If you are involved with any kind of non-domestic construction work then you are legally bound to comply with CDM2007. If it is a notifiable project then a CDM Co-ordinator and a Principal Contractor must be appointed for the work. Beyond legal compliance there is the high incidence of fatal and serious accidents on construction sites that the regulations are designed to address. Ignoring these statistics could result in expensive criminal investigations and prosecutions and do untold damage to your commercial reputation.

A project is not only the construction work, but also includes all the planning, design, and management or other work until the end of the construction phase.

CDM2007 applies to all construction projects where people are at work; it is divided into five parts:

Part 1 deals with the application of CDM2007 and definitions;

Part 2 covers general duties that apply to all construction projects;

Part 3 contains additional duties that only apply to notifiable construction projects(i.e. those lasting more that 30 days or involving more than 500 person days of construction work);

Part 4 contains practical requirements that apply to all construction sites;

Part 5 contains the transitional arrangements and revocations.

Yes - property developers are carrying out work in the furtherance of a business, and therefore they are ‘Clients’ under CDM2007.

For every notifiable project you must appoint a CDM Co-ordinator, to guide and advise you in regard to CDM2007. We have consultants available with the necessary experience, qualifications and general competence to act as CDM Co-ordinator for your project or for a series of projects.

In addition to acting as CDM Co-ordinator we can also provide coaching and mentoring services to Designers, Principal Contractors and CDM Co-ordinators, provide CDM Training, undertake Construction Site Compliance Reviews, DDA Access Audits and Fire Risk Assessments.

CDM2007 competence is about being able to perform your health and safety requirements and avoiding contravening health and safety law. There is justifiable emphasis on competence, because it is generally recognised that competent people are safer. The duties in CDM2007 work both ways. Persons making appointments have to take reasonable steps to ensure that those who are appointed are competent for what they are expected to do. Likewise, those accepting such appointments should only do so if they are competent to undertake the activity.

The simple answer is; you don’t have to! Under CDM2007 any individual or company can act as CDM Co-ordinator providing they can demonstrate adequate competency. In reality, unless you have a thorough combination of design, construction and health and safety training and experience you may not be able to prove your competence. The advantage of appointing an independent CDM Co-ordinator is that they must be competent to accept the contract and if they are then they will have the necessary qualifications and experience to discharge this legal duty. We can act as your independent CDM Co-ordinator; see our Competency Statement.

As early as possible in the design phase. CDM2007 stipulates that a CDM Co-ordinator must be appointed before any significant design work takes place; the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) states that this means implementation of a brief, work to firm-up a budget etc (i.e. at RIBA Work Stage C or OGC Gateway 1). In practice, it is best to bring onboard a CDM Co-ordinator at the very start of a project so that they can assist you in selecting competent Designers. If you are not sure if it is the appropriate time to appoint a CDM Co-ordinator then contact us for advice.

It is not possible to become a competent CDM Co-ordinator by simply attending a training course; you need to be able to demonstrate a thorough combination of design, construction and health and safety training and experience.

We can however visit you and assess your competency and coach and mentor you to help you achieve the necessary competency standards.

The cost of compliance depends on a wide range of variables such as the size and complexity of the project and any significant risks that are peculiar to the type of construction work you are undertaking. However, a more pertinent question is what will be the cost of non-compliance, which can take the form of prohibitions on the construction work, accidents and possible fatalities for workers, the disruption to the project during investigations, criminal and civil prosecutions and, of course, the impact of a serious accident on any future contracts for which you are bidding.

You can read the EDP Corporate Overview , read our CDM Co-ordinator Competency Statement, view some of our Case Studies or you can give us a few minutes of your time to show you what we can do.

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