Royal Institute of British Architects

CDM REGULATIONS 2015

Briefing note no.2:
The Principal Designer role and its duties

What is the Principal Designer?

The Principal Designer is:

 appointed by the client in writing on projects with more than one contractor;

 a member of the design team;

 a designer or designers - a person or organisation that prepares designs and/or

specifies products for use in construction – with control over the pre-construction
phase of the project as well as the necessary skills, knowledge and experience that
individual designers must have; and

 an individual or organisation with sufficient knowledge and experience to carry out

the role.

The HSE is clear that designers have a strong impact on early decisions and these can have a
fundamental effect on the health and safety aspects of a project. The early influence and
engagement of designers is therefore important.

Furthermore, as these decisions are developed, it is the designer that can ensure that health
and safety aspects of the design are maintained. The designer juggles with many parameters
as the design develops; it is their ability to keep the conflicting issues in balance, and
ultimately result in a solution, that makes them ideal to be at the centre of pre-construction
consideration of health and safety.

The HSE clearly acknowledges that in tackling all the issues involved residual risks will
remain in designs. These need to be identified and if possible sensible solutions for their
neutralisation explained, but as a very minimum they must be explained to those on site or
who will use the project. It is important to note that the duties of the principal designer are
governed by a process of so far as is reasonably practicable.

An architect acting as principal designer may also have duties as a designer in relation to the
architectural design of the project.

© Royal Institute of British Architects Page 1 of 3

Principal designers will have:

 technical knowledge of the construction industry relevant to the project; and

 experience to manage and coordinate the pre-construction phase and any design
work after construction begins.

Principal designers are required to

 plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety during the pre-construction
phase;

 ensure the team work to reduce risks, coordinate information, and generate solutions
for construction, maintenance and cleaning that are as risk fee and obvious as
possible;

 generate and organise information for the health and safety file and hand this over at
the end of their commission;

 organise and ensure circulation of all pre-existing information on the project; and

 ensure that coherent pre-construction information regarding the project both prior to
the current work and as generated by the team is handed over to the principal
contractor.

The Principal Designer – myth busting:

The principal designer is not a replacement for the CDM-C; it is a new role.

The principal designer duties are over seen by a principle of so far as reasonably practicable and
are therefore not absolute obligations.

The principal designer role is not excessively complex, nor does it involve an overly onerous
set of tasks for an experienced designer.

The principal designer role is not about an endless round of administration, but rather a
practical, design-based focus on real risk prevention in relation to health and safety.

The principal designer role is not something designers and in particular architects should shy
away from. On more complex projects, architects may wish to appoint a specialist Health
and Safety Adviser to advise and assist them in discharging their duties as principal designer.

Does the architect have to undertake the Principal Designer role?

No, but the principal designer must be a designer with meaningful responsibility and
authority over the co-ordination of the pre-construction phase design. While this role can be
undertaken by any of the designers on the project design team who can control the pre-

© Royal Institute of British Architects Page 2 of 3

construction phase of the project, the architect or lead designer would appear to be the
natural choice for the role on most building projects.

Are there Professional Indemnity implications for architects undertaking the

Principal Designer role?

The RIBA Insurance Agency has confirmed that practices will need to declare to their
insurers that they are offering principal designer services. PI insurance premiums are affected
by claims records, experience, sectors of work, turnover and services, and all professional
services carry liabilities. The risk profile for principal designer services is not significantly
different to that of architects acting as lead designers or project leads, and it is not anticipated
that it will have any significant effect on premiums for RIBA Insurance Agency policies.

Can architects charge additional fees for Principal Designer services?

There are specific duties to be undertaken by the principal designer and it is therefore an
additional service/role beyond the core architectural designer role. Architects acting as
principal designers will need to ensure that they have adequate resources and expertise to
discharge the duties. This will need to be covered by an appropriate professional fee and be
specified as a role to be undertaken in the schedules of services in the architect’s appointment
agreement.

© Royal Institute of British Architects Page 3 of 3