The central purpose of the Regulations is maintained so that all participants in the construction process are to take into account the general principles of prevention and any pre-construction information to eliminate, so far as reasonably practicable, foreseeable risks to the health and safety of any person involved with the project.

The previous Regulations had identified the role of the CDM co-ordinator as being responsible for co-ordination of matters during the pre-construction phase relating to health and safety. This role is now fulfilled by a designer who has control of the pre-construction phase as a principal designer’s.

It is intended that the principal designer will not, as before, be external to the design team but rather a member of it. Existing designers will need to consider if they have the appropriate skills and experience to take on this role and, if not, how these might be acquired, for example, by the appointment of an existing CDM co-ordinator as a consultant; that person will need to satisfy himself that he has the appropriate skills and experience to take on the principal designers role.

On commencement of the construction phase under a design and build (but not traditional) contract it may be appropriate for the design and build contractor to take on the principal designer’s role. Whoever takes on this role is required to prepare the Health and Safety file identifying Health and Safety risks for benefit of future owners.

During the construction phase the principal contractor is responsible for managing risks and co-ordinating other contractors in respect of health and safety. This is a simplication from the previous Regulations in that overall coordination is now the principal contractor’s responsibility rather than it being split between duty holders.