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Free Word checklist

Free Principal Contractor Duties Checklist

A practical, editable Word checklist for reviewing the Principal Contractor’s key duties during the construction phase under CDM 2015.

  • For Principal Contractors on projects with more than one contractor
  • Covers Regulations 12 to 14, plus relevant general and contractor duties
  • Records evidence, references and outstanding actions
  • A practical review aid, not a statutory form or site inspection checklist
Download the Word checklist (Word document, 242 KB, Aptoris-Principal-Contractor-Duties-Checklist.docx)

Editable .docx, 9 pages, No sign-up required

Read the Principal Contractor Duties guide
  • Construction Phase PlanReview preparation, implementation and ongoing revision of the Construction Phase Plan.
  • Plan, manage & coordinateCheck how the construction phase is being planned, managed, monitored and coordinated across contractors.
  • Site & workforce arrangementsReview induction, access, welfare, worker consultation and contractor-cooperation arrangements.
  • Evidence & actionsRecord references, current arrangements and outstanding Principal Contractor actions.

What are the Principal Contractor’s duties under CDM 2015?

The Principal Contractor is responsible for planning, managing and monitoring the construction phase and coordinating health and safety matters so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, construction work is carried out without risks to health or safety. The key duties include:

  • Preparing and maintaining the Construction Phase Plan
  • Planning, managing and monitoring the construction phase
  • Coordinating health and safety matters
  • Organising cooperation between contractors
  • Coordinating contractors’ implementation of the legal requirements that apply to their work
  • Ensuring a suitable site induction is provided
  • Taking the necessary steps to prevent unauthorised access
  • Providing and maintaining welfare facilities
  • Liaising with the Principal Designer
  • Providing relevant Health and Safety File information
  • Consulting and engaging workers

This is a summary, not a substitute for the Regulations. Sources: CDM 2015 regulations 12 (opens in a new tab), 13 (opens in a new tab) and 14 (opens in a new tab), with the relevant parts of regulation 8 (opens in a new tab) and regulation 15 (opens in a new tab); HSE Principal contractors: roles and responsibilities (opens in a new tab); HSE L153 Managing health and safety in construction (opens in a new tab). The Principal Contractor Duties guide explains each duty in more detail.

When is a Principal Contractor required?

Where more than one contractor will work on the project, or it is reasonably foreseeable that more than one contractor will work on it, the client must appoint a Principal Contractor in writing.

The appointment must be made as soon as practicable and, in any event, before the construction phase begins.

Principal Contractor Appointment Letter

Source: CDM 2015 regulation 5 (opens in a new tab). See the Principal Contractor appointment guide.

What if there is only one contractor?

Where only one contractor is involved, Regulation 5 does not require a Principal Contractor appointment solely because of contractor count. The contractor still has its own CDM duties, including preparing the Construction Phase Plan.

Contractor duties under CDM 2015

Preview the Principal Contractor Duties Checklist

Nine pages: project details and role set-up, eleven numbered duty sections, a practical final review, outstanding Principal Contractor actions and a completed / reviewed record.

These are real pages from the Word checklist. Each check has tick boxes for Done (or Reviewed / current, for ongoing duties) and N/A, with space for the evidence, reference or action behind it. The blue guidance boxes can be deleted before issue.

Page with the general principles of prevention panel, a note that CDM 2015 does not prescribe an inspection, audit or meeting frequency, and section 3, contractor cooperation and coordination, with rows for cooperation, interfaces, applicable legal requirements, the general principles, the Construction Phase Plan and changes, a coordination reference field, a note that CDM 2015 does not require formal approval of every RAMS, and the start of section 4, appointments and capability
Contractor cooperation and coordinationOpen full-size page: Contractor cooperation and coordination (opens in a new tab)

Section 3 · Contractor cooperation and coordination

Contractor cooperation and coordination

  • Cooperation between contractors, including successive contractors
  • Interfaces, overlapping activities and applicable legal requirements
  • Construction Phase Plan information for each contractor
  • Changes, new contractors and emerging interfaces

Swipe to see more pages.

Final page finishing the practical final review, then an outstanding Principal Contractor actions table with columns for reference, action, responsible person or organisation, target date and complete, and a completed and reviewed by record
Final review and actionsOpen full-size page: Final review and actions (opens in a new tab)

Final review · Outstanding Principal Contractor actions

Final review and actions

  • A practical final review, labelled not a statutory checklist
  • Outstanding actions with a responsible person, target date and completion
  • Five starter action rows; add more with Insert Row
  • Completed by, and reviewed / updated by where the project requires it
Download the Word checklist (Word document, 242 KB, Aptoris-Principal-Contractor-Duties-Checklist.docx)

What the checklist covers

A project and role set-up page, the Principal Contractor’s duties in order, then a practical final review, outstanding actions and a completed / reviewed record.

  • Project and role set-up
  • Construction Phase Plan
  • Plan, manage, monitor and coordinate
  • Contractor cooperation and coordination
  • Appointments and capability
  • Liaison and information
  • Health and Safety File information
  • Site induction
  • Site access and welfare
  • Worker consultation and engagement
  • Own contractor duties
  • Keep arrangements current
  • Practical final review
  • Outstanding Principal Contractor actions
  • Completed / reviewed record

Prepare and keep the Construction Phase Plan current

On a project with more than one contractor, the Principal Contractor must draw up the Construction Phase Plan, or arrange for it to be drawn up:

  • During the pre-construction phase
  • Before the construction site is set up
  • Specific to the project, its health and safety arrangements and site rules
  • Informed by relevant Pre-Construction Information and design information
  • Reviewed, updated and revised as necessary as the work develops

Source: regulation 12(1)⁠–⁠(4) (opens in a new tab). See the Construction Phase Plan Template and Construction Phase Plan guide.

Plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the construction phase

This is the core Principal Contractor duty in regulation 13(1) (opens in a new tab): planning, managing and monitoring the construction phase and coordinating health and safety matters so that construction work is carried out, so far as is reasonably practicable, without risks to health or safety.

It reviews the management arrangements; it is not a site inspection checklist.

The checklist asks whether arrangements cover:

  • Planning the work and the interfaces between activities
  • Suitable management arrangements
  • Monitoring whether the arrangements work in practice
  • Coordinating contractors and activities
  • Sequencing work that happens at the same time or in succession
  • Allowing adequate time for the work and its stages
  • Applying the general principles of prevention
  • Considering workers and other people who may be affected

Apply the general principles of prevention

The Principal Contractor must take the general principles of prevention into account when planning and managing the work, including decisions about sequencing and the time needed for work or work stages.

  • Avoid risks where possible
  • Combat risks at source
  • Give collective protection priority over individual measures
  • Adapt work and controls as circumstances change

Sources: regulation 13(2) (opens in a new tab); the principles are set out in Schedule 1 to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (opens in a new tab).

Coordinate contractors and interfaces

The Principal Contractor must organise cooperation between contractors, including successive contractors on the same site, and coordinate their implementation of the health and safety requirements that apply to their work (regulation 13(3) (opens in a new tab)). The checklist prompts a review of:

  • Overlapping work
  • Shared work areas
  • Sequencing
  • Contractor interfaces
  • New contractors
  • Construction Phase Plan information for contractors
  • Emerging changes

The checklist records how cooperation and coordination are arranged; it is not a subcontractor register.

Does the Principal Contractor have to approve every RAMS?

CDM 2015 does not prescribe a universal requirement for the Principal Contractor to formally approve or sign every RAMS, Method Statement or risk assessment.

The Principal Contractor must still plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the construction phase and ensure relevant contractor arrangements and controls are coordinated appropriately. A project may choose a document-review or approval process as part of its own arrangements.

Source: CDM 2015 regulation 13 (opens in a new tab). See the Method Statements and RAMS guide.

Take reasonable steps when making appointments

Where the Principal Contractor appoints designers or contractors, it must take reasonable steps to satisfy itself that they have what the work needs (regulation 8(3) (opens in a new tab)). The steps should be proportionate to the work and its risks.

CDM 2015 does not prescribe a particular SSIP scheme, ISO certification or scoring method.

Where the Principal Contractor employs or appoints individuals to carry out construction work, regulation 15 (opens in a new tab) also requires them to have, or be in the process of obtaining, the necessary skills, knowledge, training and experience. See competence under Regulation 8.

The checklist prompts the Principal Contractor to consider:

  • Skills
  • Knowledge
  • Experience
  • Organisational capability, where an organisation is appointed
  • Time and resources for the work
  • A proportionate, recorded basis for the appointment

Keep information and coordination flowing

The Principal Contractor should:

  • Maintain suitable liaison with the client on construction-phase health and safety matters
  • Liaise with the Principal Designer for the duration of the Principal Designer’s appointment
  • Share relevant construction-phase information with the Principal Designer
  • Make sure design changes and developing information reach those affected
  • Provide information that is comprehensible and given as soon as practicable

Sources: regulation 13(5) (opens in a new tab) and regulation 8(4) and (6) (opens in a new tab); HSE Principal contractors guidance (opens in a new tab).

Provide information for the Health and Safety File

The Principal Designer prepares the file while appointed. The Principal Contractor:

  • Provides the Principal Designer with relevant information in its possession
  • Has practical arrangements to obtain relevant information from contractors
  • Reviews, updates and revises the file if it is passed over because the Principal Designer’s appointment ends early
  • Passes the file to the client if it holds the file at the end of the project

Source: regulation 12(7)⁠–⁠(10) (opens in a new tab). See the Health and Safety File guide and template.

Provide a suitable site induction

The Principal Contractor must ensure that a suitable site induction is provided. It should be:

  • Site-specific
  • Proportionate to the person’s work or visit
  • Updated where meaningful changes make earlier information insufficient

Source: regulation 13(4)(a) (opens in a new tab).

Site Induction Checklist

Control access and maintain welfare

  • Unauthorised access

    Take necessary steps to prevent unauthorised access to the construction site and review arrangements as site boundaries or phases change.

  • Welfare

    Ensure suitable Schedule 2 welfare facilities are provided and maintained throughout the construction phase.

Sources: regulation 13(4)(b) and (c) (opens in a new tab); CDM 2015 Schedule 2 (opens in a new tab).

Consult and engage workers

Regulation 14 (opens in a new tab) gives the Principal Contractor specific duties to work with the people doing the construction work. The checklist covers:

  • Arrangements for effective cooperation with workers
  • Consulting workers or their representatives in good time
  • Opportunities to raise concerns
  • Involving workers in checking whether measures are effective
  • Access to relevant health, safety and welfare information, subject to the statutory exceptions

The exceptions to the information duty are listed in regulation 14(c) (opens in a new tab).

The Principal Contractor is also a contractor

Where the Principal Contractor carries out construction work itself or controls workers, the relevant contractor duties under Regulation 15 apply in addition to the Principal Contractor duties.

A short reminder, not a full list:

  • Its own work is planned, managed and monitored
  • Its workers are appropriately skilled, trained and experienced
  • Suitable supervision, information and instruction are provided
  • Relevant risk information is provided

Source: regulation 15 (opens in a new tab). See contractor duties under CDM 2015.

Review arrangements when the project changes

There is no universal fixed review frequency. The checklist prompts a review when something changes, for example:

  • New contractors
  • Sequencing changes
  • Programme changes
  • Design changes
  • Changed site access
  • Changed welfare needs
  • New interfaces
  • Significant emerging issues

CDM 2015 does not prescribe a universal daily, weekly or monthly monitoring frequency. Arrangements should be proportionate to the project’s size, complexity and risks.

What changes on a domestic‑client project?

On a multi-contractor domestic project, the Principal Contractor will normally also carry out the client duties transferred under Regulation 7 unless there is a written agreement for the Principal Designer to fulfil them.

Those transferred client duties are separate from the Principal Contractor duties covered here.

Source: CDM 2015 regulation 7 (opens in a new tab). Use the CDM Client Duties Checklist for the transferred client duties.

How to use the checklist

  1. Step 1: Confirm the role

    Confirm that the Principal Contractor has been appointed and that the project involves, or is expected to involve, more than one contractor.

  2. Step 2: Review the arrangements

    Work through the CPP, management, coordination, information, induction, welfare and worker-engagement sections that apply.

  3. Step 3: Record evidence and actions

    Use the evidence / reference / action fields to record project documents, coordination records or gaps that need attention.

  4. Step 4: Keep it current

    Review relevant sections when changes to contractors, design, sequencing, site arrangements or risks make the existing review outdated.

Who can use the checklist?

Anyone reviewing or supporting the Principal Contractor’s CDM 2015 duties on a project can use it.

  • Principal Contractors

    Review your arrangements before work starts and as the project develops.

  • Construction managers

    Check the arrangements you manage on the Principal Contractor’s behalf.

  • Site managers

    See which site arrangements are in place and which actions remain.

  • Project managers

    Keep the plan, coordination and information flows current as the project changes.

  • Health and safety managers

    Apply a consistent review across projects and record the evidence behind it.

  • CDM advisers supporting the PC

    Help the Principal Contractor review its duties and record the basis for its arrangements.

  • Organisations preparing for appointment

    Understand what the Principal Contractor role will involve before taking it on.

  • Using an adviser?

    An adviser can help review the arrangements and record the evidence, but using an adviser does not transfer the Principal Contractor’s duties.

Principal Contractor Duties Checklist FAQs

  • Is this Principal Contractor Duties Checklist free?

    Yes. It is free to download, with no sign-up and no email address needed. Select Download the Word checklist and the file downloads straight away.

  • What format is the checklist?

    A Microsoft Word document (.docx) of 9 A4 pages, with no macros. It has project details on the first page, a project and role set-up page, eleven numbered duty sections, a practical final review, an outstanding Principal Contractor actions table and a completed / reviewed record. Each prompt is a Word content control, and each check has tick boxes for Done (or Reviewed / current) and N/A with space for the evidence, reference or action. The document is not locked, so it can be adapted, printed, or saved as a PDF once completed.

  • What are the Principal Contractor’s main duties under CDM 2015?

    To plan, manage and monitor the construction phase and coordinate health and safety matters during it (regulation 13 (opens in a new tab)). That includes drawing up and maintaining the Construction Phase Plan, organising cooperation between contractors, ensuring a suitable site induction, preventing unauthorised access, providing welfare facilities and liaising with the Principal Designer, as well as providing Health and Safety File information (regulation 12 (opens in a new tab)) and consulting and engaging workers (regulation 14 (opens in a new tab)).

  • When is a Principal Contractor required?

    Where more than one contractor will work on the project, or it is reasonably foreseeable that more than one contractor will work on it (regulation 5 (opens in a new tab)). Where only one contractor is involved, Regulation 5 does not require a Principal Contractor appointment for that reason; the contractor still has its own duties, including preparing the Construction Phase Plan.

  • Who appoints the Principal Contractor?

    The client, in writing, as soon as practicable and before the construction phase begins (regulation 5 (opens in a new tab)). If a client required to appoint a Principal Contractor does not do so, the client must fulfil the Principal Contractor’s duties itself. If a domestic client does not make the appointment, the contractor in control of the construction phase is the Principal Contractor (regulation 7(2) (opens in a new tab)). The Principal Contractor Appointment Letter can be used to record the appointment.

  • Who prepares the Construction Phase Plan?

    On a project with more than one contractor, the Principal Contractor draws up the plan, or arranges for it to be drawn up, during the pre-construction phase and before setting up the construction site, then reviews, updates and revises it as necessary (regulation 12 (opens in a new tab)). On a one-contractor project, the contractor draws it up (regulation 15 (opens in a new tab)). The Construction Phase Plan Template gives a structure for it.

  • Does the Principal Contractor have to approve every RAMS?

    CDM 2015 does not prescribe a universal requirement for the Principal Contractor to formally approve or sign every RAMS, Method Statement or risk assessment. The Principal Contractor must still plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the construction phase and ensure relevant contractor arrangements and controls are coordinated appropriately. A project may choose a document-review or approval process as part of its own arrangements.

  • How often must the Principal Contractor inspect or audit the site?

    CDM 2015 does not set a universal daily, weekly or monthly frequency for the Principal Contractor’s monitoring, inspections, audits or meetings. The Principal Contractor must monitor the construction phase (regulation 13(1) (opens in a new tab)), and its arrangements should be proportionate to the project’s size, complexity and risks. Specific inspection requirements for particular work or equipment, under Part 4 of CDM 2015 or other legislation, still apply.

  • Does the Principal Contractor provide the site induction?

    The Principal Contractor must ensure that a suitable site induction is provided (regulation 13(4)(a) (opens in a new tab)); it does not have to deliver every induction personally. Contractors must provide a suitable induction to workers under their control where the Principal Contractor has not already provided one. The Site Induction Checklist can be used to prepare and record a detailed induction.

  • What are the Principal Contractor’s welfare duties?

    To ensure that welfare facilities complying with Schedule 2 (opens in a new tab) are provided throughout the construction phase (regulation 13(4)(c) (opens in a new tab)): in practice, from the start and maintained as the project and workforce change. The client must also make arrangements that ensure welfare facilities are provided, and contractors have welfare duties for the workers under their control.

  • Does the Principal Contractor have duties for the Health and Safety File?

    Yes, but the Principal Designer prepares the file while appointed. The Principal Contractor must provide the Principal Designer with relevant information in its possession for the file. If the Principal Designer’s appointment ends before the end of the project, the file passes to the Principal Contractor, which must then review, update and revise it; and where there is no Principal Designer at the end of the project, the Principal Contractor passes the file to the client (regulation 12(7)⁠–⁠(10) (opens in a new tab)).

  • What happens on a domestic-client project?

    On a domestic project with more than one contractor, the Principal Contractor will normally also carry out the client duties in regulations 4(1) to (7) and 6, unless there is a written agreement for the Principal Designer to fulfil them (regulation 7 (opens in a new tab)). Those transferred client duties are separate from the Principal Contractor duties this checklist covers: use the CDM Client Duties Checklist for them.

  • Can the Principal Contractor also carry out construction work?

    Yes. The Principal Contractor is also a contractor. Where it carries out construction work itself or controls workers, the relevant contractor duties under regulation 15 (opens in a new tab) apply in addition to its Principal Contractor duties. Section 10 of the checklist is a short reminder of them.

Related resources

Guidance, templates and checklists for the duties the checklist reviews.

Review the Principal Contractor’s duties on your next project

Download the editable Word checklist and record the arrangements, evidence and outstanding actions that apply.

Download the free checklist (Word document, 242 KB, Aptoris-Principal-Contractor-Duties-Checklist.docx)

Editable .docx, 9 pages, No sign-up required