© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
Homeowners who are planning to commision building projects must now ensure they use a contractor that adheres to new construction rules.
Changes to the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) come into effect on April 6. This piece of legislation aims to reduce accidents during construction projects via good design, planning and co-operation, and also specifies legal requirements on site safety standards and for the provision of welfare facilities such as access to toilets.
If homeowners - including those having work carried out within their own flats - fail to ensure the new regulations are met by contractors on site, it could affect the sale of the property. This type of work will commonly require consent from the Freeholder usually in the form of a formal document called a Licence to Alter. Freeholders and their professional advisors should therefore be alert to the new regulations when considering, supervising and inspecting such alterations.
By contrast, the management of common parts is a business so those clients commissioning construction work (and the definition includes redecoration) have responsibilities as commercial clients.
The new regulations apply to all construction work but for people who have work undertaken on their own homes duties normally falling to commercial clients are allocated to the (principal) contractor.
Under the new regulations, all builders working in the domestic sector, will have to create a construction phase safety plan for all building projects. In addition, all domestic projects will have to meet the same basic standards for the provision of welfare facilities as commercial projects.
Any domestic projects finishing after April 6, where there has been more than one contractor, must have a health and safety file presented at the end. The health and safety file is a handover pack, which should include “as built” drawings or specifications of components that have been installed.
For homeowners, CDM duties are passed to the contractor where there is only one or the principal contractor for more than one. Where there is more than one contractor, a principal designer must also be appointed and they coordinate all matters relating to health and safety. If the principal designer changes or is not engaged to the end, the responsibility for the file moves on and may rest finally with the principal contractor. The principal contractor is responsible for operational site safety and passing information to the principal designer for the health and safety file.
Louise Hosking, managing director at health, safety and environmental specialist, Hosking Associates, said: "The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) commissioned a report last year that showed very few homeowners consider safety when they choose their contractor and this may have to change. For some projects a health and safety file, which outlines how the work was undertaken and what was installed, will be required at the end of the work and if this isn’t provided it could affect the future sale of the property.
"If homeowners make it very difficult for their contractor or designer to comply, they could become responsible if this leads to an accident. Health and safety offences that lead to death or significant personal harm can result in unlimited fines and imprisonment for those who made decisions or failed to make the decisions that led to this. Homeowners should therefore choose their contractors wisely, and push for the health and safety file."