Essential CDM 2015 Regulatory Guides UK for Construction Projects

Most Clients Don't Realise… You are commissioning an office fit-out. No groundworks. No structural changes. No demolition. Is CDM 2015 relevant?

Under CDM 2015, the client is not a passive commissioner. They are a duty holder. That distinction matters. It means the client cannot simply hand the project to a contractor and step back.

One of the most common questions we get asked is: "We've appointed a CDM consultant — are we covered now?" The short answer is no.

You have used the same contractor for three projects. You trust them. You know their team. Under CDM 2015, that is not the same as having checked their competence for this project.

Pre-construction information is not a nice-to-have. It is a legal duty. Many clients treat it as paperwork the contractor sorts out. The regulations say the opposite.

When did you appoint your Principal Designer — at concept, or once the drawings were already done? Timing is where most client compliance gaps begin.

The Golden Thread is a client responsibility. Most clients think it belongs to the contractor. Under the Building Safety Act, it is the live record of building safety information across the building's life.

There is a new client duty under the Building Safety Act, and most clients have never heard of it. It is not enough to appoint a competent Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.

Don't appoint a Principal Contractor, and the role doesn't disappear. It lands on you. This is one of the least understood consequences in CDM 2015.

Most clients receive the Health and Safety File at handover, file it, and never think about it again. That is the mistake.

The client called it "planned preventative maintenance." CDM 2015 called it construction work. HSE agreed. This is an anonymised account of how scope creep created a significant compliance gap.

"I didn't know I had any CDM duties." We hear it on almost every first call with a new client. If you commission construction work, CDM 2015 makes you a duty holder. There is no opt-out.

Welfare facilities on your construction site are not just the contractor's responsibility to sort out. Ensuring adequate welfare is a client duty under Regulation 4(4) of CDM 2015.