Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 place duties upon clients, client's agents (where appointed), designers and contractors to ensure their approach to health and safety is co-ordinated and managed effectively throughout all stages of a construction project; from conception, design and planning through to the carrying out of works on site and subsequent maintenance and repair.

Domestic client; In general whilst most commercial activities are controlled, certain limitations apply and in particular much of the regulations may not apply to construction work for a project for a domestic client.

Clients; must be reasonably satisfied they only use competent people as planning supervisor, designer(s) and principal contractor and be satisfied that sufficient resources, including time, have been or will be allocated to enable the project to be carried out in compliance with Health and Safety Law.

Designers; must design in a way which avoids, reduces or controls risk to health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable so that projects they design can be constructed and maintained safely. Health and Safety risks must be stated to the extent necessary to enable reliable performance by a competent contractor.

Principal contractor; should take account of the specific requirements of the project when preparing and presenting tenders, take over and develop the health and safety plan, co-ordinate all activities of all contractors and sub-contractors and ensure they comply with health and safety legislation and with the developed health and safety plan. They also have duties in relation to provision of information, training and consultation with employees and the self-employed.

A Health and Safety Plan; is initiated by the client, designer and or planning supervisor during the pre-construction phase and developed prior and during the construction phase by the contractor. The plan will address the contractor's health and safety policy and assessments and detail the management and prevention of safety risks.

A Health and Safety File; is a record of information and amounts to a normal maintenance manual extended to alert these responsible for a structure after handover to the health and safety risks that must be managed when the structure and associated plant is maintained, repaired, renovated or demolished.

Planning Supervisor

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 require the appointment of a Planning Supervisor who has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the health and safety aspects of the design and planning phase. The Planning Supervisor has to ensure that a health and safety plan is prepared, monitor the health and safety aspects of the design, advise the client on the satisfactory allocation of resources for health and safety and prepare a health and safety file.

We regularly act and provide professional services as Planning Supervisor and provide manage and control projects in respect of health and safety issues in accordance with the regulations.

We value highly and ensure development of a close working relationship with the client, contractor, and respective designers.