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    CDM Regulations

    Definition

    Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 — duties for managing health and safety through construction projects in Great Britain.

    Editorial definition: The QHSE Standard, updated 3 October 2026 · https://qhsetech.com/glossary/cdm-regulations

    Scope: Duties depend on the party's role. Northern Ireland has separate regulations.

    Example for your evaluation: Identify the client, designer and contractor roles before defining software permissions.

    Sources checked: . Examples are editorial illustrations.

    What CDM 2015 and HSE say about duty holders and documents

    The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/51) apply to construction projects in Great Britain. HSE's summary lists the duty holders: commercial clients, domestic clients, designers, principal designers, principal contractors, contractors and workers. A commercial client must make suitable arrangements for managing a project and ensure the other duty holders are appointed with enough time and resources. A domestic client's duties are typically transferred to the contractor, although they may arrange otherwise through a written agreement with the principal designer. Designers must eliminate, reduce or control foreseeable risks, the principal designer coordinates health and safety in the pre-construction phase, and the principal contractor manages the construction phase, including site inductions and welfare facilities.

    Documents carry much of the day-to-day record. Regulation 4 requires the client to provide pre-construction information as soon as practicable to every designer and contractor appointed or being considered. The principal contractor draws up the construction phase plan during the pre-construction phase and keeps it reviewed, updated and revised, and the principal designer prepares and maintains the health and safety file. If the principal designer's appointment ends before the project does, the principal contractor takes over the file, and at completion the file is passed to the client. The client keeps it available for inspection by anyone who needs it and, if they dispose of their interest in the structure, hands it to the new owner.

    A project is notifiable under regulation 6 if it will last longer than 30 working days with more than 20 workers working at the same time at any point, or if it will exceed 500 person days. The client then gives written notice to the enforcing authority, normally HSE, as soon as practicable before the construction phase begins. The notification test is separate from the question of which other duties apply, so check both. This page is general information, not legal advice, and Northern Ireland has separate regulations.

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    What a CDM record holds in software

    • A project record naming the client, principal designer, principal contractor and each contractor, with appointment dates, so duties can be assigned by role.
    • The pre-construction information issued, to whom and when.
    • A notifiability check holding the planned duration, the peak number of workers and the person days, with the date any notice went to the enforcing authority.
    • The construction phase plan as a versioned document, with review dates and the person who approved each change.
    • The health and safety file as it grows, with the date it was handed to the client.
    • Site induction records linked to the project and the contractor.

    CDM roles, principal designer and principal contractor

    The principal designer coordinates health and safety in the pre-construction phase and the principal contractor manages the construction phase, and the client makes each appointment. A designer and a contractor have their own duties as well, and every worker must take care of their own safety and report hazards. A permission set built on job titles can miss this, because the duties follow the role on the project.

    A hypothetical example: checking whether a project is notifiable

    This scenario is invented and describes no real client or site. A client plans the refurbishment of a warehouse with a programme of 40 working days. The planned peak is 18 workers on site at one time, and the resource plan totals 460 person days. The project record stores all three figures with the date each was last confirmed.

    On the first test the duration exceeds 30 working days but the peak of 18 does not exceed 20, and 460 is below 500, so the project is not notifiable. Before the construction phase begins, the programme is revised to add a second shift, and the revised plan reaches 24 workers at once for part of the project, so the first test is met. The record flags the change, the client gives written notice to the enforcing authority before the construction phase begins, and the principal contractor updates the construction phase plan and its review date.

    Common misunderstandings about CDM

    • The client is not outside the duties. Regulation 4 puts duties on the client, including time, resources and pre-construction information, and HSE's summary treats domestic clients separately.
    • Notification is not the whole of CDM. The 30 working day, 20 worker and 500 person day tests decide notification, while the roles and documents are separate duties to check.
    • The health and safety file is not an end-of-job document. It is prepared in the pre-construction phase and kept up to date during the project before it passes to the client.
    • The construction phase plan is not filed once. Regulation 12 expects it to be reviewed, updated and revised from time to time.
    • CDM 2015 is not UK-wide. Northern Ireland has separate regulations.

    How CDM relates to other glossary terms

    CDM sets the project roles within which other safety terms are applied.

    • RIDDOR: the reporting regulations that apply to injuries and dangerous occurrences on a site.
    • ALARP: the reasonably practicable standard, a phrase that regulation 4 also uses for client arrangements.
    • Hierarchy of controls: a way of ordering controls when a designer has to eliminate, reduce or control foreseeable risks.
    • HIRA: hazard identification and risk assessment, which feeds the construction phase plan.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for CDM

    • Appointment letters for the principal designer, principal contractor and contractors.
    • Pre-construction information and proof of who received it.
    • A copy of any notification and the date it was sent.
    • Versions of the construction phase plan with review notes.
    • The health and safety file and the record of its handover.
    • Site induction and welfare records kept by the principal contractor.

    What a software tool needs to capture for CDM

    • Role-based project records, because one company can be client on one project and contractor on another.
    • A notifiability test that stores its inputs and runs again when the programme changes.
    • Document control for the plan and file, with review dates and approvers.
    • Distribution logs showing who received the pre-construction information and when.
    • A handover export of the health and safety file for the client.
    • Induction and welfare records tied to the principal contractor's duties.
    • A region field, because Northern Ireland has separate regulations.

    Catalog profiles documenting construction safety and compliance workflows

    The list follows the construction rule of the sector guide. It does not show that a product holds a construction phase plan, a health and safety file or the HSE notification form, which should be checked in a demonstration.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “Construction Safety”, “Construction Compliance”, “Contractor Management”, “Site Induction”, “Drawing-Linked Tasks” or “EHS”, with a sourced construction project, subcontractor, induction or orientation capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 15 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Who appoints the principal designer and principal contractor?

    HSE's summary says a commercial client makes suitable arrangements for managing the project and ensures the other duty holders are appointed, with enough time and resources. The conditions for appointing each role are set out in regulation 5, which should be read for your project.

    When must a project be notified to the enforcing authority?

    Regulation 6 makes a project notifiable if it will last longer than 30 working days with more than 20 workers on site at the same time at any point, or exceed 500 person days. The client gives written notice as soon as practicable before the construction phase begins.

    Does CDM apply in Northern Ireland?

    The 2015 Regulations are for Great Britain. The shared definition on the glossary hub notes that Northern Ireland has separate regulations, which a site there should check.

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