Each construction duty holder is set out, from client and principal designer to contractor and worker, with a plain summary of what each one must do.

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Further Reading

Further guidance on construction health and safety duties:

• Health and Safety Responsibilities
• Managing Visitors and Contractors
• Risk Assessment
• Health and Safety knowledge base

How to Download

These files are included in the alphaZ subscription. The guidance is also included in the ISO 45001 Toolkit and the integrated toolkits that include it.

Need Help Implementing?

If you'd like hands-on help putting your construction health and safety arrangements in place, our remote support services provide direct expert input from our team, by the day, by project, or on an ongoing basis.

Construction Design and Management (CDM) Guidance

A general guidance document on Construction Design and Management (CDM) for anyone involved in a construction project. It explains who the duty holders are and what each must do, from the client and principal designer to designers, the principal contractor, contractors and workers.

Topics Covered

• The client - the person or organisation having the work done, who appoints the other duty holders and allows enough time and resources
• The principal designer - overall control of the pre-construction phase, planning and monitoring health and safety and making sure other designers carry out their duties
• The designer - eliminating, reducing and controlling foreseeable risks from a design, and contributing to the pre-construction information and health and safety file
• The principal contractor - planning, managing, monitoring and coordinating health and safety during the construction phase, and preparing the construction phase plan
• The contractor - planning, managing and monitoring their own work, coordinating with other contractors and following the directions of the principal contractor and principal designer
• The worker - being consulted on health, safety and welfare, taking care of themselves and others, and reporting anything likely to endanger anyone

Who Is It For?

Anyone who commissions, designs or carries out construction work, and the workers on those projects.

Included in the ISO 45001 Toolkit

This guidance is supplied with the TT-1-15 Construction Design and Management (CDM) Guidance training talk, which is part of the ISO 45001 Toolkit and the integrated toolkits that include it.

Using the Guidance

Use it to brief staff before construction work starts, so each person understands their own duties and those of the other duty holders, and keep it as a reference for each project. Record who has received it, for example on the training matrix.

The Client Carries Duties Too

The client is the first duty holder on a project, even when it carries out none of the construction work itself. Its duties include appointing the other duty holders and making sure they carry out their duties, allowing enough time and resources, and making sure the relevant information is prepared and provided.

Adapting the Guidance

Edit the guidance to match your own arrangements - the duty holder roles your business usually takes on, how you appoint the principal designer and principal contractor, and the reference to your legal register.

Related Documents

Other documents that work alongside this guidance:

• PP-1-15 Construction Design and Management Policy Procedure
• RA-HS02 Construction Services
• F-HS23 Method Statement Template
• F-Q80 Site Induction Form
• GG-7-03 Completing a Risk Assessment