Duty-Holders' Responsibilities (1) Pre-Construction Information

3.1 Introduction

Before we take a look at the first of the three key documents that we are going to look at — in this case, the Pre-construction Information — we are first going to identify the duty- holders. These are the people who have legal responsibilities to uphold, in order for the CDM Regulations 2015 to be correctly followed.

3.2 The Duty-Holders

Clients are organisations or individuals for whom a construction project is carried out.Their main role and duties revolve around making suitable arrangements for managing a project.

This includes making sure:

1.They have appointed other duty-holders

2.They have allocated sufficient time and resources

3.That the relevant information is prepared and that this is adequately provided to other duty- holders, in order to carry out their duties

4.That the principal designer and principal contractor carry out their duties to the fullest extent of their abilities and are aware of their legal responsibilities

5.That there are sufficient facilities made available for workers, including for welfare and hygiene

Domestic clients

Domestic clients are people who have construction work carried out on their own home or the home of a family member that is not done as part of a business, whether for proβit or not. They are legally responsible under the CDM Regulations; however, their duties are often transferred to the contractor (on a single contractor project) or the principal contractor (on a project that involves more than one contractor). The duties are passed from the domestic client to the contractors via a written agreement.

Designers

Designers are those who, as part of a business, prepare or modify designs for a building, product or system relating to construction work. When preparing or modifying designs, it is to eliminate, reduce or control foreseeable risks that may arise during construction or the use and maintenance of a building, once it has been built. They are also responsible for providing information to other members of the team, which means that they can complete their duties without any issues.

Principal designers

Principal designers are appointed by the client in projects that involve more than one contractor.Their primary duty is to manage and co-ordinate the health and safety aspects of the pre- construction phase of a project. This includes identifying potential risks and making sure that designers are adequately carrying out their duties. They are also responsible for providing any relevant information to the other duty-holders, especially the principal contractor, during the construction phase.

Principal contractors

Principal contractors are appointed by the client in projects that involve more than one contractor. Their primary job is to co-ordinate the health and safety aspects of the construction phase of a project. This includes preparing the Construction Phase Plan (CPP), preventing unauthorised access to a site and making sure that suitable site inductions are completed.

It is also their responsibility to liaise with the client and the principal designer, along with ensuring that the construction workers are aware of the health and safety procedures and that sufficient welfare facilities are provided.

Contractors

Contractors are the people who are responsible for carrying out the actual construction work. While they do not have as many responsibilities as other duty-holders, they must ensure that the construction work is carried out in a way that adheres to the health and safety regulations. For projects that have more than one contractor, they must do all that they can to follow the directions given to them by the principal designer and the principal contractor. However, on single contractor projects, it is the duty of the contractor to complete and prepare the Construction Phase Plan (CPP).

Workers

Workers are the people who work for the contractor, or contractors, on a construction site. They do not have any specific duties; however, they have a responsibility to ensure that they follow the health and safety guidelines, and they must report anything that does not comply with the regulations.

Duty-holders can gain valuable information from the workers in regards to the policies put in place, as they are the people working on the site itself.Now that we've identified the duty-holders and brieβly touched upon their roles and duties, we are going to explore the first of the three key documents in the CDM regulations: the Pre-construction Information. We're going to break down this document and then look at the specific responsibilities that each duty-holder has in regard to it.

3.3 What Is Pre-construction Information?

This is information about the project or site that the client already has before the project begins. It provides the health and safety information needed by designers and contractors who are bidding for work on the project or who have already been appointed, to enable them to properly carry out their duties.

It also provides information for those who are in charge of co-ordinating all aspects of the project — with a specific focus on health and safety — and this is usually the principal designer and principal contractor. Pre-construction information essentially provides a basis for the preparation of the Construction Phase Plan, but this same information is also helpful to those who prepare the Health and Safety file. The information is specifically catered to each project, which means that the level of detail included differs between each individual project.

For example

A complex and large-scale project would demand more detail than a project for a simple one-storey building, as the risks would be greater, and more people would be involved. When the Pre-construction Information is complete, it must include proportionate information regarding:

1. The project — this includes details regarding the client, the purpose of the building and any key dates of the construction phase

2. The planning and management of the project — this would include the necessary resources required, in order to complete the project, and the planned time allocations or restrictions for each stage of the project

3. The health and safety hazards of the site — this would include elements of the project design, the construction hazards that will arise as a result of this and the proposed methods in place to avoid these

To ensure that the duty-holders are able to adequately fulβil their duties, and to avoid any health and safety violations, the Pre-construction Information should be collated and presented in a concise way that is easy to understand.

3.4 Duty-Holders' Responsibilities

The client

The client has the main duty of providing the Pre-construction Information. They must provide this information as soon as possible to the designers and contractor being considered for appointment or already appointed to the project. This includes the principal designer and the principal contractor on projects that involve more than one contractor. In this case, the client can expect help from both of these duty-holders in collating this information.

For single contractor projects, it is the client's responsibility alone to create the Pre-construction Information, although it is recommended that they consult with the contractor and designer, if necessary. The Pre-construction Information will evolve, as the project progresses towards the construction phase.

At first, drawing together the information should involve identifying relevant documents that the client already holds. These may include a Health and Safety File, produced as a result of earlier construction work, or any surveys or assessments that have already been carried out. For projects that involve more than one contractor, the client must pass this information to the principal designer as soon after their appointment as possible.

In liaison with the principal designer, the client should then: Assess the adequacy of this information to see if there are any significant gaps. Take reasonable steps to obtain the information required, to fill in any gaps that are identified. Provide the information to every designer and contractor, as soon as is practicable.

It depends on factors such as the scale and complexity of the project, to determine when it is possible for the client to provide the Pre-construction Information.

For example

The client will need to have appointed all duty-holders first and must also ensure that the Pre- construction Information is provided in adequate time for these duty-holders to be able to complete their own duties.Failure to do this will delay the project.

The designer

The designer must keep the Pre-construction Information in mind when preparing or modifying designs in order to remain within the health and safety regulations. The principal designer should be consulted on this, wherever needed. As such, the client must provide this information as soon as possible. In order for the designer to be able to ensure that the designs comply with health and safety regulations, the information should be sufficiently detailed.

Thus, it is possible for the designer to identify potential risks in the design and modify them accordingly or recognise ways in which the risks can be reduced and controlled.

The principal designer

The principal designer is in charge of helping the client to distribute the Pre-construction Information to the designers and contractors. In some cases, they will need to help the client to collate the information to begin with before it is explained and given to the other duty-holders. It is also the principal designer's responsibility to ensure that the duty-holders receive the information when they require it. Once a principal designer is appointed by the client, they should be made aware of the Pre- construction Information that the client already has. This may include a Health and Safety File or any surveys or assessments that have already been carried out.

The principal designer must then help the client to:

1. Assess the adequacy of this information to see if there are any significant gaps

2. Take reasonable steps to obtain the information required, to fill any gaps that have been identified

The principal contractor

The principal contractor has no specific duty in relation to the Pre-construction Information. However, they must liaise with the principal designer for the duration of the principal designer's appointment and share any information relevant to the planning, management, monitoring or co- ordination of the pre-construction phase.

The contractor

The contractor has no specific duty in relation to the Pre-construction Information. However, for projects involving more than one contractor, contractors must co-operate with the client, the principal designer and the principal contractor, to ensure that the Pre-construction Information is correct.

MODULE SUMMARY

In this module, we started looking at the duty-holders who have legal responsibilities for enforcing the CDM regulations. These were the client, the designer, the principal designer, the principal contractor and the contractor, and we looked at each of their individual roles and duties. We then looked at the First of the three key documents: the Pre-construction Information and how the roles of the duty-holders specifically apply to this.

In Module 4, we will discuss the duty-holders' responsibilities in regards to the Construction Phase Plan.