CDM 20-20 Vision - changing the culture

Although the CDM regulations have been in force since March 1995, there is still widespread lack of knowledge, misunderstanding and misinterpretation across the Industry as to how they should be addressed on projects of varying types, size and complexity.

The Keeping Pace with Change report – ‘CDM2015 - from Compliance to Consultation and Collaboration’ (published April 2019) outlined the efforts by the major professional institutions to address the problem and embed the requirements of the latest version of the CDM Regulations (which came into force on 6th April 2015) into the practices of project teams led by architectural and engineering professionals.

The report also highlighted the difficulties that many attendees on training courses experienced in trying to apply the regulations to their diverse project environments, which do not necessarily conform to the ‘standard building project’ model with its clear contractual relationships and traditional building processes.

Probably the greatest area that creates confusion is when the work is being carried out for a domestic client but there are also many other types of construction work, where the allocation of duties is not a straightforward exercise, unless the principles underpinning the regulations are clearly understood.

The aim of this guide is to aid the understanding of CDM 2015 by using a combination of ‘model’ case studies and a list of commonly asked questions.