Principal Designer
Planning, managing and coordinating health and safety through the pre-construction phase, appointed by the client as early as the project allows.
Services
Construction & CDM
Construction is still one of the most hazardous industries to work in. The decisions that keep people safe are mostly made before anyone arrives on site.
Safety Advisors has a construction health and safety team for clients, principal contractors, designers and contractors. We know the build, and we know the duties. Advice stays proportionate: enough to control the real risks, without burying a project in paperwork that nobody will use.
The practice has carried out the Principal Designer role, and CDM consultancy, across a wide range of projects since 2009. We can also cover holidays and sickness when your own advisor is away and the project cannot pause.
How we can help
CDM consultant
Support for principal designers and project teams: the brief, the pre-construction information, design risk, and the health and safety file.
Construction phase plans
Health and safety plans written for the work that is actually going to happen on site.
Temporary fire management
Fire strategies for the construction phase, when the finished building precautions are not yet there.
CDM 2015 compliance
Help meeting the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, including coordination between designers.
Site inspections
Visits that look at how the plan is being followed, not only at whether the plan exists.
Accident investigation
Investigations on construction projects, with findings the team can use on the next shift.
Training and cover
Construction health and safety training, and consultant cover when a key person is away.
Questions we are often asked
Who is a Principal Designer?
An organisation or an individual appointed by a commercial or domestic client to plan, manage and coordinate health and safety during the pre-construction phase. A principal designer does not have to carry out the design work itself.
Why does the appointment matter?
Design decisions taken before work starts have a lasting effect on whether a project can be built, used and maintained safely. The principal designer works with the client and the principal contractor, and coordinates the team so that significant, foreseeable risks are dealt with in the design.
When should a client appoint one?
As early as possible. Waiting until the design is settled leaves the dangerous decisions already made.
Which projects need a Principal Designer?
A client must appoint a principal designer when the project involves, or is likely to involve, more than one contractor.
Can Safety Advisors take the role?
Yes. The practice has extensive experience as Principal Designer and as CDM consultant, and has worked in that capacity on a wide range of projects since 2009.
Tell us what you are dealing with.
Call the team or send a note. A consultant will come back to you.