CDM 2015: meaning in UK construction

CDM 2015 is the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. They set out how construction projects should be planned, managed and monitored so that health and safety is designed in from the start rather than dealt with once work is under way.

The important thing about CDM is that it applies to every construction project. There is no minimum size, no threshold below which it stops mattering. Small projects have fewer duty holders and less paperwork, but the regulations still apply.

Who carries what

The client carries more than most clients expect. Commercial clients must make suitable arrangements for managing the project, provide pre-construction information, allow adequate time and resource, and appoint the principal designer and principal contractor in writing where there is more than one contractor. For domestic clients, those duties generally pass to the contractor or principal designer.

The principal designer plans, manages and monitors the pre-construction phase, coordinates health and safety in design, and compiles the health and safety file.

The principal contractor plans, manages and monitors the construction phase, produces the construction phase plan, and makes sure the site is secure and workers are inducted and consulted.

Designers must eliminate foreseeable risks where they can, and reduce or control what remains. Contractors must plan and manage their own work and provide the information their people need.

Notification and the F10

Where work will last more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers on site at once, or exceed 500 person days, the project is notifiable and an F10 notification goes to the HSE. Notification does not change any duties. It simply tells the regulator the project exists.

What it looks like in practice

The construction phase plan is the working document, not a formality. It should describe the arrangements actually in use, and be revised as the job changes.

Beneath it sits the routine evidence: accepted RAMS from each contractor, site inductions delivered and recorded, briefings, inspections and audits. The regulations require you to plan, manage and monitor, and monitoring is the part most often missing when an inspector asks.

At the end, the health and safety file passes to the client with the information anyone doing future work on the building will need. On higher-risk buildings this obligation now runs alongside the golden thread duties created by the Building Safety Act.

Keeping that evidence against the project as it accumulates, rather than assembling it at the end, is what Sync’s compliance management is for.

Common questions

Does CDM apply to small jobs?

Yes. CDM 2015 applies to all construction work, with no lower threshold. What changes with size is which duties bite and whether the project is notifiable, not whether the regulations apply at all. A single contractor on a domestic job still has duties under it.

Who is the client under CDM?

Whoever has construction work carried out for them as part of their business, or the domestic householder having work done on their own home. Commercial clients carry substantial duties: making suitable arrangements, providing pre-construction information and allowing adequate time. For domestic clients those duties usually pass to the contractor or principal designer.

When is a project notifiable?

When the work will last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers simultaneously at any point, or exceed 500 person days. Notification is made to the HSE on form F10. Notification does not change the duties, it just tells the regulator the project exists.

What is the principal designer responsible for?

Planning, managing and monitoring the pre-construction phase, coordinating health and safety during design, and making sure designers eliminate or reduce foreseeable risks. They also prepare and hand over the health and safety file at the end.

CDM 2015