Service
Client CDM support
For commercial clients, landlords and developers who keep their own duties: what they are, what has to be in place before work starts, and where each item stands.
Short answer
A commercial client keeps the full set of client duties in regulation 4 of CDM 2015. They cannot be transferred and they do not pass to the contractor the way a domestic client's do. ClearCDM takes the principal designer appointment and gives you a clear written position on everything that is still yours, so the parts you have to discharge yourself are visible rather than assumed.
Who this is for
Commercial clients, landlords, developers, and anyone having work done that is connected with a business. Under CDM 2015 you keep the client duties in regulation 4 in full. They do not move to your contractor the way a homeowner's do, and there is nobody to hand them to.
The client duties, in the order they bite
- Arrangements
Regulation 4(1): make suitable arrangements for managing the project, including allocating sufficient time and other resources, and keep them under review.
- Appointments
Regulation 5: appoint a principal designer and a principal contractor in writing where more than one contractor is involved, as soon as is practicable and before the construction phase begins.
- Information
Regulation 4(4): provide pre-construction information as soon as is practicable to every designer and contractor appointed or being considered.
- Before work starts
Regulation 4(5): make sure a construction phase plan is drawn up and that the welfare facilities in Schedule 2 are provided.
- Notification
Regulation 6, where the project reaches the threshold, and the notice displayed on site.
- Through the works
Regulation 4(6): take reasonable steps to satisfy yourself that the principal designer and principal contractor are carrying out their duties.
- At the end
Regulation 4(5)(b): the health and safety file, kept and made available to anyone who needs it, and passed on if you dispose of the building.
What ClearCDM provides
The principal designer half of that list, done properly, plus a plain written position on the rest: what you still hold, what has to be in place before work starts, and where each item stands. Our start on site handover record sets out the position on each gate rather than leaving you to work out whether you are ready.
What we do not do is take your client duties, run your site, or tell you that appointing us makes the project compliant. It does not work like that, and any supplier who says otherwise has told you something that is not true.
Common questions
I am a landlord doing work on a rental property. Am I a domestic client?
No. A domestic client is someone having work done on their own home, not in connection with a business. A rental property is part of a business, so you are a commercial client and the full client duties in regulation 4 stay with you.
Can I transfer my client duties to ClearCDM?
No. Commercial client duties are not transferable and we never price for them. What we can do is make them straightforward to discharge: the appointments, the information, and a clear position on what has to be in place before work starts.
What are the client duties, in short?
Make suitable arrangements for managing the project and maintain them; appoint the principal designer and principal contractor in writing before the construction phase begins; provide pre-construction information; make sure a construction phase plan is drawn up and welfare is provided before work starts; make sure the health and safety file is prepared and kept; and take reasonable steps to see that the principal designer and principal contractor are carrying out their duties.
Sources
See where your project stands
The dutyholder checker maps who holds what on your project in about a minute, then the quote prices the appointment.
Open the dutyholder checker →Not sure yet? go straight to a fixed fee.