F10 notification
Also known as: F10, Notification of construction project
An F10 is the notification sent to the HSE when a construction project passes the size thresholds set out in CDM 2015.
- The form telling the HSE that a notifiable construction project is happening.
- Required over 30 working days with 20+ workers at once, or over 500 person days.
- The client is responsible for it, and it changes no duties.
An F10 is the notification given to the Health and Safety Executive when a construction project meets the thresholds in regulation 6 of CDM 2015.
A project is notifiable if the construction work will last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point, or if it will exceed 500 person days. Either test being met is enough.
What notification does, and does not, do
It tells the regulator the project exists. That is all.
It does not create duties, remove them, or change which ones apply. Every CDM duty that would apply to the project applies whether or not it is notifiable. This is worth being clear about, because the assumption that falling below the threshold means CDM does not apply is common and wrong. CDM applies to all construction work.
Nor does notification invite an inspection. Notified projects form part of the picture the HSE uses when planning its work, but the form is not a trigger in itself.
Who does it
The duty sits with the client. On most projects the principal designer or principal contractor actually completes and submits it, which is fine, but the responsibility remains the client’s and cannot be contracted away.
Notification should happen as soon as practicable before the construction phase begins. Where a project grows and passes the threshold part way through, notify then rather than deciding it is too late.
A copy must be displayed on site where workers can read it, and kept up to date. If the principal contractor changes, the notification should be updated to match, and an out-of-date F10 pinned to the hoarding is a small but visible sign that the project’s paperwork has drifted.
In practice
The F10 is straightforward to complete: client, designers, contractors, the site address, dates and expected numbers. The problems come from it being treated as a one-off task at the start and then forgotten while the project changes around it.
Keeping it against the project, alongside the construction phase plan, the accepted RAMS and the induction records, means it is found when someone asks and updated when the facts change. That is what Sync’s compliance management is built to do.
Common questions
Who is responsible for submitting the F10?
The client. In practice it is often prepared and submitted by the principal designer or principal contractor on the client's behalf, but the legal duty stays with the client and cannot be delegated away by agreement.
Does notifying change what we have to do?
No, and this is the most useful thing to understand about it. Notification is administrative. Every CDM duty that applies to the project applies whether or not it is notifiable. Projects sometimes assume that being under the threshold means CDM does not apply, which is wrong.
How are the thresholds counted?
Either more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point, or more than 500 person days in total. Working days include any day on which construction work takes place, however short.
What if the project grows past the threshold?
Notify as soon as it becomes apparent the project will exceed it. The duty is triggered by the expected scale, so a project that changes scope mid-way should be notified rather than left because it did not qualify at the start.
More Compliance terms
All 7 in this categoryKeep the paperwork where the work is
Sync keeps your health and safety records against the projects they belong to, with review dates tracked, so the current version is there when someone asks for it.