23-Faithful+Gould Project management and cost consultants News 060608

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Faithful+Gould - CDM 2007 One Year On

In 1994 some said CDM (Construction Design Management) would not last - this was not the view taken by international project management and cost consultants Faithful+Gould. Regional director, Colm Patton explains why.

In response, Faithful+Gould established a core team and embarked upon the specialist delivery of planning supervisor services which ensured that we were leaders in the field. As a result, the team progressively grew and our business increased dramatically, as we secured strategic and iconic appointments.

Revisions to the complex and bureaucratic Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 were implemented in April 2007. The new regulations modified existing provisions and combined them with the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 to form a single, more user-friendly regulatory package, the objective being to further control health and safety in an industry which remains disproportionately hazardous.

Recognising that clients wield significant influence in how projects are run, the regulations imposed more onerous duties on them as the duty holder. New, more stringent, requirements obligate the early appointment of a CDM Co-ordinator; place a greater emphasis on the selection of competent appointees; and identify the benefits of monitoring health and safety standards on site. Additionally, CDM Co-ordinators acting on behalf of the client, have to stipulate the minimum time allowed to plan and prepare for construction.

Internally, the regulations necessitated change and refinement; competency criteria for CDM Co-ordinators have influenced recruitment and training, and our CDM systems had to be altered to suit new processes.

Some 12 months post introduction, Faithful+Gould has witnessed widespread changes in the application of CDM. For example, clients are in general appointing CDM Co-coordinators earlier; receptive to more detailed health and safety due diligence assessments of potential principal contractors and designers; and are almost universally requiring an audit of conduct on their sites - by project and across programmes - to record compliance with safety standards and practice. The consensus is that these measures are proving instrumental in the achievement of key project deliverables, i.e. adherence to programme, budget, quality and safety aspirations, and, in my opinion, making the construction industry more transparent.

CDM 2007 has been instrumental in encouraging clients to divulge safety performance data across contractors and across clients. This is increasingly becoming the norm and is received favourably by all in that it is a tangible way to self evaluate, learn from one another and promote improvement.

Perhaps this shift in commitment has also partially been influenced or augmented by the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act.

One thing is certain: planned, controlled and proportionate management of health and safety is essential to curb the unacceptably high incident rates in our industry.

Email: lisa.wallace@clothierlacey.co.uk