Appointments and Regulations

The appointment of a Principal Designer (PD BR) is required on all construction projects, regardless of size. 

Under both the CDM Regulations and Building Regulations a construction client must appoint in writing both a designer with control over the design work as the Principal Designer; and a contractor with control over the building work as Principal Contractor. 

In relation to our services and appointment as Principal Designer under the Building Regulations the legislation requires that regardless of whether the appointment lies with an organisation or not a ‘designated individual’ must be nominated to manage its functions and therefore be ultimately responsible for discharging the duties as Principal Designer. Director David McKellar is the named, designated individual, at HMH Architects for all Principal Designer appointments under both the Building Regulations and CDM 2015.

​​Under the The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (BRAE), prior to accepting any appointment as a designer, including Principal Designer, we must demonstrate we are competent in undertaking the complexities in the design of the project assigned. PSI PAS 8671:2022 provides the framework for assessing the competence of Principal Designers and is aligned with BSI Flex 8670. This includes the core competence criteria relevant to all Principal Designers and is set out in four categories; Behavioural competence, Legislative and regulatory framework for compliance, Management of design work compliance and Technical framework for compliance.
 
We have published our own Practice Competency document which we issue to clients before every appointment. This is fully aligned with PAS 8671 and BSI Flex 8670 and demonstrates our competency, experience and organisational capability to undertake the role of BR and CDM PD.

​Principal Designer (Building Regulations)

Our understanding of the core criteria for building safety ensures we are competent in conducting our Principal Designer duties and services effectively. These include the design and coordination of fire safety, structural safety and public safety; managing building safety and design risk management; management and communication of design teams and information; specification of building systems, construction products and materials.

In regard to BR risk management, we assess your brief, any key project outcomes and programme priorities, as well as the other designer’s competence and organisational capability and how this could impact on the safety outcomes and compliance of the design to Building Regulations. Any gaps in competency will be highlighted so the appropriate action can be taken. Throughout the design process we use our BR Tracker to monitor the relevant requirements and regularly review design information to ensure we are also compliant with the regulations.

BR Principal Designer role
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Principal Designer Services:

• Plan, manage and monitor design work of the design team. Ensuring there is good communication, coordination and collaboration between design team members so that the project can comply with regulations.
• Coordinate matters relating to the design work comprised in the project so that all​ reasonable steps are taken to ensure that the design is such that if the building work to which the design relates were built in accordance with that design the building work would be in compliance with all relevant requirements.
• Liaise with the Principal Contractor, sharing information relevant to the planning, management and monitoring of the building work and the coordination of building work and design work for the purpose of ensuring compliance with all relevant requirements.
• Assist the client in providing information to other designs and contractors, where requested to do so.​

Principal Designer (CDM)

The new Building Regulations legislation aligns the naming of its duty holder roles with that of CDM 2015. The intention from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was that both roles would be carried out by the same organisation with overall control of the design. The changes written into CDM 2015 legislation intended to place Health and Safety at the heart of the design process. As such, a ‘non-active designer’, may not be suitably qualified to ‘plan, manage, monitor and co-ordinate design work to demonstrate compliance with the Building Regulations and CDM 2015. 

In carrying out our role as Architects we have a specialist and in-depth knowledge of the building regulations and its practical implementation. We therefore feel strongly that this CDM function is already at the heart an Architect’s role; now it is just formalised further in legislation. A lead designer, who also has Health and Safety in their control, provides great benefit to the client and the project overall as issues that may otherwise arise later in the design process can be avoided. We are vastly experienced in performing a dual role as Architects and Principal Designers.

In doing so, we feel we save the client time, money and provide a more coordinated and efficient service than if each were to be performed by separate organisations.

Our approach is to identify site hazards early in the design process, captured on site drawings. This is aligned with the ‘CDM Differently’ approach, backed by the Construction Industry Council and developed in collaboration with the RIBA and ICE. It is based on a Design Risk Management methodology, encouraging collaborative and integrated working, with a particular focus on project specific issues. ‘CDM Differently’ discourages too much narrative and encourages the use of visual information in a combination of annotated drawings, sketches, images, photographs and diagrams which clearly explain the significant CDM issues and their context. The tolerability of each significant issue is established and noted for future reference. We provide pre-construction information in a report including health and safety annotation of the working drawings. Project specific information is therefore conveyed to the contractor clearly and concisely, as opposed to a spreadsheet of generic information where often important information is lost.