CDM 2015 guidance has been agreed between the Landscape Industry and the Health and Safety Executive…
The Landscape Institute and Health and Safety Executive have agreed guidance relating to the application of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The guidance involves landscape and maintenance works.
The guidance will see the application of the regulations for hard and soft landscape remain the same. However, some elements of the guidance had been revised. This includes the following statements:
“The HSE has advised that where good health and safety practice is being followed the differences between a project where the CDM Regulations apply and one where they do not are likely to be minimal.”
“When soft landscape work is part of a construction project, unless the soft landscape work can be segregated from the ‘construction work’ physically or by time, it will be part of the construction project.
“Therefore, although there will be no duties under the CDM Regulations associated with the soft landscape work, there will be duties relating to health and safety on the construction site.”
The guidance also outlines when a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor in CDM 2015 should be appointed. This is when more than one contractor is required on site at any one time. This includes sub-contractors.
The guidance states that “if there will be two (or more) contractors only one of whom is doing ‘construction work’ then there is only one contractor in terms of the CDM Regulations, whether one is a sub-contractor to the other or not.”
Chair of the Landscape Institute’s Technical Committee Mark Turnbull said: “Agreeing standard guidance on the application of the CDM Regulations to the landscape industry is just part of the Landscape Institute’s continuing commitment to producing JCLI Standard Form Contracts for landscape work and landscape maintenance work in Great Britain.
“Such guidance benefits the whole of the landscape industry not just those using the contracts. JCLI matters are dealt with by the Institute’s Technical Committee which welcomes opportunities to work with others such as HSE to further the interests of the landscape industry.”
The revised guidance and JCLI Amendments to accommodate CDM 2015 can be viewed here: http://www.landscapeinstitute.org/knowledge/JCLI.php