Hand over construction design-risk information under CDM 2015

Designers can remove or reduce many construction risks before site work begins. Some significant risks remain and need to reach the people planning and performing the work. The handover is not a large folder of every drawing note. It is a controlled transfer of the information a principal contractor or contractor needs to understand the design assumptions, plan construction methods and manage residual hazards.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance for designers under CDM 2015 says designers should eliminate foreseeable risks where possible, reduce or control those that cannot be eliminated, and provide design information to the principal designer, client and principal contractor or contractor as appropriate. This page addresses the operational handover of significant residual risk information, distinct from a general CDM overview or a designer's full risk assessment.

Define what the receiving team needs

Identify the design package, drawing revision, work stage and recipient. Focus on unusual or significant residual risks that would not be obvious to a competent contractor from normal construction practice. Examples may include a temporary stability assumption, a sequence needed to avoid collapse, a buried service constraint or a component too heavy for the planned handling method. Describe the location and consequence, not just a category such as “working at height.”

Explain what the designer changed to remove or reduce risk, and what remains. A note saying “contractor to assess” without the relevant design assumption transfers no useful information. Equally, the designer need not prescribe every site method. The goal is for the contractor to plan with knowledge of the actual constraint.

Keep the design source and revision attached

Link each risk item to the drawing, model, specification or calculation on which it depends. Record issue date, version, design author and review status. When a drawing changes, identify whether the risk note is still current. If several designers work on connected packages, reconcile conflicting assumptions before site handover. The HSE principal-designer guidance describes coordination in the pre-construction phase on projects involving more than one contractor.

Do not copy a risk note into a site register and sever it from the design context. A location may shift or a load value may change with the next revision. Preserve superseded versions in the audit trail, while showing the operative information clearly to the construction team.

Agree receipt and understanding

The receiving principal contractor or contractor should identify a named reviewer with the competence to interpret the package. Record questions, clarifications and any method or temporary-works consequence. A signed transmittal proves delivery, not comprehension or safe implementation. Where the risk affects another contractor, agree how it will be passed on and who will check that the later team receives the current version.

The HSE CDM responsibilities summary places different duties on designers, principal designers, principal contractors and contractors. An information handover does not transfer design duties wholesale. Each party must manage the risks within its own role and cooperate when the design or construction sequence changes.

Translate residual risks into planning

The construction team should consider the information when developing the construction phase plan, RAMS, temporary-works arrangements, lifting plan or permit system as applicable. Not every design note needs a new form. The reviewer should mark the action needed, owner and decision date. If a planned method conflicts with the design assumption, stop that method and seek clarification or redesign before the affected work begins.

Technical issues should return to a competent designer. A site administrator can track an unanswered query but should not approve a structural change. If an interim control is used, record its scope and time limit. The final arrangement should be reflected in the relevant design and construction records so later crews do not work from a verbal exception.

Example: temporary stability during refurbishment

A designer specifies that a retained wall relies on temporary support until a new frame is connected. The residual-risk handover identifies the wall, drawing revision, support assumption, sequence dependency and the point at which the temporary works can be removed. The principal contractor reviews the information with the temporary-works team and affected trade contractors. A proposed demolition sequence conflicts with the design, so the team seeks clarification and revises the work method before starting. The issue and response are recorded against the design revision.

A generic note that “temporary works may be required” would not have protected the wall. The useful handover gives the receiving team the specific constraint needed to plan.

Update the handover when design changes

During construction, a revised design can create, remove or alter residual risks. The designer should identify the change and communicate it through the agreed project route. The principal contractor should check whether work already completed or in progress is affected, update the relevant plans and brief workers. A new drawing issue without a changed-risk note can leave contractors assuming the earlier method remains valid.

Track open requests for information and decisions. Close an item only when the answer has reached the people who need it and any required method change has been implemented. Retain a clear trail for the health and safety file where the information matters to later maintenance or alteration.

Keep the register proportionate

A useful handover entry contains risk, location, design source, residual condition, recipient, action, owner, status and evidence of communication. Review high-risk unresolved items before release of the affected workfront. Avoid a register of routine generic hazards that buries the critical design constraints. Ask the site team whether they can find and explain the current residual risks without calling the designer who wrote them.

For a current-product discussion, see Complys RAMS and verify how current documents and owner records can support the information flow. This guide does not claim Complys performs design risk assessment, validates drawings, prepares a construction phase plan or approves technical methods.