Courses Available Online, Virtually and Classroom
Fully Certified NEBOSH, IOSH, IEMA Accredited
7-Day Customer Service
David Bryan BSc, CMIOSH, CMAPS

CDM 2015 Roles and Responsibilities of Duty Holders

January 2015

This blog was updated in August 2022

In light of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations (CDM) 2015 having been published to replace CDM 2007 enforced 6 April 2015, here is an outline of all duty holders involved in a construction project and their duties.

Clients

Clients are organisations or individuals for whom a construction project is carried out. Make suitable arrangements for managing a project. This includes making sure:

  • Domestic Clients Other duty holders are appointed
  • Sufficient time and resources are allocated
  • Relevant information is prepared and provided to other duty holders
  • The principal designer and principal contractor carry out their duties
  • Welfare facilities are provided

Domestic clients are people who have construction work carried out on their own home, or the home of a family member that is not done as part of a business, whether for profit or not.

Domestic clients are in the scope of CDM 2015, but their duties as a client are normally transferred to the contractor on a single contractor project, or the principal contractor, on a project involving more than one contractor. However, the domestic client can choose to have a written agreement with the principal designer to carry out the client duties.

Designers

Designers­ are those, who as part of a business, prepare or modify designs for a building, product or system relating to construction work.

  • When preparing or modifying designs, to eliminate, reduce or control foreseeable risks that may arise during construction, and the maintenance and use of a building once it is built.
  • Provide information to other members of the project team to help them fulfil their duties.

Principal Designers

Principal designers­ are designers appointed by the client in projects involving more than one contractor. They can be an organisation or an individual with sufficient knowledge, experience and ability to carry out the role.

They must plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety in the pre-construction phase of a project. This includes:

  • Identifying, eliminating or controlling foreseeable risks
  • Ensuring designers carry out their duties
  • Prepare and provide relevant information to other duty holders
  • Liaise with the principal contractor to help in the planning, management, monitoring and coordination of the construction phase.

Principal Contractors

Principal contractors  are contractors appointed by the client to coordinate the construction phase of a project where it involves more than one contractor. They must plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the construction phase of a project. This includes:

  • Contractors Liaising with the client and principal designer
  • Preparing the construction phase plan
  • Organising cooperation between contractors and coordinating their work, ensuring
    • Suitable site inductions are provided
    • Reasonable steps are taken to prevent unauthorised access
    • Workers are consulted and engaged in securing their health and safety
    • Welfare facilities are provided

Contractors are those who do the actual construction work and can be either an individual or a company. Their duties include:

  • Plan, manage and monitor construction work under their control so that it is carried out without risks to health and safety
  • For projects involving more than one contractor, coordinate their activities with others in the project team, in particular, comply with directions given to them by the principal designer or principal contractor
  • For single-contractor projects, prepare a construction phase plan

Workers

Workers­ are the people who work for or under the control of contractors on a construction site. Workers must:

  • Be consulted about matters which affect their health, safety and welfare
  • Take care of their own health and safety and others who may be affected by their actions
  • Report anything they see which is likely to endanger either their own or others’ health and safety
  • Co-operate with their employer, fellow workers, contractors and other duty holders.

To find out more about our CDM courses click the button below!

Related Blogs

  • How To Pass The NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma  Image
    Toby Howell AIEMA BA PGDip

    How To Pass The NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma

    Discover how the May 2023 specification changes affect the assessment process. This blog will offer expert guidance on how to approach the NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma assessments. Read more here. 
    09.05.23
  • NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma: Unpacking The May 2023 Specification Image
    Toby Howell AIEMA BA PGDip

    NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma: Unpacking The May 2023 Specification

    The May 2023 NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma is here! Uncover all the changes to NEBOSH's flagship qualification in our blog. Read more here. 
    01.05.23
  • Earth Day 2023: Climate Action for a Sustainable Planet Image
    Cole Vyas

    Earth Day 2023: Climate Action for a Sustainable Planet

    Discover how you and your organisation can make a tangible difference in humanity's fight against climate change. Make your lifestyle environmentally sustainable today! 
    21.04.23
  • Why 'Greenhushing' Restricts Environmental Improvement Image
    Brenig Moore MCIEH CEnvH CMIOSH

    Why 'Greenhushing' Restricts Environmental Improvement

    Astutis' Technical Director, Brenig Moore, analyses the latest environmental terms and their effects on humanity's attempt to curb climate change. Are portions of society becoming environmentally alienated? Read more here. 
    20.04.23
  • Unleashing The Secrets of Construction Industry Training Image
    Ruth Williams DipCAM FCIM

    Unleashing The Secrets of Construction Industry Training

    Uncover the intricacies and the vital importance of construction industry training. Discover how crucial effective training is to the overall safety of the construction industry by reading this Astutis blog. 
    12.04.23
  • Why Your Organisation Needs the NEBOSH Construction Certificate  Image
    Toby Howell AIEMA BA PGDip

    Why Your Organisation Needs the NEBOSH Construction Certificate

    In the most dangerous of working environments, it pays to have industry-leading health and safety training specific for the construction industry. Find out why your organisation needs the NEBOSH Health and Safety Management for Construction qualification, by reading this Astutis blog. 
    12.04.23
Section Curve
Case Studies

Real Life Stories

Find out how learners look back on their training with Astutis. Our case studies give our learners, both individual and corporate, a platform to share their Astutis experience. Discover how training with Astutis has helped past learners and delegates make the world a safer place, one course at a time.
More Image
Bottom Curve
What People Say

Hear What Our Learners Have To Say

We're always there for our customers. 98% of our learners rated their overall experience as good or outstanding. We will always pride ourselves on our customer service. But don’t take our word for it, here is what our customers have to say
  • "I have felt so supported through our my NEBOSH journey. Nothing was too much trouble for them. It was such a positive uplifting experience that come exam day I didn't feel nervous at all"

    Lindsay
    24.05.2023
  • "Really great information that I could constantly access to relearn or check things"

    Lindsay
    24.05.2023
  • "Good level of detail on all areas covered"

    15.05.2023
  • "A good level of content. practise questions were very useful"

    15.05.2023
  • "The course was great, very through and professionally taught. The facilitator Huw did a brilliant job of teaching each subject/element in context through great examples and stories."

    03.05.2023
  • "The content was interesting, relevant and up to date. The teacher was fun, engaging and did a great job of giving real life examples and stories that helped put it all into context."

    03.05.2023
  • "I liked the course. I thought the practice exam could have been better with only 18 questions for a practice exam when the real exam is 30. Also the marking references didn't match your handbook, possibly due to it being an IEMA practice exam,"

    Andrew
    03.05.2023
  • "Good course. Some cheeky questions in the exam which have no real connection to environment and were more like HR questions around ethics and diversity"

    Andrew
    03.05.2023
  • "Good communication with info sent in a timely manner"

    13.04.2023
  • "An interesting course with good and relevant content"

    13.04.2023