Who are designers on a construction project?

Designers are those, who as part of a business, prepare or modify designs for a building, product or system relating to construction work. The designers include architects, consulting engineers, quantity surveyors, chartered surveyors, interior designers, temporary works engineers, technicians or anyone who specifies or alters a design. The designers are defined as one of the duty holders in CDM Regulations and they have their own specified statutory duties to comply with.

If a client is involved in modifying or specifying design elements, then they could be treated as a "designer" for the purposes of CDM Regulations and they will have to comply with Designer CDM duties.

What are CDM Designer Duties?

“Designers on any construction project in the UK are required to fulfil certain legal duties under the CDM Regulations 2015, these are called CDM Designer Duties.”

Why Designers have CDM Duties?

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) considers the role of the Designers to be very important on a construction project.

Decisions taken by designers can have a significant impact on the health and safety of those working on a construction site and also those involved in post completion; use, maintenance and even ultimate demolition.

Designers have a strong influence particularly during the concept and feasibility stages of a construction project and the decisions taken at these early stages play an important role in the overall health and safety performance of a construction project including the use and maintenance once it is constructed.

CDM Designers Duties ensure that Designers are accountable for the impact of their decisions on health and safety on construction projects.

In addition to Designers, the CDM Regulations 2015 place certain legal duties on other main parties involved in a construction project (i.e., Client, Principal Designers, Principal Contractor and Contractors) to ensure that health and safety issues are addressed throughout all stages of the project.

What Designers have to do?

In a nutshell, any Designer involved on a construction project in the UK must complete the following five main CDM Designer Duties to fulfil the legal requirements under the CDM Regulations 2015, as follows:

1. Make Client aware of their CDM Duties,

2. Eliminate foreseeable design risks,

3. Reduce risks, if elimination not possible,

4. Provide design risks information,

5. Provide Health & Safety File information.

CDM Designer Duties* in Details

Regulation 8 and 9 of the CDM Regulations 2015 list the duties of a designer on a project and they are as follows:

1. Designers must not accept the appointment (as Designer), unless have the skills, knowledge and experience, and, if an organisation, the organisational capability, necessary to fulfil the role.(Regulation 8(2))
2. Designers must co-operate with other parties working on a project at the same or on adjoining construction site.(Regulation 8(4))
3. Designers must not commence design for any project unless satisfied that the client is aware of their duties under CDM 2015 Regulations.(Regulation 9(1))
4. Designers must eliminate foreseeable health and safety risks, so far as is reasonably practicable and taking into General Principles of Prevention and Pre-construction Information (PCI), when preparing or modifying a design.(Regulation 9(2))
5. Designers must take the following steps, if it is not possible to eliminate the above health and safety risks:(Regulation 9(3)(a,b,c))
   • Take steps to reduce or, if that is not possible control the risks through subsequent design process,
   • Provide information about the above risks to the Principal Designer, and
   • Ensure appropriate information is included in the Health and Safety File.
   
   
6. Designers must take all reasonable steps to provide sufficient information with the design about the design, construction and maintenance of the structure to adequately assist Client, other Designers and Contractors to comply with their duties under the CDM Regulations.(Regulation 9(4))
7. Designers must ensure that the above information is comprehensible and provided as soon as is practicable.(Regulation 8(6)))

* Please note that the Designer duties under the CDM Regulations 2015 are applicable on all construction projects (including Domestic Client Projects), regardless of size, duration, number of contractors or whether a project is notifiable or not.

Practical Explanation of CDM Designer Duties

The above legal duties of a Designer are briefly explained as follows:

1. Designers must not accept the appointment (as Designer), unless have the skills, knowledge and experience, and, if an organisation, the organisational capability, necessary to fulfil the role. (Regulation 8(2))

The following steps are suggested to discharge the above duty:

• Prepare a practice profile detailing your skills, knowledge and experience and if applicable, organisation capability.

• Keep up-to-date CVs of your staff including evidence of their current professional memberships.

• Avoid type and size of projects or design situations where you may not have necessary skills, knowledge, experience or organisational capability, seek further advice if necessary.

• Please check that any designer(s) you appoint have skills, knowledge, experience and if an organisation, the organisation capability to fulfil the role (this can be checked by sending them simple assessment questionnaire).

2. Designers must co-operate with other parties working on a project at the same or on adjoining construction site. (Regulation 8(4))

The following steps are suggested to discharge the above duty:

• Communicate with other designers on the project.

• Carryout design review meetings with other designers involved in the project.

• Co-operate with Principal Designer appointed for the project.

3. Designers must not commence design for any project unless satisfied that the client is aware of their duties under CDM 2015 Regulations. (Regulation 9(1))

The following steps are suggested to discharge the above duty:

• Refer your Client to our Client CDM Duties page for information about their duties under the CDM Regulations. We have developed this information in a rather simple and user friendly manner to make it easy for Clients of construction project to understand and fulfil their duties.

• Alternatively, prepare Client Duties under the CDM Regulations (also available from Safescope on request) or you can provide them with CITB CDM Guidance for Clients.

• Discuss the above Duties in meetings with Client and formally send the Duties to them by email (keep the evidence).

• Explain to the Client that for all projects where more than one contractor is involved a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor needs to be appointed.

• In addition, please remind the Client that there are Client Duties (except in case of Domestic Client) which are to be fulfilled by the Client (if the need be Safescope can help with this).

• In case of Domestic Client, the Client CDM Duties will pass on to the Contractor or Principal Contractor.

4. Designers must eliminate foreseeable health and safety risks, so far as is reasonably practicable and taking into General Principles of Prevention and Pre-construction Information (PCI), when preparing or modifying a design. (Regulation 9(2))

The following steps are suggested to discharge the above duty:

• Provide training to your staff on Designer Duties under CDM Regulations (including Design Risk Management) – Safescope can assist with this, if required.

• At each distinct stage of the design, identify the health and safety risks relevant to your design at construction, maintenance, cleaning and use as a workplace (where relevant).

• Consider CITB RAG (Red, Amber and Green) Lists or see HSE CDM Designer RAG Lists for information and action.

• Pre-construction Information (PCI) may help in identifying the above risks.

• Go through each identified risks and aim to eliminate where ever possible.

• You may like to use a Designer Risk Assessments (DRA) to record the above. Safescope can provide a simple template for DRAs, if required.

5. Designers must take the following steps, if it is not possible to eliminate the above health and safety risks: (Regulation 9(3)(a,b,c))

• Take steps to reduce or, if that is not possible control the risks through subsequent design process,
• Provide information about the above risks to the Principal Designer, and
• Ensure appropriate information is included in the Health and Safety File.

The following steps are suggested to discharge the above duty:

• There are practical ways and alternative methods available to reduce and control the standard health and safety risks. Research the available options. Please ask Safescope for assistance, if required.

• Take advice from a manufacturer or a specialist contractor to find the alternative solutions / options.

• Record all identified health and safety risks on drawings, by completing a Designer Risk Assessments (DRA) or making separate notes.

• Send the above recorded information to the Principal Designer as soon as possible.

• Review the above information, if design changes or alterations are made and re-issue it to the Principal Designer.

• Any residual health and safety risks which will still remain after the site work completion (during the maintenance, cleaning and use of structure as a workplace) must be notified to the Principal Designer or Principal Contractor (where Principal Designer's appointment has finished) for inclusion in the Health and Safety File.

6. Designers must take all reasonable steps to provide sufficient information with the design about the design, construction and maintenance of the structure to adequately assist Client, other Designers and Contractors to comply with their duties under the CDM Regulations. (Regulation 9(4))

The following steps are suggested to discharge the above duty:

• Provide details of design specifications, calculations and assumptions made in your design to other Designers, Principal Designer, Principal Contractor and other Contractors (where relevant).

• Include notes on the drawings for health and safety risks for information and action by Principal Contractor and relevant Contractors.

• Complete Designer Risk Assessments (DRA) to cover design, construction, maintenance, cleaning and use of structure as a workplace (if relevant) and send this information to Client, other Designers, Principal Designer, Principal Contractor and relevant Contractors.

• Provide any relevant information available with you (e.g. as record drawings, existing investigation surveys etc) and any identified post site work completion residual health and safety risks to the Principal Designer or Principal Contractor (where Principal Designer's appointment has finished) for inclusion in the Health and Safety File.

7. Designers must ensure that the above information is comprehensible and provided as soon as is practicable. (Regulation 8(6)))

The following steps are suggested to discharge the above duty:

• The design health and safety risks related information produced as above should be to the point and effective in managing the risks.

• Do not produce any generic, unnecessarily long and irrelevant information.

• Do not wait until chased, send the information to the relevant parties as soon as possible.

Other CDM Guidance

In addition to this, we at (Safescope) have also produced a number of other in-depth CDM Guides on various related topics. These guides are available on this website. Please follow the Link.

Need help?

We (Safescope) specialise in CDM and Construction Health and Safety and provide proactive yet cost effective CDM Principal Designer, Client CDM Advisor, Principal Contractor CDM Advisor roles and various CDM Training Courses. Please get in contact for an informal chat or a hassle free prompt fee proposal.

Our Contact Details

For further information and a prompt hassle free fee proposal please contact us as follows:

• Please complete details in the 'Safescope CDM Fee Proposal' form.
• Alternatively, please download and send us a completed CDM Enquiry Form and we will get back to you promptly.
• If you would rather talk to us then please contact Lindsey or Khalid on 01473 407020
• You can also get in touch with us by contact@safescope.com