Construction Health & Safety News, Advice and Information from PP Construction Safety

Comprehensive Construction Phase Plan (CPP) template published

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has now published final versions Industry Guidance on The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015).

Draft versions were made available shortly before CDM 2015 came into force on 6th April 2015. The published versions now come in printer friendly and web-interactive format.

The guidance includes useful information on the actions required of the new Principal Designer (PD) role and how the PD should coordinate and manage design risk management by others during the project Pre-Construction Phase. The PD Guidance advices:

“You have a responsibility to co-ordinate health and safety with all the designers, including temporary works designers. You should inform the designers of your expectations of how the pre-construction phase will be managed, including methods of communication, circulation of information and attendance at meetings.

You need to be sure that designs are co-ordinated between the different designers to identify any potential impacts on health and safety during the full project life cycle. This includes construction, maintenance, cleaning and, where relevant, its use as a workplace.”

Not expected to review everything during design

The wide ranging nature of the PD duty has worried some potential incumbents of the role. The CITB Guidance provides some reassurance explaining that:

“The designers should give you regular updates, including information about issues or design changes that could potentially impact on health and safety. You may need to inform the client about these, especially where changes have been made to their original brief.

The designers must provide information about significant risks that are unusual, not obvious, or difficult to manage, including details of the key assumptions and decisions they have made. Examples could include risks identified on drawings, specific sequencing of erection, any phased handovers and any temporary support that is required. This information is an important part of the pre-construction information that will be provided to the principal contractor.

You will need to undertake a review of the health and safety information provided; however, you are not expected to review everything during design development. You should focus your attention on areas where there is a high risk to health and safety, including changes made to the original design. You can do this by sampling designs or by attending design review meetings.

Even if you do not have a technical knowledge of all aspects of the design, you should be prepared to challenge the designers on their decisions and the process they followed, including any assumptions they have made.”

Comprehensive Construction Phase Plan (CPP) Template

HSE and CITB have both published Construction Phase Plan (CPP) templates designed for smaller projects. These have been badged as the Busy Builder CPP and the CDM Wizard App.

These templates have now been supplemented by a more comprehensive CPP template which appears to be designed to provide a structure for larger more complex construction projects.

CDM 2015 Information and Templates

See CDM 2015 Survey Results for the findings of our CDM 2015 Five Minute Online Survey.

We have published a great deal of further information and templates designed to support Clients, Designers, Principal Designers/Contractors and Contractors in meeting their duties under CDM Regulations 2015.

This article was posted on 19th April 2015