role on the designer in control of the pre-construction phase, which would be us, without the resources or fee to carry it. We would rather it went to a specialist, and we can get you a fixed price for that in a couple of minutes.

Sources

1. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, regulations 5, 7, 9, 11 and 12. legislation.gov.uk
2. HSE, principal designers: roles and responsibilities. hse.gov.uk
3. HSE, designers: roles and responsibilities. hse.gov.uk
4. Managing health and safety in construction, L153, HSE guidance on the Regulations.
5. The Building Regulations 2010, Part 2A, regulations 11C and 11D. legislation.gov.uk

ClearCDM is a trading style of Robbie Thompson Design Ltd. [email protected]. clearcdm.co.uk