CDM 20-20 vision – changing the culture

Does the construction industry understand the CDM Regulations in their entirety? This is a new report providing much needed clarity on the management arrangements for all projects.

Since 2015, Construction Industry Council's (CIC) Health & Safety Champion has chaired its Health & Safety committee and Construction Industry Advisory Committee's (CONIAC), Keeping Pace With Change (KPWC) working group, leading to the production of a number of important reports relating to CDM.

Over the last six years, members of the CIC Health & Safety Committee have been leading the training and influencing of construction professionals to apply the principles underpinning the CDM regulations strategically and practically, in order to deliver even more successful projects.

The first report of the KPWC working group CDM 2015 – from compliance to consultation and collaboration, published in 2019, set out to demonstrate how the professional institutions have taken on the challenge from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to enable their members to develop the skills, knowledge and experience to discharge their legal duties effectively and included accounts from CIAT, ICE, RIBA and RICS. The report also contained case studies from three early adopter clients, Network Rail, InterGen and Bradford Metropolitan District Council.

This latest report, CDM 20-20 vision – changing the culture, launched this week by CIC, sets out the management arrangements for a range of projects, from small domestic building schemes to major infrastructure projects, from small domestic building schemes to major infrastructure programmes, which are practical and CDM compliant. The strategic CDM approach promoted in this report aligns well with the philosophy of other, recent initiatives such as Project 13 and the Construction Playbook. 

The KPWC group are working with the HSE, who provided advice to the authors, along with various institutions and influential individuals to promote the philosophy and resources in the report across all the sectors of the construction industry by December 2021.

Gary Mees PPCIAT MCIAT IMaPS, Chair of the Keeping Pace with Change working group, said: "The publication of this document and its predecessor, I believe, gives clarity to the implementation of CDM 2015. It sets out within these idealised case studies the importance of establishing early on, the CDM strategy and management.

"This was very much a team effort, with authors and editors from a broad spectrum of our industry, along with the guidance received from HSE which enabled us to work in this collaborative process. 

"I am delighted to have worked with the team who, I believe, have all come out with a better understanding of the differences between industry and disciplines. I am also grateful for the co-badging with Construction Industry Council who have greatly assisted with the distribution of this document."

CIC Chief Executive Graham Watts OBE said of the publication of the report: "We are delighted to be badging this document along that of the KPWC under CONIAC/Acting Together Steering Group. The aim of CDM 20-20 vision is to use a range of case studies based on different construction scenarios to demonstrate how CDM-compliant management arrangements can be achieved; this innovative approach requires a strategic analysis of the relevant CDM features of the particular project to be carried in the early stages, by the project leadership, to agree on what is required by the duty-holders before work starts in earnest."

To view the full report, please click here.