Specific Duties under CDM Regulations 2007

In the past a Planning Supervisor was appointed for all notifiable projects.
("notifiable" means notifying the HSE about a project if the construction phase is likely to involve more than 30 working days or 500 person-days of construction work for the client)

Under the new regulations, the Planning Supervisor role has been replaced by the CDM Coordinator. For a notifiable project, the client must appoint a CDM Coordinator as early in the project as possible to assist the client in complying with Health and Safety requirements.

Other roles are also responsible for ensuring the client is aware of their duties under the new regulations, for example:

• Designers, which includes anyone responsible for any part of the design work and could therefore include Architects, Project Managers, Quantity Surveyors, Engineers, Interior Designers or anyone else who is traditionally employed as a “contractor”.



• Principal Contractor, who is the key duty holder responsible for including health and safety compliance in the overall planning, effective management and coordination of the construction phase.



• Contractor, covers any person who, as part of their business activities, carries out or manages construction work.

The regulations lay down very specific duties for all main roles in a construction project:

• Client
• CDM Coordinator
• Designer
• Principal Contractor
• Contractor

It is worth noting that for smaller projects, a single person may undertake multiple roles if they are adequately qualified and competent to do so. On the other hand, for larger projects, it may be appropriate for a single role to be shared between two or more persons.

In all cases, however, it must be made clear who is responsible for carrying out the duties defined by the regulations, and under what circumstances.

In addition to these roles all building workers are required to cooperate with their employers and with site-specific systems for the sake of their own safety and that of others who may be affected by the work.

It is worth noting that under the CDM Regulations, nobody can concentrate on their own particular responsibilities and ignore the responsibilities of others involved with the project. On the contrary, everyone has a duty to cooperate with everyone else over health and safety. More than that, everyone has a duty to actually check that others are complying with their health and safety responsibilities.

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