Get a Little Extra - Health and Safety Portal - A free online newspaper published by Tennyson Suite

No.21, Clients Must Not Disregard Their Duties, last updated on: 21/01/2010

Clients Put At Risk by Poorly Managed Maintenance Projects.
Clients are at risk of prosecution if they fail to plan and manage their building projects from the start.

There is now greater pressure on commercial clients to ensure that their new build, refurbishment, extensions and reactive and planned maintenance projects are properly planned and managed from the start.
The latest Construction (Design & Management) Regulations were brought into force in the England & Wales in April 2007. Their purpose is to define the duties of the Client, (the bill payer), the designer and the contractor in simple terms so that all building projects are safe.

There is also a requirement to notify the Health & Safety Executive of the proposed building project if the construction phase is likely to take more than 30 days, (including weekends if worked), or 500 person days.
It is at this stage that a competent and experienced CDM Co-ordinator, (CDMC), has to be appointed by the client.
The CDMC has the duty to advise and assist the Client in fulfilling their duties in respect of construction health and safety risk management matters.

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John Lawrence, health and safety adviser for Tennyson Suite Limited – Health & Safety Consultants, has been recognised as a competent CDM Co-ordinator by the leading professional Association of Project Safety.
He has been awarded Full Membership of the Association to confirm that he has the relevant skills, qualifications and experience to act as CDM Co-ordinator for construction clients.
He has already been appointed on various projects including hospitals, nursing and care homes, industrial units and residential developments.

“The statutory duty and role of CDM Co-ordinator is to ensure that the right information is provided to the right people at the right time”, says John, “and can be very time-consuming in gathering all of the information required before the building commences (at design stage), during the project build when there are additions and changes to the design, and at the end when the Building Health and Safety File is compiled”.
Costs of appointing a CDM Co-ordinator varies depending on the project, but can range from 0.75% to 3% of the contract build.
There is a danger however of Clients appointing persons to act as CDM Co-ordinators who are either not competent to undertake the role or who have insufficient resources to perform the legal duties required of them.
The Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 define the role of the CDM Co-ordinator and the level of competence required for the appointed person to that role.
For professional assistance and advice at a competitive price contact Tennyson Suite Limited – Health and Safety Consultants on 01273 582516, click on the links below to send an enquiry, or visit our website for full details of our services – just click on the link.
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