Principal Designer Service
Effective H&S Management of Project pre-construction
Why Do you Need a Principal Designer?
Clients have a responsibility to appoint a Principal Designer for construction projects where there will be more than one contractor.
The Principal Designer’s role is to plan, manage and monitor the co-ordination of health and safety in the pre-construction design phase of the project.
The key tasks are:
- Eliminating / controlling risks throughout the design work
- Making sure all planning information gets to the Principal Contractor
- Making sure there is solid co-operation and co-ordination
- Making sure all designers carry out their duties
- Helping the client prepare the pre-construction info
- Putting together the health and safety file
Who can be a Principal Designer?
A principal designer must be a designer and must be able to demonstrate they have the health and safety skills, knowledge and experience (SKE), and where necessary the organisational capability, to carry out the work they are being appointed for.
The level of SKE should be proportionate to the complexity of the project and the range and nature of the risks involved. This will involve having:
- the technical knowledge of the construction industry relevant to the project;
- the ability to understand, manage and coordinate the pre-construction phase
We are registered Principal Designers with both the Association for Project Safety and CHAS. As part of this process we have to demonstrate our competence both in the safety field but also show that we have a design and construction background
What can we offer you?
A professional service that gives you peace of mind
With over 30 years experience in the construction health & safety industry we can offer a tailored solution to all of your CDM requirements.
Assistance
We offer the client H&S assistance at set-up and throughout the different stages of the project
Information
We help identify, obtain and collate pre-construction information and distribute to other duty holders
Advice
We advise clients and others of their H&S responsibilities at the pre-construction stage of a project
Compliance
We ensure designers comply with their duties and adhere to the general principles of prevention
Liaise
We liaise with the Principal Contractor when design decisions are needed at the construction phase
Paperwork
We prepare the health and safety file and work with the Principal Contractor to ensure it is complete