CDM Dutyholders and the Project Lifecycle
Client, designer, principal designer, principal contractor, contractor and worker duties from concept through handover.
How to prepare for the CITB MAP test
Build manager-level decisions around role, prevention, coordination, verification and learning rather than memorising isolated site rules.
Core concepts
Concept 1
CDM 2015 integrates health and safety from design and pre-construction planning through construction, use, maintenance and demolition.
Exam cue: Identify the project phase and number of contractors before assigning principal roles.
Concept 2
Clients make suitable management arrangements and appoint principal dutyholders where more than one contractor is involved.
Exam cue: Eliminate foreseeable risk through design and communicate significant residual risk.
Concept 3
Information flows through pre-construction information, the construction phase plan and the health and safety file as applicable.
Exam cue: Coordinate dutyholders instead of treating documents as the objective.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Assuming only notifiable projects are subject to CDM.
Guardrail: Do not solve a design, engineering or organisational failure only with a briefing, warning sign or PPE.
Appointing a principal designer or contractor without checking capability and resources.
Guardrail: Do not solve a design, engineering or organisational failure only with a briefing, warning sign or PPE.
Producing generic documents that do not manage the actual project.
Guardrail: Do not solve a design, engineering or organisational failure only with a briefing, warning sign or PPE.
Memory anchors
CDM Covers the Lifecycle
Manage foreseeable construction, use, maintenance and demolition risks from the start.
Client Makes Arrangements
Allow time and resources, provide information and ensure suitable management.
More Than One Contractor
The client appoints a principal designer and principal contractor in writing.
Design Out Risk
Designers eliminate foreseeable hazards and reduce or communicate what remains.
Plan, Manage, Monitor, Coordinate
Principal dutyholders control their respective pre-construction and construction phases.
Information Must Travel
Provide useful pre-construction information, a live construction plan and relevant health and safety file.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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