CDM designer duties explained

Under CDM, a designer is not limited to an architect. Anyone who prepares or modifies a design for construction work, or arranges or instructs someone else to do so as part of a business, may be a designer. That can include engineers, quantity surveyors, interior designers, specialist contractors, tradespeople and even commercial clients when they become actively involved in design work. HSE guidance: are you a designer? (opens in a new tab)

Who is a designer under CDM 2015?

CDM defines design broadly. It includes drawings, design details, specifications, bills of quantity and design calculations, as well as decisions that determine how construction work will be carried out. HSE guidance: designers, roles and responsibilities (opens in a new tab)

Typical designers include:

• architects and architectural practices
• structural, civil, mechanical and electrical engineers
• consulting engineers and other technical designers
• quantity surveyors where their work involves design or specification decisions
• interior designers
• specialist contractors who design part of the works
• contractors or tradespeople who prepare or modify designs, such as an electrician designing an installation
• commercial clients where they actively make or direct design decisions

The important question is what the person or organisation is actually doing. A job title does not determine whether designer duties apply. If an organisation prepares, changes, specifies or directs a design that may be used for construction work, CDM designer duties may apply to that activity.

When do designer duties apply?

Designer duties apply on all construction projects where design work is undertaken, including small and domestic projects. HSE states that the duties apply as soon as a designer is appointed and when designs that may be used for construction work are started. HSE guidance: designers, roles and responsibilities (opens in a new tab)

Most design work takes place during the pre-construction phase, but design can continue after construction has started. Late design changes, contractor-designed elements, temporary works, substitutions and specialist packages can all involve design activity during the construction phase.

Designer duties therefore do not end simply because work has started on site. They continue for as long as the designer is carrying out design work within their appointment.

What are the main duties of a designer under CDM?

The core designer duties are set out in Regulation 9 of CDM 2015. In practical terms, designers need to consider health and safety as part of the design process rather than treating it as a separate exercise after the design has been completed. Read Regulation 9 on legislation.gov.uk: duties of designers (opens in a new tab)

A designer should:

• not begin design work unless they are satisfied that the client is aware of the client duties under CDM
• take account of relevant pre-construction information
• apply the general principles of prevention when preparing or modifying a design
• eliminate foreseeable risks to health and safety where it is reasonably practicable to do so
• where risks cannot be eliminated, take steps to reduce or control them through design
• provide appropriate information about remaining significant risks
• cooperate, communicate and coordinate with other designers and contractors
• provide information needed by the Principal Designer, client and contractor or Principal Contractor so they can carry out their own CDM duties

Make sure the client is aware of their CDM duties

Before starting design work, a designer must not begin unless they are satisfied that the client is aware of the duties placed on clients by CDM 2015. This does not mean the designer takes over the client duties. It means the designer should have reasonable confidence that the client understands that CDM applies and that the project needs to be organised accordingly. Read Regulation 9 on legislation.gov.uk: duties of designers (opens in a new tab)

On projects involving more than one contractor, this is particularly important because the client has duties relating to the appointment of the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.

Take account of pre-construction information

Designers should use relevant pre-construction information when preparing or modifying a design. That information can identify existing hazards, constraints, site conditions, previous construction information and risks that need to influence design decisions. Read Regulation 9 on legislation.gov.uk: duties of designers (opens in a new tab)

The amount of information needed should be proportionate to the project and the risks involved. Where important information is missing, designers should raise the issue with the client or Principal Designer rather than simply designing around unknowns without considering the consequences.

Eliminate foreseeable risks through design

One of the most important designer duties is to eliminate foreseeable risks to the health or safety of anyone who may be affected by the project, so far as it is reasonably practicable to do so. Read Regulation 9 on legislation.gov.uk: duties of designers (opens in a new tab)

The people who may be affected include those who construct the project, use it as a workplace, maintain it, clean it, repair it, refurbish it and eventually demolish it.

Good design risk management therefore looks beyond the immediate construction activity. A decision that makes construction straightforward but creates a serious maintenance risk later may still need to be challenged.

Examples of design decisions that can influence risk include access for maintenance, the position and weight of components, how equipment can be isolated, opportunities for off-site manufacture, sequencing, temporary stability, material selection and the need for work at height.

Reduce or control risks that cannot be eliminated

It will not always be reasonably practicable to eliminate a risk completely. Where that is the case, the designer should take steps to reduce or control the risk through the design. HSE guidance: designers, roles and responsibilities (opens in a new tab)

The aim is not to produce a design with no risk at all. Construction and maintenance inherently involve hazards. The duty is to make sensible design decisions that avoid unnecessary risk and reduce the significance of risks that remain.

Apply the general principles of prevention

Regulation 9 requires designers to take account of the general principles of prevention when preparing or modifying a design. These principles provide a hierarchy for managing risk, starting with avoiding risks where possible and considering how work can be adapted to reduce exposure and control hazards at source. Read Regulation 9 on legislation.gov.uk: duties of designers (opens in a new tab)

For designers, this means risk reduction should be integrated into normal design development. It should influence options, specifications and coordination decisions rather than being left solely to contractors to manage later.

Provide information about significant residual risks

Where significant risks remain after the designer has eliminated or reduced what they reasonably can, relevant information needs to be communicated to the people who need it. HSE L153 guidance: managing health and safety in construction, Regulation 9 guidance (opens in a new tab)

The information should be proportionate and useful. It may be communicated through drawings, design notes, specifications, schedules, models, design reviews or other project information systems, depending on the project.

The purpose is to make sure that the Principal Designer, Principal Contractor, contractors and other designers understand important residual risks that may not be obvious from the design itself.

Cooperate and coordinate with other designers

Design decisions rarely exist in isolation. One designer’s solution can create risks or constraints for another discipline, the contractor or people who will later use and maintain the asset.

Designers should therefore communicate, cooperate and coordinate with other designers, including the Principal Designer where one is appointed. HSE also expects designers to work with contractors so that relevant construction knowledge and experience can inform the design. HSE guidance: designers, roles and responsibilities (opens in a new tab)

Coordination is particularly important at interfaces between design packages. Structural openings, access routes, temporary works assumptions, services, plant replacement routes and maintenance access are common examples where a lack of coordination can create avoidable risk.

Designer vs Principal Designer: what is the difference?

Every designer has their own duties under Regulation 9. The Principal Designer is a separate CDM duty holder appointed by the client on projects involving more than one contractor. Read Regulation 9 on legislation.gov.uk: duties of designers (opens in a new tab)

The Principal Designer plans, manages, monitors and coordinates health and safety during the pre-construction phase and takes reasonable steps to ensure designers comply with their duties. That coordination role does not remove the individual duties of the other designers on the project.

A designer cannot assume that the Principal Designer is responsible for making their design safe. Each designer remains responsible for considering foreseeable risks arising from their own design decisions.

What information should designers provide?

Designers should provide sufficient information to allow other duty holders to understand relevant health and safety implications of the design and to carry out their own duties. Read Regulation 9 on legislation.gov.uk: duties of designers (opens in a new tab)

Depending on the project, this can include information for:

• the Principal Designer, including information needed for coordination, pre-construction information and the health and safety file
• the client, where information is needed to support project management decisions
• the Principal Contractor or contractor, so the construction work can be planned and managed safely
• other designers whose work interacts with or depends on the design

The emphasis should be on clear information that adds value. Simply transferring large volumes of design material does not necessarily mean the important risks have been communicated.

Designer duties on domestic projects

Designer duties still apply when the work is for a domestic client. HSE states that working as a designer for a domestic client is no different from working for a commercial client in relation to the designer’s own duties. HSE guidance: designers, roles and responsibilities (opens in a new tab)

The difference is how the domestic client duties are handled. On a project with one contractor, the contractor normally takes on the domestic client duties. Where there is more than one contractor, those duties normally pass to the Principal Contractor, unless the domestic client makes a written agreement with the Principal Designer for the Principal Designer to carry them out.

Where a project involves more than one contractor and a domestic client does not appoint a Principal Designer, HSE states that the designer in control of the pre-construction phase must carry out that Principal Designer role. HSE guidance: designers, roles and responsibilities (opens in a new tab)

What competence does a CDM designer need?

A designer must have the skills, knowledge and experience needed to carry out the design work in a way that secures health and safety. Where the designer is an organisation, it must also have the organisational capability to carry out the work properly. HSE guidance: are you a designer? (opens in a new tab)

The required level should be proportionate to the complexity of the work and the nature and range of the risks. HSE gives examples such as relevant continuing professional development and professional membership as possible evidence, but competence should be considered in relation to the actual work being undertaken.

Technical design competence and CDM understanding need to work together. A highly experienced designer who does not understand how their decisions affect construction, maintenance and use can still create significant project risk.

Common CDM designer mistakes

Treating design risk management as a separate form-filling exercise

Risk management is most effective when it influences design choices. A design-risk register can support the process, but completing a register after the design is effectively fixed is not a substitute for designing out risk.

Listing every obvious construction hazard

Generic hazards that a competent contractor would normally understand do not need to dominate design information. Designers should focus attention on significant risks arising from the design, particularly risks that are unusual, difficult to manage or not immediately obvious.

Assuming the Principal Designer owns all design risk

The Principal Designer coordinates the pre-construction phase, but each designer retains responsibility for their own Regulation 9 duties.

Ignoring maintenance and future use

Designer duties are not limited to getting the project built. Designers should consider foreseeable risks to people who will use, maintain, repair, clean, refurbish or demolish the asset.

Poor coordination at design interfaces

Risks often appear where disciplines meet. Designers need to share information and resolve conflicts rather than assuming another discipline or the contractor will manage them later.

Failing to communicate important residual risks

A risk that cannot reasonably be eliminated or reduced may need to be communicated clearly. Burying it in large quantities of project information can make the communication ineffective.

CDM designer duties checklist

A practical designer check should ask whether you have:

• confirmed that the client is aware of their CDM duties before design work starts
• identified whether your work falls within the CDM definition of design
• obtained and reviewed relevant pre-construction information
• considered foreseeable risks to construction workers, users, maintainers, cleaners, repair teams and those carrying out future refurbishment or demolition
• eliminated foreseeable risks where reasonably practicable
• reduced or controlled risks that could not be eliminated
• applied the general principles of prevention when making design decisions
• coordinated your design with other designers and relevant contractors
• highlighted significant residual risks clearly and proportionately
• provided the Principal Designer, client and contractor or Principal Contractor with information they need
• reviewed health and safety implications when the design changes
• confirmed that the people and organisation carrying out the design have suitable skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capability

The checklist is a useful prompt, but compliance depends on the circumstances of the project and the quality of the design decisions being made. It is not a substitute for competent professional judgement.