Building work activities are subject to various regulations which cover a range of issues such as safe access and safe lifting.

If you are a contractor you have a legal duty to check that non-domestic clients are aware of their duties under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. If works are expected to last longer than 30 days or involve more than 500 days of construction work to complete, then you should remind the client that the work is notifiable to the HSE and that they will need to appoint a CDM Co-ordinator and Principal Contractor.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations have health and safety implications for all organisations. CDM must now be applied to every construction project regardless of size or timescale. The CDM Regulations are aimed at improving the overall management and coordination of health, safety and welfare throughout all stages of a construction project to reduce the large number of serious and fatal accidents and cases of ill health which happen every year in the construction industry.

If you use a contractor then you still have legal responsibility for many matters on your premises.