CDM construction practice has a shape that a small contractor meets on every managed site. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, cited below, place duties on clients, designers, principal designers, principal contractors, contractors and workers, and regulation 12 is where the construction phase plan and the health and safety file sit. The principal contractor's construction phase plan sits above: the site rules, the permits, the emergency procedure, the arrangements for the significant risks. Each contractor's RAMS per task sits below, checked against the plan before the task starts. The health and safety file collects what the client needs at the end. The risk assessment and method statement tool on this site prints the RAMS, free.
The plan above
Drawn up before the site opens by the principal contractor, or by the sole contractor, proportionate to the project. It is the rule book the RAMS are checked against, and a RAMS that contradicts it is returned.
The RAMS below
One per task, site-specific, with the plan's permits and procedures named at the right steps and the crew's signatures. The HSE's guidance, cited below, gives risk assessment as five steps: identify hazards, assess the risks, control the risks, record your findings, review the controls, and says that if you employ 5 or more people you must record your significant findings.
The roles around them
Client, designers, principal designer, principal contractor, contractors, workers; the HSE's CDM pages, cited below, describe each. Where more than one contractor is involved, the principal roles are appointed.
The file at the end
The information a future client or contractor needs about the structure: what was built, where the services are, what remains hazardous. The contractor's records feed it. DailyLogDesk Pro keeps the RAMS and the daily reports that become that record. From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: SafetyCulture lists its Premium plan at $29 per seat per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with a free plan for small teams; Contractor Foreman lists its Basic plan at $49 per month for one user. DailyLogDesk Pro is $29 per month for the whole site team.
Questions people ask about cdm construction
Does a subcontractor need to know the plan?
The parts that affect their task, yes; the principal contractor provides them and the RAMS is checked against them.
Is CDM only for large projects?
It applies to every construction project in the UK, proportionately.
Is the tool free?
Yes, without an account.