New CDM regulations to combat confusion
Confusion over the role of the Construction Design and Management co-ordinator (CDM-C) has prompted the HSE to publish a consultative document concerning changes to the CDM Regulations 2007 (CDM 2007).
The appointment of a CDM-C by the project client has been one of the more controversial aspects of CDM 2007, with some believing that the role has added little value to the health and safety standards and outcomes.
The CDM-Cs are appointed by the project client and are required to:
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give advice and assistance to the client on what they need to do to comply with CDM 2007;
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ensure that arrangements are in place for co-ordination and co-operation during the planning and preparation phase;
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identify and collect the pre-construction information; and
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take steps to ensure that designers comply with their CDM duties.
CDM 2007 also requires the co-ordinator to take “all reasonable steps to ensure that designers comply with their duties”, in particular by eliminating hazards, reducing risks and providing information on residual risks.
The Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) provides guidance on what this means: that CDM co-ordinators do not have to “approve or check designs, although they have to be satisfied that the design process addresses the need to eliminate hazards and control risks”.
However, elsewhere the ACOP implies that CDM-C design checking and approval is required, stating: “checking that€ﾦ the different design elements work together without causing danger” and “ensure that the designers have identified a safe method for construction for unusual or complex designs” among other clauses.
As a result of this confusion, some CDM-Cs have taken a minimalist approach limited to checking that designers have risk avoidance processes in place, while others have been more involved in the design safety judgments made by the design teams.
PP Construction Safety has called for the upcoming consultative document to make clear how much the co-ordinator will be involved in ‘safety through design’ at the design and preparation stage. It has also called for any guidance subsequently released must avoid the contradictory advice in existing guidance on CDM 2007.
The HSE has declared that the objectives of the new regulations will be:
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implementation — current law ‘under-implements’ since there are no duties on ‘domestic clients’;
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simplification — the new package must be more user-friendly and less bureaucractic;
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roles — assign roles more accurately with the EU Directive requirements;
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costs and bureaucracy — aim is to produce a cost savings for business and less ‘bureaucracy’;
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SMEs — new regulations should improve compliance of SMEs; and
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regulatory impact — regulations must meet better regulation principles.
The central principle governing the new regulations will be a ‘copy out’ of the EU directive in order to avoid any unnecessary ‘gold plating’ of UK legislation.
The EU directive requires the project client to appoint a co-ordinator for safety and health matters during the ‘project preparation stage’ and, with regard to design issues, the co-ordinator will ‘co-ordinate implementation of the provisions of Article 4’, which requires the client to take account of the general principles of prevention concerning safety and health during the various stages of designing and preparing the project.
New CDM regulations to combat confusion
Confusion over the role of the Construction Design and Management co-ordinator (CDM-C) has prompted the HSE to publish a consultative document concerning changes to the CDM Regulations 2007 (CDM 2007).
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The revised CDM regulatory package presented to the HSE Board in May 2013 proposed a structural simplification of the Regulations to make them easier to understand and navigate (particularly for SMEs); removal of the Approved Code of Practice, the CDM co-ordinator role and explicit competence requirements. The domestic client exemption will be removed with the duties falling to the designer or contractor. The package is now going through the several stages of Government clearance.
Interesting?
Not sure whats new about this? Problems and likely changes to CDM are well known and has the HSE actually launched the consult yet? I searched on their site and can’t find any mention. Link at end of this story is to a paper from 2012. Can you point us towards the condoc? Thank you. JW