New regulations for construction and design professionals

The new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 have been introduced to raise the level of professional competence and accountability in public sector contracts.

Councils must now ensure that their proposed CDM coordinator, designers, principal contractor and contractors are competent, adequately resourced and appointed early enough for the work they have to do. In turn, these professionals must assess their own competency as they cannot accept an appointment unless they are competent to do so.

The new competency test will also bite on any appointment of a planning supervisor or principal contractor under the old 1994 Regulations. Unless that appointment was terminated or a new appointment agreed it is immediately transformed into an appointment as CDM Co-ordinator or principal contractor under the 2007 Regulations.

However, transitional provisions allow one year for such parties to become competent in accordance with the 2007 Regulations and for clients to take reasonable steps to check their competence. This period expires on 5 April 2008.

The Health and Safety Executive can bring prosecutions against clients who have failed to assess, or have not properly assessed, either the competency of those they appoint or those previously appointed under the 1994 Regulations, and to which the 2007 Regulations now apply.

Actions can also be brought against those duty holders who have taken on an appointment and are not competent to do so (including those originally appointed under the old 1994 Regulations who have failed to achieve the new standards required by the 2007 Regulations).

The crucial importance of ensuring compliance with the CDM Regulations is underlined by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Under the new Act, organisations including local authorities may be guilty of corporate manslaughter where a management failure causes a person's death.

Wragge & Co's construction and reulated litigation experts have compiled an analysis of how competence should be assessed under the new regulations and more about the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.