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Contact us to discuss our planning supervisor services: The Workshop, 9 The Linen Green    
Question: What are the Clients principal duties? Answer: One of the principal duties of Clients under the CDM Regulations is to be reasonably satisfied that the Planning Supervisor they appoint has "allocated or, as appropriate, will allocate adequate resources to enable him to perform the functions of planning supervisor under these Regulations....". Resources: The Approved Code of Practice and Guidance "Managing Health and Safety in Construction" explains that "resources" includes essential equipment, facilities and management systems together with competent personnel who have sufficient time to devote to the project to enable them to do what needs to be done. The APS Guide to the Management of Planning Supervision sets out the work that a Planning Supervisor could be required to carry out in relation to projects so that duties are effectively discharged and the Client’s interest protected. This document has been cited by HSE as a support document for their Inspectors when assessing the work that a Planning Supervisor should be doing and is therefore a useful guide to the work expected of a Planning Supervisor. You should consider what a Court may take to be "adequate" in terms of resources should a serious incident give rise to prosecution. The Court will consider the steps that you can show you have taken to satisfy yourself that allocated resources will be adequate. These steps should relate to the size, nature and complexity of a project and the health and safety risks inherent in it as well as to your experience and expertise. The following notes help explain some critical resource issues. The following duties (also amplified in the APS leaflet "What Clients need to do"), can affect time and resource needs: Competence & Resources Checks: You may request advice from the Planning Supervisor on the competence and resources of Contractors and Designers before you appoint them. The Planning Supervisor may also have to respond to requests from Contractors to advise on the competence and resources of any Designers, which they are considering for appointment. The more Designers or Contractors there are involved in the project the greater the time and perhaps personnel which the Planning Supervisor may need to be able to carry out the required checks. So you will need to discuss this with your Planning Supervisor and together assess what time and resources are needed, especially if time is important to your project programme. Making sure that Designers manage Health and Safety in Design: One important duty of the Planning Supervisor is to take all reasonable steps to ensure co-operation between Designers and to make sure that they give proper attention to the management of health and safety in the design process so that risks to construction workers are eliminated or reduced. The number of Designers and the length, or complexity, of the project and design process will all affect the resources needed to do this. The Pre-Construction (Pre-Tender) Health & Safety Plan ensures that Contractors are aware of any unusual risks or safety requirements associated with the project that may have resource or management implications. The Planning Supervisor will need adequate time to collect and collate information for this Plan, if asked to compile it, or to check that its contents cover the range of issues defined by the Regulations, if it is prepared by someone else. The Regulations imply and the HSC’s Approved Code of Practice and Guidance assumes that the Planning Supervisor will usually compile this document. Checks on the adequacy of the Health & Safety Plan for the Construction Phase: You can ask the Planning Supervisor for advice on the adequacy of the Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan before you allow construction work to begin. On just under half of all projects examined by APS, revisions to the Plan and further check(s) have been required. For all of this, adequate time and resources will be needed. Design Changes during the design (pre-construction) and construction phase will involve the Planning Supervisor. Fees and time resources should allow for this throughout the project and for unexpected changes to be dealt with. Discoveries made during the project could require specialist health and safety input, for instance if ground contamination or hazardous materials are discovered. The terms of appointment should allow for such resources to be made available to meet such unanticipated needs, bearing in mind that you have a duty to make reasonable enquiries about the site and premises before work starts and to make sure that relevant information is made available to the design team so that surprise discoveries are minimised. Health and Safety File: Very often the Planning Supervisor compiles this for you and will need time to seek, collate, develop, review and amend information for it. The larger and more complex a project is, in terms of health and safety, the greater the resource requirements will be. Of course, the Health and Safety File is not a Building Manual and should only include information that is relevant to the health and safety of those working on any maintenance, future construction or demolition work. Nevertheless, experience indicates that the Planning Supervisor will spend a large part of his/her time on this work. If you ask someone else to produce "The File", the Planning Supervisor still has the duty to ensure that this happens and will also need to review, amend or add to the File to ensure that it contains the information required when it is handed over to you. There is still a need for planning supervision during this process and for appropriate resources to enable the necessary work to be carried out. Definition of Services: Discussion with your Planning Supervisor, using the APS Guide and the APS Form of Appointment, will enable you to fully consider the complexity and duration of the project and the extent of planning supervision services required which will enable you to establish an appropriate basis for charging for these services. Question: How much will CDM cost me? Answer: Indications of Charges - To enable you to judge what is a reasonable charge for the planning supervision services required the APS has examined data and fees from more than 10,000 projects of different types, sizes and complexity since the Regulations came into force. With this historical information, "Indicators" of the range of applicable to different sizes and complexities (in terms of health and safety) of projects have been prepared and can be referred to when assessing the resources required for planning supervision. The indicators take into account the Planning Supervision services required by law as well as providing you with advice on competence and resources (for an average number of designers and contractors), preparation of the Pre-Construction Plan and the H&S File as well as providing advice on the Construction Phase H&S Plan. They do not include for additional copies or abstracts of the File, nor for large numbers of competence and resource assessments, nor for the costs of travel, disbursements and VAT which should be considered separately. Further Advice: This Guidance has been prepared to provide general advice only. APS does not offer this document as legal advice for any particular situation, as each project will be different. If you need advice on the interpretation of the Regulations as they apply to specific situations, you should consult a suitably knowledgeable person. Remember: You are obliged by the CDM Regulations to make sure that adequate resources are available for health and safety - to ignore this obligation may later involve you in criminal proceedings. For Further Information on the APS contact:
The Association of Project Safety or visit the APS web site at www.AssociationForProjectSafety.co.uk The above text is reproduced from the APS client guide This text has been included to provide general advice only. Greeves Kelly Cairns does not offer this document as legal advice for any particular situation. |
Information on CDM from the APS web site