Construction (Design Management) Regulations
The Construction (Design Management) Regulations 2015 were originally developed for use in the Construction Industry (original version CDM 2007) and were extended to include Landscaping, in recognition of the substantial nature of garden building operations.
Every home-owner is responsible for the Health & Safety for any individual who is on their property, (legally or illegally) and when they decide to have their garden landscaped, they become responsible for the welfare of all concerned. There is a requirement for a CDM Plan to be drawn up as soon as the person responsible for the design of a project is engaged by the owner. A designer may be a Garden Designer or Landscape Architect, and also the person who specifies a scheme – which could be the owner or manager of the chosen landscape company.
Once a designer has been appointed, in writing, the legal responsibility automatically transfers to the designer, who becomes The Principal Designer. That person is responsible for opening the CDM Plan. (In the case of a Design & Build Company, the Principal Designer may also be The Principal Contractor).
The Plan is started by clearly specifying the name and address of the client (or names if more than one person) and the address of the site (if different). The second entry is the name and address of The Principal Designer. Having established the main individuals, the Plan continues by adding further information as it becomes available. Site survey drawings, hydrological surveys, outline plans… Dating each item and entering it into a Contents page, gradually building up a storyboard of the project.
Once the contractor has been engaged, a list of main individuals, named together with their job titles and responsibilities. Site Manager, Foreperson, Banksman, Site Checker, Dumper Driver etc, together with a copy of any relevant certificates of competence are all included.
At this stage, if the designer has completed their work, they may sign off their work elements, and recuse themselves from further involvement. Equally, they may wish to remain involved in seeing the project through – although at each stage it may be prudent to ‘sign off’ then ‘sign on’ again to maintain a distance unless working to a strict set of Rules of Engagement.
Most importantly, Risk Assessments and Method Statements (RAMS) should be drawn up by the Principal Contractor, signed by all staff involved, and kept on file.
The principle behind CDM is not only to ensure that Health & Safety is a serious element of the contract and project documentation, it also serves as a record of the project from start to finish. The final document will show detailed plans indicating the siting of conduits and cables, underground services, depth of foundations, irrigation and land-drains, material types and sources – everything that happened on site during the construction works.
This document is intended to be handed to the customer at the end of the project, to be passed on to a future owner as a record of how the scheme was put together, to enable them to have that full knowledge in case of future site issues.
