The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 ('CDM') have been introduced to engender a more effective, coordinated and cooperative approach to managing health and safety risks on construction sites.
Some months on from their introduction, have the responsibilities created by the Regulations been properly understood by the various parties, and have these been effectively implemented on the ground?
The scenario and questions below were intended to prompt discussion by all members on the impact of the new Regulations. A full solution to the scenario is now available.
Scenario
You are approached by the management company for a block of flats, made up of a group of tenants, to act as their contract administrator on a project for the refurbishment of some of the common parts of the block.
They also want you to be their principal advisor on all health and safety related issues.
This is the first such project the tenants have undertaken and they have left your appointment rather late: the scheduled start date is now less than three weeks away.
Moreover, the project programme is extremely tight - in your view unrealistically so - allowing just four weeks from start to completion.
The clients ask your advice on a number of questions - how would you answer these?
- What is the health and safety legislation applicable to the project?
- What steps should they take to comply with that legislation?
- What steps should you be taking?
- What liabilities could you both face, if one of the contractor's employees is injured because the tenants failed to take one of those steps?
RICS Members also debated this poser on the RICS Management Discussion Forum.
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