Risk, Health and Safety Information

Recession has made CDM clients king                                    

The economic downturn has chipped away at the confidence of some contractors, designers and CDM coordinators, who are now less prepared to challenge clients over project demands than they might have been when the economy was in good shape.

This is one of the key findings from a major evaluation of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, carried out on behalf of the HSE by Frontline Consultants.

When the Regulations came into force in April 2007, it was agreed that, following a period of operation, they would be evaluated to establish: to what extent they had met their objectives; and the cost implications for the construction industry of compliance. Completion of the evaluation by April 2012 was also a recommendation of the Löfstedt Report, which emphasised the need for a clearer expression of duties, a reduction of bureaucracy, and tailored guidance for small projects.

According to the report’s authors, the results of the evaluation show that:

• CDM 2007 has gone a long way to meeting its objectives, but some concerns remain within the industry;
• construction design, management and site practices have improved between 2006 and 2010;
• a cost impact was associated with CDM 2007, but respondents rated the benefits obtained higher than the costs; and
• industry practice was found to have a significant influence on how CDM 2007 is implemented.

On this final point, the report emphasises the negative impact of the recession on good practice. Industry stakeholders questioned as part of the evaluation told the researchers that when tendering for work, offering the lowest price was often more important than having specific competence.

Respondents also noted that both budgets and timescales were being reduced as part of the procurement process and, as a result, effort was being focused primarily on the core activities of ‘getting the work done’, rather than the values expressed in CDM of coordination and cooperation.

“In the current economic climate, purchasers have the upper hand,” the report’s authors concluded. “This can lead to contractors, designers and coordinators being unwilling to challenge a client’s demands. As a result, actions can be implemented that are not compatible with either the spirit or letter of CDM 2007 – for example, starting work without the appointment of a coordinator, or starting work on site without the required pre­construction information, or planning.

The report also highlights that CDM has had little effect on reducing paperwork and bureaucracy – despite one of the legislation’s key objectives being to simplify the assessment of competence for both individuals and organisations.

Respondents expressed concerns about the proliferation of competence assessment schemes, specifically that:

• both the registration fees and the time taken to complete the registration process were too much of a burden;
• where procurers specified the need for organisations to be registered with a particular scheme, they would not accept registration with an alternative
• scheme as evidence that the competence requirements had been met; and
• further submissions need to be completed every year or so to keep the registration live – costing more time and money.

Concerns were also expressed that some organisations were trying to use clauses in contracts to wriggle out of their CDM responsibilities – seemingly unaware that the requirements of CDM 2007 are based in criminal law and outweigh any requirements in contracts between duty-holders.

The report makes no recommendations for changes to CDM 2007, but the HSE notes that the evidence it contains will inform policy development in this area.