The HSE’s L-Series Guidance document has been eagerly awaited by the industry and the publication gives the construction industry 12 weeks to come to terms with the content and make necessary adjustments to their training, procedures and working arrangements.

Some of the changes made to the draft regulations from the consultation proposals include:

Speaking about the final draft regulations and guidance, Richard Wilks, president of APS, which represents good practice delivery by its members involved in construction health and safety risk management, said: “When the HSE issued their consultation proposals in April last year the Association raised a number of concerns with the HSE regarding the draft regulations.

“We are pleased to see that the HSE have taken on board the majority of our concerns and made material changes to the CDM Regulations that should help improve worker protection and improved standards in construction health and safety risk management. Whilst the proposed regulations will remove the role of the CDM Coordinator (CDMC), the CDMC’s duties have been distributed between the client and the new Principal Designer.

“It is clear that, for the majority of commercial projects, the Principal Designer will need to have the skills, knowledge and experience of a CDM Coordinator at their disposal if they are to discharge the role effectively and in accordance with the new regulations.”

The draft regulations will now be laid before parliament and come into force on 6th April 2015, provided that government do not object to the contents.

Further advice and guidance on the CDM 2015 Regulations can be found at www.cdm2015.org.uk