Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

17.8.6
Roles of duty holders under CDM 2007
a) Clients
The role of clients is one of the most diffi cult areas to 
cover in law, because of the vast range of interest and 
expertise in construction, and clients have real questions 
as to why they should be involved. The HSC are very 
conscious of the substantial infl uence and control that 
clients exert over construction projects in practice. For 
example they:
➤
set the tone for projects
➤
control contractual arrangements
➤
make crucial decisions (e.g. budget, time, suitabil-
ity of designs) select procurement method and con-
struction team/supply chain
➤
may have essential information about site/building.
There is a new duty on clients to ensure that suitable 
project management arrangements for health and safety 
are in place.
Clients are not expected to develop these arrange-
ments themselves and few have the expertise to do so. 
They should be able to rely on the advice and support 
of their construction team and, in particular, the CDM 
co-ordinator. What the HSC expect is for them to 
exercise their infl uence and control responsibly and with 
due regard for those who will construct, maintain and 
demolish the structure.
b) CDM Coordinator
There is widespread agreement that the role of Planning 
Supervisor, as developed under CDM94, has not proved 
as effective as intended. However, views on this tend to 
be highly polarized. The main problems are that PSs:
➤
are not seen as a natural part of the construction 
team. To be effective they need to be better inte-
grated with the rest of the design and construction 
team
➤
are often appointed too late in the project so that 
they cannot do their job
➤
frequently have to operate at a disadvantage, due to 
insuffi cient allocation of resources by the client, in 
terms both of money and time
➤
have no authority to carry out their duties unless 
the client effectively empowers them and others 
co-operate, and
➤
have, fairly or not, become the scapegoat for the 
bureaucracy linked to CDM.
To address these points CDM 2007:
➤
creates a new function – the CDM co-ordinator – to 
advise and assist the client

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