CDM 2007
Construction (Design) and Management Regulations 2007: 
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM 2007) came into force on 6 April 2007. They replace the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM94) and the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 (CHSW). The CDM 2007 Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) provides practical guidance on complying with the duties set out in the Regulations. It replaces the ACOP to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 from 6 April 2007.
The key aim of CDM 2007 is to integrate health and safety into the
management of the project and to encourage everyone involved to work together
to:
(a) improve the planning and management of projects from the very start;
(b) identify hazards early on, so they can be eliminated or reduced at the design
or planning stage and the remaining risks can be properly managed;
(c) target effort where it can do the most good in terms of health and safety; and
(d) discourage unnecessary bureaucracy.
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The CDM 2007 Regulations are intended to focus attention on planning and management throughout construction projects, from design concept onwards. The aim is for health and safety considerations to be treated as an essential, but normal part of a project's development - not an afterthought or bolt-on extra.
The effort devoted to planning and managing health and safety should be in proportion to the risks and complexity associated with the project. When deciding what you need to do to comply with the CDM Regulations, your focus should always be on action necessary to reduce and manage risks. Any paperwork produced should help with communication and risk management. Paperwork which adds little to the management of risk is a waste of effort, and can be a dangerous distraction from the real business of risk reduction and management.
Time and thought invested at the start of the project will pay dividends not only with improved health and safety, but also in:
(a) reductions in the overall cost of ownership, because the structure is designed
for safe and easy maintenance and cleaning work, and because key information is vailable in the health and safety file;
(b) reduced delays;
(c) more reliable costings and completion dates;
(d) improved communication and co-operation between key parties; and
(e) improved quality of the finished product.
Application of the Regulations
The CDM Regulations are divided into five parts.
Part 1 of the Regulations deals with matters of interpretation and application. The Regulations apply to all construction work in Great Britain and, by virtue of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2001, its territorial sea, and apply to both employers and the self-employed without distinction.
Part 2 covers general management duties which apply to all construction projects, including those which are non-notifiable.
Part 3 sets out additional management duties which apply to projects above the notification threshold (projects lasting more than 30 days, or involving more than 500 person days of construction work). These additional duties require particular appointments or particular documents which will assist with the management of health and safety from concept to completion.
Part 4 of the Regulations applies to all construction work carried out on construction sites, and covers physical safeguards which need to be provided to prevent danger. Duties to achieve these standards are held by contractors who actually carry out the work, irrespective of whether they are employers or are self-employed. Duties are also held by those who do not do construction work themselves, but control the way in which the work is done. In each case, the extent of the duty is in proportion to the degree of control which the individual or organisation has over the work in question.
This does not mean everyone involved with design, planning or management of the project legally must ensure that all of the specific requirements in this section are complied with. They only have such duties if, in practice, they exercise significant control over the actual working methods, safeguards and site conditions. For example, contractors carrying out excavation work are normally responsible for ensuring that the excavation is safe to work at, but if a client specifies that it is dug and supported in a particular way, then the client will have a duty to ensure their instructions comply with the requirements in regulation 31.
Contractors must not allow work to start or continue unless the necessary safeguards are in place. For example, a brickwork contractor should not cause or permit workers under his control to work on an incomplete scaffold, even if providing the scaffold is another contractor's responsibility.
Part 5 of the Regulations covers issues of civil liability; transitional provisions which will apply during the period when the Regulations come into force, and amendments and revocations of other legislation.
