Design and Building Work:
Meeting Building Requirements
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (‘CDM Regulations’) and The Building Regulations 2010 (‘Building Regulations’) as amended by The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 create statutory duties for clients, designers and contractors in connection with the design and construction of buildings to ensure that buildings are safe to build, occupy, maintain and demolish and to ensure that they comply with the relevant requirements of the Building Regulations (‘relevant requirements’).
As a domestic client
your duties under the regulations are to:
provide building information and pre-construction information as soon as is practicable to every designer and contractor appointed, or being considered for appointment, on the Project
cooperate with any other person working on or in relation to the Project to the extent necessary to enable any person with a duty or function under the regulations to fulfil that duty or function.
There are further client duties under the regulations that will be undertaken by others on your behalf because you are a domestic client. These duties include making suitable arrangements for planning, managing and monitoring the Project, including allocating sufficient time and other resources, that must be maintained and reviewed throughout the Project, so as to ensure:
design work is carried out so that the building work to which the design relates, if built, would be in compliance with all relevant requirements
building work is carried out in accordance with all relevant requirements
designers and contractors working on the Project cooperate with each other to ensure compliance with all relevant requirements
design and building work is periodically reviewed to identify whether it is higher-risk building work
building work can be carried out, so far as reasonably practicable, without risks to the health and safety of any person affected by the Project
facilities required by Schedule 2 of the CDM Regulations are provided in respect of any person carrying out construction work.
as a commercial client
you must make suitable arrangements for planning, managing and monitoring the Project, including allocating sufficient time and other resources so as to ensure:
design work is carried out so that the building work to which the design relates, if built, would be in compliance with all relevant requirements
building work is carried out in accordance with all relevant requirements
designers and contractors working on the Project cooperate with each other to ensure compliance with all relevant requirements
design and building work is periodically reviewed to identify whether it is higher-risk building work
building work can be carried out, so far as reasonably practicable, without risks to the health and safety of any person affected by the Project
facilities required by Schedule 2 of the CDM Regulations are provided in respect of any person carrying out construction work.
You must ensure that the arrangements for planning, managing and monitoring the Project are maintained and reviewed throughout the Project.
You also have duties under the CDM Regulations and Building Regulations to:
provide building information and pre-construction information as soon as is practicable to every designer and contractor appointed, or being considered for appointment, on the Project, including making suitable arrangements to ensure information is provided to designers and contractors working on a project which includes any higher-risk building work, or where work becomes higher-risk building work, to make them aware that the project include higher-risk building work and the nature of the higher-risk building work
cooperate with any other person working on or in relation to the Project to the extent necessary to enable any person with a duty or function under the regulations to fulfil that duty or function.
all clients
Under the CDM Regulation and Building Regulations you must appoint in writing:
a designer with control over the design work as the principal designer (PD)
a contractor with control over the building work as the principal contractor (PC)
You may make separate appointments to these roles under the CDM Regulations and Building Regulations respectively. Or you may certify that your CDM Regulations principal designer (PD) and principal contractor (PC) are also to be treated as your Building Regulations PD and PC, provided they are competent to fulfil both functions.
You can find more guidance regarding your client duties here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/design-and-building-work-meeting-building-requirements
