Your Role, Responsibility & Liability as a Client under the CDM 2015 Regulations
A commercial client is anyone (individual, partnership, or organisation) who has construction work carried out for them that is done in connection with a business, whether the company operates for profit or not.
A client who has construction work carried out for them connected with a business (usually on their own home or the home of a family member) is domestic.
Commercial clients include local authorities, housing associations, or other domestic property landlords.
What must the Client do Under the CDM 2015 Regulations?
Make suitable arrangements for managing their project, enabling those carrying it out to manage health and safety risks proportionately.
These arrangements include:
Appointing the contractors and designers to the project (including the principal designer and principal contractor on projects involving more than one contractor) while making sure they have the skills, knowledge, experience, and organisational capability
Allowing sufficient time and resources for each stage of the project
Ensure that any principal designer and principal contractor appointed to carry out their duties in managing the project
Ensure suitable welfare facilities is provided for the duration of the construction work
Maintain and review the management arrangements for the duration of the project
Provide pre-construction information to every designer and contractor either bidding for the work or already appointed to the project
Ensure that the principal contractor or contractor (for single contractor projects) prepares a construction phase plan before that phase begins
Ensure that the principal designer prepares a health and safety file for the project and that it is revised as necessary and made available to anyone who needs it for subsequent work at the site
For notifiable projects (where planned construction work will last longer than 30 working days and involves more than 20 workers at any one time; or where the work exceeds 500 individual worker days), commercial clients must:
Notify HSE in writing with details of the project
Ensure a copy of the notification is on display in the construction site office
How can Embark Consulting assist you?
Our experienced CDM Consultants are time-served professionals who support your organisation during your projects.
We will provide you with a quality, competitive service that will help you fully understand all of your CDM duties and obligations and then make sure that you comply with those duties.
As part of the service, our consultants may prepare vital documentation, conduct audits and inspections during the design and construction phase, and take action to ensure that all other parties are competent and fulfil their duties.