Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

d) Principal Contractor
The role of Principal Contractor (PC), introduced when 
CDM94 came into force, and was built on the long-
standing role of main or managing contractor and did 
not, therefore, require any substantial changes in indus-
try practice. Because of this, as a role it has worked fairly 
well since CDM94 came into force, and has not changed 
signifi cantly in CDM07.
The only substantial change is to make explicit, 
in the Regulations, the PC’s key role in managing the 
construction phase, to ensure that it is carried out, so far 
as is reasonably practicable, safely and without risk to 
health. This does not mean that the PC has to manage 
the work of contractors in detail – that is the contract-
ors’ own responsibility. They do have to make sure that 
they themselves are competent to address the health 
and safety issues likely to be involved in the manage-
ment of the construction phase; satisfy themselves that 
the designers and contractors that they engage are 
competent and adequately resourced; and ensure that 
the construction phase is properly planned, managed 
and monitored, with adequately resourced, competent 
site management appropriate to the risk and activity.
The HSC did not feel it was necessary, legally or 
otherwise, to specify in CDM2007 that the PC must 
be a contractor. In over 90% of projects, contractors 
discharge the role of PC and those with contractor’s 
experience and expertise are most likely to have the 
competence and resources to manage the work. The 
HSC believed that few clients have the competence or 
resources to manage signifi cant construction work and 
do not want to encourage them to do so, although there 
is nothing to prevent this if they are competent – which 
is most likely in simple, low-risk projects.
e) Contractors
The only substantive change regarding contractors is to 
make explicit their own duty to plan, manage and moni-
tor their own work. The intention is that the management 
duties on PCs and contractors should complement one 
another, with the contractor’s duty focusing on their own 
work and the PC’s on the co-ordination of the work of 
the various contractors.

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