|
Business
Environment - Services
eq-logic offers
a variety of building services including Design & Build & Facilities
Management. eq-logic has
extensive experience in the Business Environment
sector and indeed throughout
the 1990s, it was largely the background to the other
technical services offered. These facilities were
developed as a result of the M&E CAD function
traditionally run to support these technical services.
eq-logic has
developed its design facility to the extent that
it can address the “soft skills” required
in a building services/FM project without losing
the technical edge.
- Planning & design including the production
of multi-layered Construction & Space Plan Drawings
including M&E – (Lighting, Small Power,
Voice/Data) plus miscellaneous.
- Building Services (Fit-Out) Project Management.
- Construction
Design Management (CDM) Project Manager (where
applicable).
eq-logic CDM Fact Sheets
The Client
This page gives guidance on the client's duties
under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations
1994 (CDM Regulations). If you are a client you have
specific duties to carry out.
The CDM Regulations are aimed at improving the overall
management and co-ordination of health, safety and
welfare throughout all stages of a construction project
to reduce the large number of serious and fatal accidents
and cases of ill health which happen every year in
the construction industry.
The CDM Regulations place duties on all those who
can contribute to the health and safety of a construction
project. Duties are placed upon clients, designers
and contractors and the Regulations create a new
duty holder - the planning supervisor. They also
introduce new documents - health and safety plans
and the health and safety file.
The degree of detail as well as the time and effort
required to comply with your legal duties need only
be in proportion to the nature, size and level of
health and safety risks involved in the project.
Therefore for small projects with minimal health
and safety risks, you will only be required to take
simple, straightforward steps and few, if any, specialist
skills will be needed.
To which projects do the CDM Regulations apply?
The CDM Regulations apply to most construction projects.
However, there are a number of situations where the
Regulations do not apply. These include:
construction work other than demolition that does
not last longer than 30 days and does not involve
more than four people;
construction work for a domestic
client;
construction work carried out inside offices
and shops or similar premises without interrupting
the
normal activities in the premises and without
separating the construction activities from the other
activities;
the maintenance or removal of insulation on pipes,
boilers or other parts of heating or water
systems.
People who as part of their business, construct
houses for subsequent transfer with land (whether
by sale or other means) to domestic clients are known
as developers under the CDM Regulations and have
duties as clients.
If you have any doubt about whether the CDM Regulations
apply to your project, or whether you have legal
duties as a client, you should contact your local
HSE office.
Using an agent
If you wish, you can appoint someone else to carry
out your duties as a client. The CDM Regulations
allow you to appoint an agent for this purpose.
If you appoint an agent, you first have to ensure
that they are competent to carry out your duties
as a client. This may involve making enquiries about
their previous track record, experience and management
arrangements for carrying out these duties.
If you have decided someone will act as your agent
a written declaration has to be sent to HSE by either
you or the agent. The declaration should:
- explain the agent is acting on your behalf;
- include the name and address of the person making
the declaration;
- contain the exact address of the site;
- be signed by or on behalf of your agent.
What are the client and client's agent duties under
the CDM Regulations?
You have the following duties under the CDM Regulations,
whether you are a client or client's agent:
appoint a planning supervisor;
provide information on health and safety to the planning
supervisor;
appoint a principal contractor;
ensure those you appoint are competent and adequately
resourced to carry out their health and safety responsibilities;
ensure that a suitable health and safety plan has
been prepared by the principal contractor before
construction work starts; and
ensure the health and safety file given to you at
the end of the project is kept available for use.
If you arrange for someone to prepare a design or
for a contractor to carry out construction work on
the project, you also have duties to ensure they
are competent and are adequately resourced to carry
out their health and safety responsibilities.
Appointing a planning supervisor
You have to appoint a competent and adequately resourced
planning supervisor. You should make this appointment
as early as possible during the design and planning
work for the project so that they can carry out their
duties and advise you if necessary on the subsequent
appointment of others.
The planning supervisor has responsibility for co-ordinating
the health and safety aspects of design and for ensuring
the pre-tender stage health and safety plan is prepared.
The planning supervisor is also responsible for ensuring
the health and safety file is prepared.
For most projects the planning supervisor will be
an organisation (eg, architectural practice, consulting
engineers, project managers or contractors) with
design and construction experience and with relevant
knowledge of health and safety. In some cases, particular
expertise may need to be brought in. Except for the
smallest projects it is unlikely the planning supervisor
will be an individual.
To determine the competence of prospective planning
supervisors, you will need to make enquiries to determine
whether they have the skills and experience to carry
out the duties of planning supervisor. This could
involve looking at their previous track record, experience
and general arrangements for carrying out the duties
of the planning supervisor.
Providing information to the planning supervisor
You have to provide the planning supervisor with
any information you possess that is relevant to
health and safety of the project. This could be
information about the site, the premises, work
processes or
activities where the construction work is to be
carried out. You may have the information to hand
(eg, existing drawings) or you might have to arrange
for surveys of the site or premises to obtain the
relevant information (eg, determining the location
and presence of asbestos). It might also involve
obtaining information from utility companies on the
location of services.
Appointing a principal contractor
Before construction work starts, you have to appoint
a competent and adequately resourced principal contractor
to carry out or manage the health and safety aspects
of the work. In most cases this will be the contractor
who will be in charge of the construction work (eg,
the main, design and build or management contractor).
You could ask prospective principal contractors how
they intend to deal with the health and safety issues
highlighted by the planning supervisor in the pre-tender
stage health and safety plan. This will help you
determine whether the prospective principal contractor
is competent and adequately resourced. Enquiries
about their previous track record, experience, general
arrangements for managing health and safety and references
will also help in assessing competence. You can also
ask the planning supervisor to advise you on the
issues of competence and resources for health and
safety. They have to do this if you request it.
Making arrangements for designers or other contractors
to carry out work
If you arrange for a designer to prepare a design
or for a contractor to carry out construction work,
you have to be reasonably satisfied they are competent
and are adequately resourced to carry out their
health and safety responsibilities. This means
that where you arrange for a designer to be novated
to a contractor, when you nominate a preferred
contractor or arrange for any designer or contractor
to undertake work, you also have to be reasonably
satisfied of their competence and resources.
The Approved Code of Practice and the HSC publication
A guide to managing health and safety in construction
provide detailed guidance on the issues of competence
and adequate resources for health and safety.
Ensuring a suitable health and safety plan has been
prepared before construction work begins
Before construction work starts you have to ensure
so far as is reasonably practicable that the principal
contractor has prepared a suitable health and safety
plan. You can ask your planning supervisor to advise
you on whether the plan is suitable. They have to
do this if you request it.
You are only expected to make a decision on whether
the health and safety plan is suitable from the information
which is available at the start of the construction
phase. For many projects, not all information relevant
to the project may be available to develop the health
and safety plan fully before the construction phase
starts. For example, not all the design work may
have been completed or many of the subcontractors
who will be carrying out the work have yet to be
appointed. However, the health and safety plan should
be sufficiently developed so that:
the general framework for dealing with the management
organisation, emergency procedures, arrangements
for monitoring, communications, and welfare is in
place; and it addresses the key tasks of the early
work packages.
The degree of detail in the health and safety plan
should be in proportion to the nature, size and level
of health and safety risks involved in the project.
Projects involving minimal risks will call for simple,
straightforward plans. Large projects, or those involving
significant risks, will need further detail.
The health and safety file
The health and safety file is a record of information
which tells you (and others who might be responsible
for the structure in the future) of the key health
and safety risks that have to be managed during future
maintenance, repair or construction work.
The planning supervisor has to ensure the health
and safety file is prepared. They have to hand it
over to you at the end of the construction work.
You have to ensure that it is available to those
who need it in the future (eg, maintenance contractors).
Law
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations
1994
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
1992
|
