Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Organising for safety
55
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Any relevant British/European standard, e.g. BS 
5839 Part 1/fi re detection and fi re alarm sys-
tems in buildings.
3.9.2 Construction Phase plan
A Construction Phase plan is essentially a collection of 
information about the signifi cant health, safety, environ-
mental and fi re risks of the project. The plan will initially 
be based upon information provided by the client, the 
designer and the coordinator’s own assessment of the 
risks inherent in the project, and will provide the health 
and safety management plan during the construction 
phase.
The initial plan
should include:
➤
A general description of the nature of the project 
and intended completion times
➤
Information regarding the existing structure and 
environment. This will include fi re hazard information 
from the client
➤
Details of the organisation for fi re safety manage-
ment and liaison during the project
➤
Details of signifi cant risks which cannot be avoided 
at the design stage and any fi re risks created by the 
design or specifi cation of the structure
➤
Information regarding the overlap with the client’s 
undertaking including the arrangements for fi re 
emergency and any other site rules laid down by the 
client, e.g. smoking policy
➤
Other safety information, e.g. means of escape in 
case of fi re and fi re fi ghting facilities, signage rating 
to the arrangements for highly fl ammable liquids and 
liquefi ed petroleum gases.
This will amount to a list of hazards for which the princi-
pal contractor must develop suitable control measures.
Health and safety fi le
The CDM coordinator has the legal duty under CDM to 
ensure that the health and safety fi le is compiled for the 
completed building and mechanical and electrical serv-
ices, etc. within. The fi le is then handed to the client on 
completion of the project. The client must then ensure 
that the fi le is kept safe and is available for any inter-
ested party in the future.
The purpose of the health and safety fi le is to 
provide all of the relevant details regarding the structure 
and services, etc. within to anyone who in the future 
may be carrying out further construction work, repairs, 
maintenance or refurbishment of the building or facility.
The precise content of the fi le will depend upon the 
nature and complexity of the structure. However, the 
information contained in the fi le will be provided in part 
by the designer and in part by the principal contractor 
and, in reality, it may well be that the bulk of the work in 
compiling the fi le will be done by the principal contractor 
as they will be in fi rst capture of the information.