CDM Regulations 2015

What is the purpose of the CDM Regulations 2015?

• ATo set the minimum level of insurance cover a contractor must hold before starting a notifiable project
• BTo eliminate all construction projects
• CTo manage health and safety in construction projects through the roles and duties of various parties✓
• DTo increase construction costs

Answer: CDM Regulations 2015 apply to construction work and impose duties on clients, designers, principal designers, principal contractors, and workers to manage health and safety.

Who is a 'Client' under CDM Regulations 2015?

• AAny worker employed on the site, who becomes the client for the part of the work they carry out
• BOnly the main contractor
• COnly property owners
• DA person or organization commissioning construction work or controlling a project✓

Answer: A Client is a person or organization for whom a construction project is undertaken. Clients have duties to appoint competent duty holders and provide relevant information.

What are the main duties of a Client under CDM Regulations 2015?

• AAppoint competent duty holders, ensure adequate resources and time, cooperate with others✓
• BOnly to provide work location
• CUnder CDM the client's duties pass to the principal contractor once the site has been handed over
• DOnly to pay invoices

Answer: Clients must: appoint a principal designer and principal contractor, ensure they are competent and adequately resourced, make relevant information available, and cooperate with other duty holders.

What is the role of a 'Principal Designer' under CDM 2015?

• AOnly to produce the architectural drawings, leaving all health and safety matters to the principal contractor
• BTo prepare design in consultation with others and provide information to manage health and safety risks✓
• CTo recruit and dismiss the trades working on site and to agree their rates of pay with the principal contractor
• DOnly to manage budget

Answer: The Principal Designer prepares design in consultation with the client, and provides information to the principal contractor about health and safety matters. They coordinate design-related hazards.

What is the primary duty of a 'Principal Contractor' under CDM 2015?

• ATo build as quickly as the programme allows, since delay is the main cause of accidents on a construction site
• BTo plan, manage, and monitor the construction phase and coordinate work of all contractors on site✓
• COnly to manage the finances, valuations and payment applications for the construction phase on the client's behalf
• DOnly to engage and pay the subcontractors, with each of them managing health and safety for their own work

Answer: The Principal Contractor is responsible for planning and managing the construction phase, ensuring all contractors comply with health and safety, and coordinating their work.

What is a 'Construction Phase Plan' (CPP)?

• AA schedule for work completion only
• BA documented plan showing how health and safety will be managed during the construction phase✓
• COnly a design document
• DOnly a financial plan

Answer: The Construction Phase Plan (CPP) is a documented plan prepared by the principal contractor detailing how health and safety will be managed during construction, including coordination of multiple contractors.

When must the 'Health and Safety File' be prepared under CDM 2015?

• AIt is a voluntary document
• BDuring construction only
• CDuring the design phase only
• DAfter construction is complete for future use in maintenance and refurbishment✓

Answer: The Health and Safety File is prepared by the principal designer during construction and handed to the client on project completion. It contains information for future workers undertaking maintenance or refurbishment.

What is 'F10 notification' under CDM Regulations?

• AA form submitted to the local authority building control department for approval of the design before work starts on site
• BMandatory notification to the HSE for notifiable projects (usually lasting more than 30 days with more than 20 workers)✓
• CA certificate issued by the principal contractor confirming that the construction phase has finished and the site is clear
• DA form sent to the client's insurers setting out the contract value and the expected duration of the works on site, for their own records

Answer: F10 is the HSE form used to notify that a construction project is notifiable under CDM 2015. Projects lasting over 30 days with more than 20 workers must be notified.

What information must be provided to workers under CDM 2015?

• AInformation about hazards, health and safety arrangements, emergency procedures, and coordination of work✓
• BOnly wage rates, working hours and holiday arrangements, as set out in the worker's contract of employment
• COnly contact details
• DOnly project location

Answer: Workers must be provided with information about hazards and risks on the site, health and safety arrangements, emergency procedures, and coordination with other contractors.

Who must be appointed if a project is notifiable under CDM 2015?

• AA principal designer and principal contractor must be appointed in writing before the construction phase begins✓
• BOnly a safety consultant
• CAppointment is optional
• DOnly a manager

Answer: For notifiable projects, a principal designer and principal contractor must be appointed in writing before the construction phase commences. They must be competent and adequately resourced.

What is the significance of the 'Construction Phase' in CDM 2015?

• AA purely administrative stage during which the project paperwork is completed, with no change to who manages health and safety on site
• BIt has no particular health and safety significance, because the Construction Phase Plan is finalised before the design stage ends
• COnly the design phase matters
• DIt is the period when the principal contractor manages health and safety, and the Construction Phase Plan must be prepared✓

Answer: The Construction Phase is defined as the period of actual construction work when the principal contractor takes over management of health and safety from the designer.

What is a 'designer' under CDM 2015?

• AOnly architects and structural engineers who are registered with a professional institution and who are named in the building contract
• BAnyone preparing design information including architects, engineers, and specialists whose designs influence construction safety✓
• COnly the main contractor and the specialist subcontractors who produce the working drawings for their own trade packages on the site
• DOnly those employed in the client's own design office, since consultants working under a separate appointment are not treated as designers

Answer: A designer is anyone involved in preparing design information that will be used in a construction project, including architects, structural engineers, MEP engineers, and other specialists.

How long must the Health and Safety File be kept available under CDM 2015?

• AOne year from the date of practical completion
• BThree months, after which it is passed to building control
• CFor the life of the structure✓
• DUntil practical handover to the client

Answer: The Health and Safety File must be kept available for the life of the structure, not for a fixed number of years — its purpose is to inform future maintenance, refurbishment, or demolition work, which may take place decades later. Under CDM 2015 Regulation 12, the file is retained by the client and passed on to any new owner along with the structure.

What duties do 'contractors' have under CDM 2015?

• AOnly to meet deadlines
• BTo comply with the Construction Phase Plan, cooperate with the principal contractor, and coordinate with other contractors✓
• COnly to follow client instructions
• DDuties fall on the principal contractor alone

Answer: Contractors must: comply with the Construction Phase Plan and site rules, cooperate and coordinate with the principal contractor and other contractors, and provide relevant information.

What is the key requirement for 'competency' of duty holders under CDM 2015?

• AFormal qualifications alone, so a current training certificate is sufficient evidence of capability
• BKnowledge, experience, and organizational capability to manage health and safety effectively✓
• CCompetency is not assessed
• DOnly experience is needed

Answer: Competent duty holders under CDM 2015 must have the knowledge, experience, and organizational ability to manage health and safety. This is assessed case-by-case.

What must happen before a notifiable project begins?

• AThe client's signature on the Pre-Construction Information, which then serves as the formal notification to the HSE
• BThe client need only give verbal instruction to start, as the F10 notification may be submitted at any point during the works
• CF10 notification submitted to HSE, principal designer and contractor appointed, Construction Phase Plan prepared✓
• DApproval of the budget by the client, after which the principal contractor may begin work and notify the HSE later

Answer: Before construction phase: notify HSE via F10, appoint principal designer and contractor in writing, and ensure the Construction Phase Plan is prepared.

What is the responsibility of a designer for 'avoiding foreseeable risks'?

• ATo eliminate or reduce health and safety risks through design choices before construction✓
• BDesigners carry no duty, as health and safety risk is created on site rather than at the design stage
• COnly budget considerations
• DOnly to meet the aesthetic and planning requirements agreed with the client at the concept design stage

Answer: Designers must consider health and safety throughout design and avoid foreseeable risks by designing them out, e.g., choosing safer methods or materials.

Who is responsible for ensuring Site Inductions are provided under CDM 2015?

• AThe client only
• BOnly new employees need inductions
• CInductions are optional
• DThe principal contractor is responsible for ensuring all workers receive site inductions✓

Answer: The principal contractor must ensure all workers on the site, including contractors' employees, receive appropriate site induction covering hazards, rules, and procedures.

What is the distinction between 'Pre-Construction Information' and a 'Construction Phase Plan'?

• AThey are simply the same document under two different names, prepared by the principal designer once at the start of the project and never revised
• BOnly one is required
• CPre-Construction Information is provided by the client to designers/PC; CPP is prepared by the PC for managing the construction phase✓
• DBoth are unimportant

Answer: Pre-Construction Information is provided by the client at the outset. The Construction Phase Plan is prepared by the principal contractor and covers how H&S will be managed during construction.

What should happen if a 'reasonable doubt' exists about a duty holder's competence under CDM 2015?

• ADo not appoint anyone
• BProceed with the appointment and review the duty holder's competence at the first progress meeting
• CApply a lower standard of competence, since the duty holder will be supervised by the principal contractor
• DAppoint a different, clearly competent duty holder or take additional steps to verify competence✓

Answer: If there is reasonable doubt about competence, the client (or appointing body) must appoint a different duty holder or take additional verification steps to confirm competence.

Which welfare facilities does Schedule 2 of CDM 2015 require on a construction site?

• AWhatever the principal contractor considers to be reasonable given the length of the project
• BSanitary conveniences and drinking water only; the rest depend on the site's size
• CA canteen serving hot food, showers, lockers and a dedicated first aid treatment room on site
• DSanitary conveniences, washing facilities, drinking water, changing rooms and rest areas✓

Answer: Schedule 2 lists them: sanitary conveniences, washing facilities including showers where the work requires them, an adequate supply of wholesome drinking water, changing rooms and lockers where special clothing is worn, and facilities for rest. It is a legal minimum, not a judgement call, and it does not scale down for small sites.

When must welfare facilities be available on a construction site?

• AFrom the start, so they are in place before anyone begins work on site✓
• BWithin the first week, provided temporary arrangements are made in the meantime
• COnce the workforce on site exceeds five people at any one time
• DAs soon as the construction phase plan has been formally approved by the client

Answer: Welfare has to be there from day one. Sites that plan to bring cabins in once the groundworks are done leave the first workers with nothing, and those are often the ones handling the dirtiest materials. There is no headcount threshold below which the duty disappears.

Why are washing facilities a health control rather than a comfort?

• AThey allow the site to demonstrate compliance during a regulator's inspection
• BThey stop hazardous substances being carried to the mouth, skin and home✓
• CThey reduce the amount of dust that is tracked into the site accommodation
• DThey are needed so that workers can remove PPE before the end of the shift

Answer: Hand-to-mouth transfer is a genuine exposure route — lead, silica, solvents, cement. Cement burns and dermatitis come from the same failure to wash properly. And contamination taken home on skin and clothing exposes families, which is how asbestos reached people who never went near a site.

Whose duty is it to make sure welfare facilities are provided?

• AEach individual employer, separately and only for their own directly employed operatives
• BThe client alone, since it is the client who is paying for all of the site accommodation
• CThe contractor in control of the site, with the client ensuring arrangements are made✓
• DThe principal designer, as part of the pre-construction information pack

Answer: The contractor in control of a site — the principal contractor where there is more than one contractor — has to provide the facilities, and the client has to make suitable arrangements for managing the project so that welfare is actually delivered. Splitting facilities employer by employer is neither practical nor what the Regulations ask for.