Project type
Residential CDM principal designer services
Extensions, lofts, refurbishment, structural alteration and new houses. The principal designer appointment on domestic work, which is where CDM 2015 is most often ignored and least often understood.
Short answer
CDM 2015 applies to residential work in full. Where more than one contractor is involved, and on almost all residential projects one is, regulation 5 requires the client to appoint a CDM principal designer in writing before work starts. What is different on domestic work is regulation 7: most of the client duties move to the contractor, and if nobody is appointed at all the roles are allocated automatically to whoever is standing closest.
What we take on
Single and two storey, rear and side return. From £750 plus VAT.
Loft conversionsWhere the roof and the structure are both pre-construction problems.
RefurbishmentWhole house and major works, where the existing building is the project.
New build housesSingle dwellings and small schemes. From £1,200 plus VAT.
The domestic client position, plainly
Three things are worth knowing before you decide how to handle it.
- Most of your duties move, but not the appointment
Regulation 7(1) passes the client duties in regulations 4(1) to (7) and 6 to the contractor, or to the principal contractor where there is more than one. Regulation 5, the appointment itself, is not in that list. It stays with you.
- If you appoint nobody, the roles still get filled
Regulation 7(2): the designer in control of the pre-construction phase is the principal designer, and the contractor in control of the construction phase is the principal contractor. Usually neither of them knows.
- A landlord is not a domestic client
Work on a rented property is connected with a business, so the full client duties in regulation 4 stay with you. More for landlords.
What your project team gets
Your designer gets one short form per project instead of an open ended coordination duty. Your builder gets the site's actual constraints before pricing rather than during the second week. You get an appointment in writing, a document set written for your building, and a health and safety file at the end that the next project on the house will be glad of.
What it costs
From £750 plus VAT for the pre-construction service, with the construction phase service from £450 plus VAT if you want the appointment to run to completion and the health and safety file handed over at the end. The published fee schedule, or price your own project.
Common questions
Does CDM really apply to my house?
Yes. CDM 2015 applies to construction work on domestic property in the same way it applies to a commercial site. The only work outside it is work you carry out yourself, which HSE treats as DIY.
Nobody has ever mentioned this on my previous projects.
That is common, and it is the reason the regulations contain regulation 7(2). The duties were still allocated on those projects; they were simply allocated by default to people who did not know they held them.
Price it in about two minutes
Answer a few questions about the works and see the fixed fee. Nothing is contracted and no money is taken online.
Get an instant quote →Not sure yet? check whether the appointment is required at all.