What is a CDM is asked as if it were an object, and in construction it is a set of regulations: the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. 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. A contractor does not have a CDM; a project runs under CDM, with a plan held by the principal contractor and a RAMS per task from each contractor checked against it. The risk assessment and method statement tool on this site prints the RAMS, free and without an account.
Not an object
There is a CDM plan, a CDM file, a CDM role; CDM itself is the regulations. Asking a contractor for their CDM usually means asking for the construction phase plan where they are sole contractor, or for their RAMS.
The roles
Client, designer, principal designer, principal contractor, contractor, worker; the HSE's CDM pages, cited below, describe each. Where more than one contractor is involved the principal roles are appointed.
The documents
The plan before the site opens; the RAMS per task; the health and safety file at the end. The plan is the rule book; the RAMS is checked against it. The contractor writes the RAMS, the principal contractor checks it against the plan, and the client keeps the file for whoever works on the building next.
The contractor's part
A site-specific, signed RAMS per task, consistent with the plan. Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, cited below, requires every employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees, and regulation 3(6) requires an employer with five or more employees to record the significant findings and any group of employees especially at risk. DailyLogDesk Pro keeps them; the tool prints them.
Questions people ask about what is a cdm
Do I need a CDM for a small job?
Every UK construction project runs under CDM; the sole contractor's plan is proportionate, and the RAMS are per task.
Who provides the CDM plan?
The principal contractor, or the sole contractor where there is only one.
Is the tool free?
Yes, without an account.