Build Timber Frame anywhere, with “IWS-Built” In
Following the launch of the eagerly awaited guidance from the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA), “Design guide to separating distances for buildings during construction”, Intelligent Wood Systems (IWS) are delighted to announce the launch of our tested and UKTFA approved Category B and C compliant systems. IWS holistic systems have been proven to reduce the radiant heat flux from a site fire, radically reducing required separating distances and critically enabling contractors to build IWS systems for timber frame in all environments, even in densely populated inner city developments.
IWS compliant solutions will provide peace of mind for:
- Architects – Timber Frame can be designed and built in any environment
- Builders – Category B & C compliant with only a modest increase in cost
- Timber Frame manufacturers – No need to change your current manufacturing processes
- CDM coordinators – Simple and efficient compliant solutions
- Building regulators – Industry recognisable and third party approvals
IWS supply the technology and component parts to ensure compliance with Category B and C environments for high risk projects and our solutions are available through a number of timber frame manufacturers throughout the UK.
The Resource available
For further information please download the Purple Book which is compliant with the UKTFA separation distance document or go to the IWS website. The practical, innovative and commercially sensitive solutions from IWS have been proven to deliver compliance with a single figure percentage increase, please contact IWS on 01592 630774 for a value engineered solution.
CDM Coordinators an essential piece of the Risk Management puzzle.
The construction trade have long been known for the hazardous nature of the work. In an effort to dampen down the accident rate on construction projects, the Construction Design and Management Regulations were updated to provide a more comprehensive control authority. A key part of the CDM regulations is the increased responsibilities bestowed upon CDM Coordinators.
CDM Coordinators are now placed in a more closely involved, although still advisory, role in design risk management matters than ever before. This allows them to get an overview on the implementation of all necessary measures for worker health and safety on a construction project before work commences. With the ability to direct attention to missing resources and incomplete arrangements in a timely manner long before physical labour begins, CDM Coordinators possess a sharper arrow in the quiver of workplace safety.
From a legal standpoint, the CDM Regulations are to keep health and safety concerns tied firmly to the principal contractor, so that they have a functioning interest in making certain that all subcontractors and labour are fully committed to jobsite safety during construction.
In a way, then, the decreased legal responsibility of the new CDM Coordinators as compared to their predecessors, the Planning Supervisors, has actually led to a more unified commitment to reducing injuries. Placing the construction design risk management team back on the hook again giving them a powerful incentive to pay attention to the recommendations of the CDM Coordinator. No longer is it possible to ignore the recommendations of onsite CDM Coordinators, and fob off the possible consequences on someone else.
The principal effect of the CDM regulations is therefore to put everyone back on the same team, when it comes to ensuring that large construction projects are operated with a safety first mentality. CDM Coordinators are vitally important for the client, design team and principal contractors and sub-contractors.
CDM Regulations 2007: The right advice for Clients
As a client if you are about to alter or extend a building or structure, thinking of putting up a new one or demolishing an existing one, then the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 place a number of specific duties on you. The aim of these Regulations is to make Health & Safety an essential and integral part of the planning and management of projects and to make sure that everyone works together to reduce the risk to the Health & Safety of those who work on the structure, who may be affected by these works, or who will use it as a place or work once it’s completed.
Get an instant fee quote online with our CDM Coordinators Fees calculator
The CDM regulations separate construction projects into two types – dependent on how long they take to build and how many people are involved. The two types are:
- Non-Notifiable Projects – where the project is likely to involve LESS THAN 30 days or 500 person days of construction work
- Notifiable projects – where the project is likely to involve MORE THAN 30 days or 500 person days of construction work If you are in doubt, you should assume that the project is Notifiable
The Regulations mostly require you to ensure that a number of things are done rather than actually do them yourself. On Non-Notifiable Projects you can ask a Designer or Contractor for assistance or you can appoint someone to help you. On Notifiable projects the CDM Co-ordinator is there to help you carry out those duties and will advise you throughout the project on what needs to be done.
On all projects you must
- Check competence and resources of all appointees (Designers, Contractors and other team members)
- Co operate and coordinate with others involved in the project
- Ensure there are suitable management arrangements in place throughout the project to ensure that construction work can be carried out safely
- Check any workplace design will comply with the Workplace health safety and welfare regulations.
- Allow sufficient time and resources for all stages of the project
- Provide pre-construction information to designers and contractors
- Check arrangements have been made by the contractor for suitable welfare facilities
In addition on Notifiable projects you must
- Appoint CDM co-ordinator before significant design work is carried out to advise and assist with the clients duties under the regulations.
- Provide information relating to the health and safety file to the CDM co-ordinator
- Appoint principal contractor as soon as practicable to plan and manage the construction work.
- Make sure that the construction phase does not start unless
- There are suitable welfare facilities
- A construction phase plan is in place.
- Retain the health and safety file and make it available to anyone who may need it in the future. You must also update it whenever necessary and hand it to anyone who acquires an interest in the building.
If you fail to appoint a ‘CDM Co-ordinator’ or ‘Principal Contractor’ you will be legally liable for their duties and will be deemed to be carrying them out and you could leave yourself open to potentially very expensive civil action and a criminal prosecution by the HSE.
Getting the right people to do what they are supposed to do under these regulations is important you need to be sure that those you appoint are competent and capable of carrying out their work on your particular project. Veritas Consulting Management’s CDM co-ordinators are trained and qualified in health and safety and are registered members of the Association for Project Safety. Our staff can advise and assist you in carrying out all your duties under CDM 2007.
For Further information please contact us
Practical steps that CDM Designers can take.
GOOD Designers can make a BIG difference designing OUT the risks
1) Health and safety should not be an afterthought. This is sometimes better understood by civil engineers than by designers of buildings because many civil engineering projects involve obvious and clearly defined risks. When designing a bridge to be built over a busy road the safety aspects of the operation have to be considered from the outset. There may be several ways of tackling the work. Building designers should learn to work in a similar way when choosing between design options.
2) There is no easy answer to deciding the importance that should be given to health and safety. Perhaps the best way to look at the relative weightings that could be given is to examine the consequences that will result from a choice or decision. In the end a professional judgement has to be made – it should be a decision that involves a proper exercise of judgement which takes account of health and safety issues.
3) The most important contribution a designer can make to improve health and safety often has to be made at the start of a project. Opportunities can be lost if health and safety is not considered at this early stage. Rather than looking on health and safety as a matter that can be postponed until other issues are out of the way, designers should deliberately bring consideration forward to ensure that the other issues are resolved in a way that eliminates risk so far as reasonably practicable.
4) The appropriate level of risk assessment will vary from project to project and from one operation to another. Where it is clear that there are serious hazards, a thorough study of the risks and a detailed method statement may be needed, eg when glazing is to be replaced over an active shopping mall or when explosives are to be used to open a channel through rock. The assessment may involve a detailed analysis but more often all that is appropriate is a simple judgement based on the seriousness of any incident that could result and the degree of exposure to the hazard. In a project that does not involve exceptionally hazardous operations, design reviews at key stages (eg before tender documents and working drawings are started) should help to identify hazards needing investigation. Sometimes it may be possible to avoid a hazard altogether but in many cases, where alternative methods of construction are possible, it will be necessary to assess the risks within each alternative so that safety measures can be considered and the health and safety aspects of alternatives can be taken into account.
5) There is a great deal of information in existence on construction health and safety. Although rarely written specifically for designers, much of it can be used by them when carrying out their duties under the CDM Regulations. Also of relevance is the health and safety legislation governing:
i) Materials (such as lead, asbestos and other hazardous substances
ii) activities (such as demolition or removal of contaminated soil);
iii) welfare requirements (including sanitary accommodation and first aid);
iv) environmental conditions (resulting from noise and dust);
In compliance with the above, Designers will need to have regard to :
i) the contractors who will be constructing the facility
ii) others who may be affected by the design requirements during its construction eg the public
iii) those who will have to maintain the facility
iv) those who may have to decommission/demolish the facility
As a consequence of the risk appraisal process the Designer should aim to eliminate risks, and lessen others. The significant residual risks, and information about these risks, need to be communicated by the designers to the CDM Coordinator.
CDM Coordinators will convey the information that affects the construction phase to the Principal Contractor via the Health and Safety Plan, and information that affects the maintenance or decommissioning phase to the Client via the Health and Safety File.
To help CDM Designers we have an excellent Design Risk Register if you would like us to send you a free copy please contact us.
Another article by Veritas Health and Safety Consultants and CDM Coordinators
Registered CDM Coordinators
Since the role of the CDM Coordinator began, the objective has been to ensure that efficiency is at the heart of the CDM Coordinator Services we provide, Quality in the way we approach design risk management, quality in the way we organise and conduct ourselves and, above all, doing our best to ensure that the client receives the best advice and guidance they pay for.”
It is vital we believe that the role of CDM Coordinator is one that warrants in-depth knowledge of the construction process, careful attention to detail, an ethos of assessment and recording of salient information and the desire to ensure that performance and quality are paramount.
All these qualities exist within Veritas Consulting in our daily work and add to our performance as CDM Coordinators.
Our attitude to the role is a practical one – we believe in ensuring paperwork is precise and concise. This helps site operatives and management react more readily. Our emphasis is very much on the practical effects of Health and Safety control, rather than paper for paper’s sake.
Veritas Consulting have been successfully carried out the role of CDM Coordinator on a wide range of major and minor construction projects. We have the knowledge, experience and resources necessary to ensure successful service delivery to our clients regardless of the size or complexity of the construction project.
Veritas Consulting are registered CDM Coordinators, but what does it mean to you? being registered CDM Coordinators means that we can demonstrate Design Risk Management skills and a deep knowledge of construction because we belong to The Association for Project Safety – the regulating body.
For a quotation please contact us or call 0121 249 1281
CDM Coordinators Fees – how much do they cost?
CDM Coordinator - a proactive integral member of the project delivery team and a key health and safety advisor to the client.
As client accepting low fees will increase your chances of risk management problems with your project. We believe our fee is probably the most competitive in the industry. Our costs reflects what’s necessary to carry out a full and proper CDMC function as required by the CDM Regulations and associated ACOP and industry guidance.
Get an instant fee quote online with our CDM Coordinators Fees calculator
CDM Coordinators fee typical guide - 0.1% where the build cost is between £1.5m and £5m. Fees are negotiable above £5million, whilst projects below £1.5m usually attract a fee of between £850 and £1,500.
Check out our main website for the CDM Coordinators fee sliding scale
If clients accept low fees then the following just will not happen.
What do our CDM coordinators costs allow?
- We will provide adequate resources to deliver the CDM coordinator Role.
- We will attend design team meetings,
- We will coordinate health and safety aspects of the design,
- We will liaise with principal contractors and manage pre construction information,
- We will produce health and safety files,
- We advise and assist our clients from start to finish.
It’s fair to say that the “cheapest price does not mean best value” what it means is that CDM coordinators will not be able to operate as efficiently and effectively as they should do as the key adviser to the client if the fee won’t allow them to do so.
By the way; any Designer, Architect or Engineer who recommends Veritas Consulting to their client can claim a 5% commission.
…expert CDM Coordinators Birmingham, West Midlands – learn more about the CDM C Service and make a quick online enquiry here.
CDM Competence and Resource – Can you prove it?
CDM2007 requires an assessment of the competence of organisations and individuals engaged or appointed under CDM2007. This specifically relates to those appointed as CDM co-ordinators; designers; principal contractors and contractors.
To be competent, an organisation or individual must have:-
(a) Sufficient knowledge of the specific tasks to be undertaken and the risks which the work will entail;
(b) Sufficient experience and ability to carry out their duties in relation to the project; to recognise their limitations and take appropriate action in order to prevent harm to those carrying out construction work, or those affected by the work.
(more…)
