When Did You Appoint Your Principal Designer
- Paul Scanlon
- Jul 30
- 1 min read
When did you appoint your Principal Designer — at concept, or once the drawings were already done?
Timing is where most client compliance gaps begin.
Regulation 5 requires the client to appoint the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor as early as possible — and the Principal Designer before the construction phase begins.
The reason is practical, not procedural.
The Principal Designer's value is in the pre-construction phase, designing risk out before it reaches site.
Appoint them late and the decisions that matter — layout, sequencing, buildability, residual risk — have already been made by someone else.
At that point the appointment is a paper exercise. The influence is gone.
We regularly see Principal Designers brought in after planning, or worse, once the contractor is mobilising. The duty is technically met. The protection is not.
Early appointment is the cheapest risk control on the project. Late appointment is the most expensive one to unwind.
On your next project, what is the latest point you would accept appointing your Principal Designer — and why that late?
Get your free Client Guide to CDM 2015 here: cdm2015.co.uk/resource-download
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