Construction (Design and Management)

Occasional guidance note

The water industry maintains a large volume of infrastructure and is constantly seeking new ways to meet customer demands and expectations. As such it is the client for some of the UK's largest construction companies.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) state the aims of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) as being to improve health and safety by aiding sensible planning of work so that the risks involved are managed from start to finish, ensuring that the right people for the right job at the right time cooperate and coordinate with each other, that they have the right information and communicate to those who need to know; consulting and engaging with workers about the risks and how they are being managed. It was felt that the application of the regulations was clear for capital expenditure projects within the
industry but less well defined for maintenance activities that could, under some interpretations, be classed under the general heading of construction as defined by the regulations. An industry agreement as to how CDM should be applied was required.

This document, developed by health and safety professionals within the water industry and endorsed by Water UK, represents the industry perspective on the 2015 regulations and how they apply to everyday activities within our industry such as maintenance, work on third party client projects and the application in emergency situations.

Please note that this document is managed by the Water UK policy team, and not the Water UK Standards Board.