8.—(1) A designer (including a principal designer) or contractor (including a principal contractor) appointed to work on a project must have the skills, knowledge and experience, and, if they are an organisation, the organisational capability, necessary to fulfil the role that they are appointed to undertake, in a manner that secures the health and safety of any person affected by the project.
(2) A designer or contractor must not accept an appointment to a project unless they fulfil the conditions in paragraph (1).
(3) A person who is responsible for appointing a designer or contractor to carry out work on a project must take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the designer or contractor fulfils the conditions in paragraph (1).
(4) A person with a duty or function under these Regulations must cooperate with any other person working on or in relation to a project, at the same or an adjoining construction site, to the extent necessary to enable any person with a duty or function to fulfil that duty or function.
(5) A person working on a project under the control of another must report to that person anything they are aware of in relation to the project which is likely to endanger their own health or safety or that of others.
(6) Any person who is required by these Regulations to provide information or instruction must ensure the information or instruction is comprehensible and provided as soon as is practicable.
(7) To the extent that they are applicable to a domestic client, the duties in paragraphs (3), (4) and (6) must be carried out by the person specified in regulation 7(1).
9.—(1) A designer must not commence work in relation to a project unless satisfied that the client is aware of the duties owed by the client under these Regulations.
(2) When preparing or modifying a design the designer must take into account the general principles of prevention and any pre-construction information to eliminate, so far as is reasonably practicable, foreseeable risks to the health or safety of any person—
(a)carrying out or liable to be affected by construction work;
(b)maintaining or cleaning a structure; or
(c)using a structure designed as a workplace.
(3) If it is not possible to eliminate these risks, the designer must, so far as is reasonably practicable—
(a)take steps to reduce or, if that is not possible, control the risks through the subsequent design process;
(b)provide information about those risks to the principal designer; and
(c)ensure appropriate information is included in the health and safety file.
(4) A designer must take all reasonable steps to provide, with the design, sufficient information about the design, construction or maintenance of the structure, to adequately assist the client, other designers and contractors to comply with their duties under these Regulations.
10.—(1) Where a design is prepared or modified outside Great Britain for use in construction work to which these Regulations apply—
(a)the person who commissions it, if established within Great Britain; or
(b)if that person is not so established, the client for the project,
must ensure that regulation 9 is complied with.
(2) This regulation does not apply to a domestic client.
11.—(1) The principal designer must plan, manage and monitor the pre-construction phase and coordinate matters relating to health and safety during the pre-construction phase to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the project is carried out without risks to health or safety.
(2) In fulfilling the duties in paragraph (1), and in particular when—
(a)design, technical and organisational aspects are being decided in order to plan the various items or stages of work which are to take place simultaneously or in succession; and
(b)estimating the period of time required to complete such work or work stages,
the principal designer must take into account the general principles of prevention and, where relevant, the content of any construction phase plan and any health and safety file.
(3) In fulfilling the duties in paragraph (1), the principal designer must identify and eliminate or control, so far as is reasonably practicable, foreseeable risks to the health or safety of any person—
(a)carrying out or liable to be affected by construction work;
(b)maintaining or cleaning a structure; or
(c)using a structure designed as a workplace.
(4) In fulfilling the duties in paragraph (1), the principal designer must ensure all designers comply with their duties in regulation 9.
(5) In fulfilling the duty to coordinate health and safety matters in paragraph (1), the principal designer must ensure that all persons working in relation to the pre-construction phase cooperate with the client, the principal designer and each other.
(6) The principal designer must—
(a)assist the client in the provision of the pre-construction information required by regulation 4(4); and
(b)so far as it is within the principal designer's control, provide pre-construction information, promptly and in a convenient form, to every designer and contractor appointed, or being considered for appointment, to the project.
(7) The principal designer must liaise with the principal contractor for the duration of the principal designer's appointment and share with the principal contractor information relevant to the planning, management and monitoring of the construction phase and the coordination of health and safety matters during the construction phase.
12.—(1) During the pre-construction phase, and before setting up a construction site, the principal contractor must draw up a construction phase plan, or make arrangements for a construction phase plan to be drawn up.
(2) The construction phase plan must set out the health and safety arrangements and site rules taking account, where necessary, of the industrial activities taking place on the construction site and, where applicable, must include specific measures concerning work which falls within one or more of the categories set out in Schedule 3.
(3) The principal designer must assist the principal contractor in preparing the construction phase plan by providing to the principal contractor all information the principal designer holds that is relevant to the construction phase plan including—
(a)pre-construction information obtained from the client;
(b)any information obtained from designers under regulation 9(3)(b).
(4) Throughout the project the principal contractor must ensure that the construction phase plan is appropriately reviewed, updated and revised from time to time so that it continues to be sufficient to ensure that construction work is carried out, so far as is reasonably practicable, without risks to health or safety.
(5) During the pre-construction phase, the principal designer must prepare a health and safety file appropriate to the characteristics of the project which must contain information relating to the project which is likely to be needed during any subsequent project to ensure the health and safety of any person.
(6) The principal designer must ensure that the health and safety file is appropriately reviewed, updated and revised from time to time to take account of the work and any changes that have occurred.
(7) During the project, the principal contractor must provide the principal designer with any information in the principal contractor's possession relevant to the health and safety file, for inclusion in the health and safety file.
(8) If the principal designer's appointment concludes before the end of the project, the principal designer must pass the health and safety file to the principal contractor.
(9) Where the health and safety file is passed to the principal contractor under paragraph (8), the principal contractor must ensure that the health and safety file is appropriately reviewed, updated and revised from time to time to take account of the work and any changes that have occurred.
(10) At the end of the project, the principal designer, or where there is no principal designer the principal contractor, must pass the health and safety file to the client.
13.—(1) The principal contractor must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase and coordinate matters relating to health and safety during the construction phase to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, construction work is carried out without risks to health or safety.
(2) In fulfilling the duties in paragraph (1), and in particular when—
(a)design, technical and organisational aspects are being decided in order to plan the various items or stages of work which are to take place simultaneously or in succession; and
(b)estimating the period of time required to complete the work or work stages,
the principal contractor must take into account the general principles of prevention.
(3) The principal contractor must—
(a)organise cooperation between contractors (including successive contractors on the same construction site);
(b)coordinate implementation by the contractors of applicable legal requirements for health and safety; and
(c)ensure that employers and, if necessary for the protection of workers, self-employed persons—
(i)apply the general principles of prevention in a consistent manner, and in particular when complying with the provisions of Part 4; and
(ii)where required, follow the construction phase plan.
(4) The principal contractor must ensure that—
(a)a suitable site induction is provided;
(b)the necessary steps are taken to prevent access by unauthorised persons to the construction site; and
(c)facilities that comply with the requirements of Schedule 2 are provided throughout the construction phase.
(5) The principal contractor must liaise with the principal designer for the duration of the principal designer's appointment and share with the principal designer information relevant to the planning, management and monitoring of the pre-construction phase and the coordination of health and safety matters during the pre-construction phase.
14. The principal contractor must—
(a)make and maintain arrangements which will enable the principal contractor and workers engaged in construction work to cooperate effectively in developing, promoting and checking the effectiveness of measures to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the workers;
(b)consult those workers or their representatives in good time on matters connected with the project which may affect their health, safety or welfare, in so far as they or their representatives have not been similarly consulted by their employer;
(c)ensure that those workers or their representatives can inspect and take copies of any information which the principal contractor has, or which these Regulations require to be provided to the principal contractor, which relate to the health, safety or welfare of workers at the site, except any information—
(i)the disclosure of which would be against the interests of national security;
(ii)which the principal contractor could not disclose without contravening a prohibition imposed by or under an enactment;
(iii)relating specifically to an individual, unless that individual has consented to its being disclosed;
(iv)the disclosure of which would, for reasons other than its effect on health, safety or welfare at work, cause substantial injury to the principal contractor's undertaking or, where the information was supplied to the principal contractor by another person, to the undertaking of that other person;
(v)obtained by the principal contractor for the purpose of bringing, prosecuting or defending any legal proceedings.
15.—(1) A contractor must not carry out construction work in relation to a project unless satisfied that the client is aware of the duties owed by the client under these Regulations.
(2) A contractor must plan, manage and monitor construction work carried out either by the contractor or by workers under the contractor's control, to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, it is carried out without risks to health and safety.
(3) Where there is more than one contractor working on a project, a contractor must comply with—
(a)any directions given by the principal designer or the principal contractor; and
(b)the parts of the construction phase plan that are relevant to that contractor's work on the project.
(4) If there is only one contractor working on the project, the contractor must take account of the general principles of prevention when—
(a)design, technical and organisational aspects are being decided in order to plan the various items or stages of work which are to take place simultaneously or in succession; and
(b)estimating the period of time required to complete the work or work stages.
(5) If there is only one contractor working on the project, the contractor must draw up a construction phase plan, or make arrangements for a construction phase plan to be drawn up, as soon as is practicable prior to setting up a construction site.
(6) The construction phase plan must fulfil the requirements of regulation 12(2).
(7) A contractor must not employ or appoint a person to work on a construction site unless that person has, or is in the process of obtaining, the necessary skills, knowledge, training and experience to carry out the tasks allocated to that person in a manner that secures the health and safety of any person working on the construction site.
(8) A contractor must provide each worker under their control with appropriate supervision, instructions and information so that construction work can be carried out, so far as is reasonably practicable, without risks to health and safety.
(9) The information provided must include—
(a)a suitable site induction, where not already provided by the principal contractor;
(b)the procedures to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to health and safety;
(c)information on risks to health and safety—
(i)identified by the risk assessment under regulation 3 of the Management Regulations; or
(ii)arising out of the conduct of another contractor's undertaking and of which the contractor in control of the worker ought reasonably to be aware; and
(d)any other information necessary to enable the worker to comply with the relevant statutory provisions.
(10) A contractor must not begin work on a construction site unless reasonable steps have been taken to prevent access by unauthorised persons to that site.
(11) A contractor must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the requirements of Schedule 2 are complied with so far as they affect the contractor or any worker under that contractor's control.