When to use this guide
- Commissioning or planning construction, maintenance, refurbishment or demolition work.
- Coordinating design risks or appointing a project with more than one contractor.
- Preparing construction-phase arrangements and information needed for future work.
What to check
Use these prompts with the responsible project team. Ticking a box does not certify compliance.
You can tick these prompts while reviewing the project.
Keep these records
- CDM appointments, competence enquiries and pre-construction information.
- Design-risk decisions and the current construction phase plan.
- Relevant notification, site arrangements and health-and-safety file handover records.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a non-notifiable or domestic project has no CDM duties.
- Using one unexplained principal-designer title for two different statutory regimes.
When to get specialist help
Resolve missing appointments, inadequate pre-construction information or unsafe construction arrangements with the client and competent CDM advisers before affected work starts.
Scope and edition
Sources reviewed 17 October 2026. CDM 2015 applies in Great Britain, including England. Check the current instrument, domestic-client transfers, appointment triggers and notification criteria separately.
Use the official source to check the current text, amendments not yet incorporated, commencement and project-specific transition. A published future edition is not automatically the rule applying to your work.
Official sources
- CDM Regulations 2015 — latest available legislationGreat Britain construction health-and-safety law; role and domestic-client provisions.https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/51/contents
- HSE: CDM responsibilitiesPractical role-by-role duties for construction projects.https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/responsibilities.htm
- HSE: CDM legal requirements summaryApplication, structure and official supporting guidance.https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/legal.htm
Source links lead to external official websites. We provide original explanatory notes and do not reproduce paid standards.
About this library
Independent, plain-English reference notes by Saeed Azarshab. The library covers the 42 subjects listed here; it is not every law affecting construction, an official government publication or a project-specific compliance decision. Building Regulations, Approved Documents, workplace safety duties and planning permissions have different roles.
Editorial source review: . Check the current official text, commencement dates, outstanding amendments and transitional arrangements before relying on a requirement. Publication date is not necessarily the date a rule applies. A relevant competent professional or authority must resolve project-specific questions.
Sources and lawful reuse
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated. These are original practical summaries, with links to the official material. No government endorsement is implied. We do not host copies of proprietary BS, ISO or Eurocode standards, third-party diagrams or publisher layouts. Check each source’s rights notice before reuse.
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