CDM 2015 more than one contractor

The 2015 CDM Regulations require that a principal designer and principal contractor are appointed on projects that involve more than one contractor.

The Regulations define contractors as ‘…those who do the actual construction work and can be either an individual or a company.’

There is no definition of what ‘more than one contractor’ means, but it is generally considered that this includes trade contractors and situations where it is reasonably anticipated there will be more than one contractor at any time.

This is a very broad definition, as all but the smallest domestic projects are likely to involve more than one contractor and so a principal designer and principal contractor must be appointed.

This is a significant change from the 2007 regulations which required that co-ordinators were appointed on projects that lasted more than 30 days or involved 500 person days of construction work. The Health and Safety Executive believe that changing the threshold will capture close to an additional 1 million projects a year, but suggest that the requirements are proportionate and little more work will be necessary.

This change was considered necessary because of a persistence of unacceptable standards, particularly on smaller sites.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• 2007 CDM regulations.
• CDM 2015 client duties.
• CDM 2015 contractor duties.
• CDM 2015 designer duties.
• CDM 2015 legal considerations.
• CDM 2015 principal contractor duties.
• CDM 2015 principal designer duties.
• CDM 2015 worker duties.
• CDM for self-builders and domestic clients.