Getting your career started with a CDM Course

The CDM Regulations, otherwise known as the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 are aimed at making health and safety an inseparable component of projects within the construction industry. The CDM regulations ensure that health and safety is a paramount consideration when designing, constructing and managing projects.

There are three types of CDM courses available to meet the differing needs of candidates working in the construction industry.

Option 1 – Introductory Level Course

The first CDM course is the introductory level course. Usually running over a single day, these courses are often known as overviews or awareness courses.

Introductory CDM courses are not aimed at any particular role or level of a worker in the construction industry and are suitable for all professionals concerned with advancing their knowledge of CDM 2015.

They draw special attention to the legal requirements of CDM 2015 and also act as an excellent basis for those who are looking to further develop their knowledge and become a specialist in this area.

Introductory course content is typically designed to give a brief understanding of the regulations themselves and cover the following topics:

• An overview of the legal obligations contained with the CDM regulations.
• A definition of what is a notifiable project under the CDM regulations and notification requirements.
• How to select suitable contractors and what information is needed before a construction project is started
• The roles and responsibilities resulting from the CDM regulations, including the role of the CDM coordinator with health and safety throughout the project
• The information requirements of different parties including those of the client and those of the designer.
• The main contents of health and safety information packs and the construction phase health and safety plan.

Option 2 – The Roles under CDM 2015 

The second type of CDM course covers more detailed dependent on the Role played out under CDM. Course types typically include the following:

• The Role of the Principal Designer
• The Role of The Client
• The Role of the Contractor

These courses typically cover the following topics:

• The history and reasons leading up to the implementation of the CDM regulations.
• The legal aspects of CDM.
• A detailed breakdown of the regulations themselves.
• Duties of all parties including clients, contractors, designers, principal contractors, and coordinators.
• The role of the specific party and the key importance of communication and negotiation between the duty holding parties. 
• To be able to use the Principles of Prevention to assess design work.
• How to tell the difference between projects that need notifying and those that don’t.
• Identifying duty holders and how to distribute their duties in practice.
• Safety plans and files.
• Safety and risk assessments.