• 01306 740997
  • enquiries@rb-designs.co.uk

Principal Designer under the Building Regulations

In October 2023 the Legislation around the Building Regulations changed and these are the biggest changes in a generation to the way building safety is monitored, and to the responsibilities incumbent upon everyone involved in the construction process – from design to occupation and maintenance.

This affects all building work – not just high-risk buildings – from October 1st 2023.

The changes will affect every type of building project and impact everyone in the construction industry – that’s you and that’s us.  The changes can’t be ignored: like them or not, they’re here and they’re here to stay and backed by criminal law  read more…

So what are the changes?  If a Building Regulations application was submitted and accepted by the Local Authority before 1 October 2023, projects have to commence and commencement is defined to mean foundations and work up to dpc including the ground floor slab must be completed, or for works that do not need foundations, eg., loft conversions, 15% of the work must be completed before 6 April 2024 to remain in the current legal framework.

Any new project requiring Building Regulations approval after 1 October 2023 will automatically fall under the new Legislation.

The Technical side of the Regulations remains unchanged, however there are now specific duties placed upon the new duty-holders, namely; a named client; named principal designer and named principal contractor.  Each of these duty-holders have specific duties, these include:

Domestic client

Definition

Domestic Client is a client for which a project is being carried out which is not in the furtherance of a business of that client.

Duties of a Domestic Client

  1. Ensure suitable arrangements are made for planning, managing and monitoring building work to ensure compliance with the Building Regulations.
  2. Ensure that these arrangements are maintained throughout the lift of the project.
  3. Must take all reasonable steps to ensure any designers or contractors they appoint are competent to carry out the work they are being appointed to do.
  4. NOTE:  the above duties must be carried out by the Contractor/Principal Contractor unless the Domestic Client agrees in writing that the Principal Designer shall carry out these duties.

Principal Designer

Definition

The Principal Designer is the designer appointed under regulation 11D (Principal Designer and Principal Contractor) to carry out the responsibilities of a Principal Designer according to these Regulations.

Duties of a Principal Designer

  1. Plan, manage and oversee design work during the design phase
  2. Coordinate design related matters to ensure that if construction follows the designs, it complies with Building Regulations.
  3. Ensure all Duty-holders collaborate with each other.
  4. Ensure designers align their designs so that construction following these designs meets Building Regulations.
  5. Ensure designers fulfil their duties.
  6. Communicate and collaborate with the Principal Contractor.
  7. Consider input from the Principal Contractor regarding compliance with Building Regulations.
  8. Assist the client in providing information to designers.
  9. Review the arrangements made by any previous Principal Designer.

Principal Contractor

Definition

The Principal Contractor is the contractor chosen to carry out the responsibilities of a Principal Contractor under these Regulations when multiple contractors are involved.

Duties of a Principal Contractor

  1. Plan, manage and oversee building work during the construction phase.
  2. Coordinate matters related to building work to ensure compliance with Building Regulations.
  3. Ensure all Duty-holders collaborate with each other.
  4. Coordinate all building work to ensure it adheres to Building Regulations
  5. Ensure contractors fulfil their duties.
  6. Communicate and collaborate with the Principal Designer
  7. Take into account comments from the Principal Designer regarding compliance with the Building Regulations.
  8. Assist the client to providing information to contractors.
  9. Review the arrangements made by any previous Principal Contractor.

Please note the client must ensure that the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor are competent to undertake the work they are being asked to do and those appointments need to be in writing.

Although the terms Client, Principal Designer and Principal Contractor are used both in the CDM Regulations and the Building Regulations, the duties under each Regulation are very different and should not be confused.

We, at RB Designs Ltd are here to help you navigate through this new procedural arrangement, so please do not hesitate to contact us with any queries or questions.  As the legislation is in its infancy, we cannot guarantee that we can answer all questions as we are still learning ourselves, but if we cannot answer a question, we will endeavour to find the answer.

Testimonials

"Absolutely excellent service and advice. RB Designs couldn't have been more helpful from first contact to completion. Cliff visited us and was a pleasure to deal with and provided us with excellent advice, drawings and reassurance that our building works could be completed after being let down by contractors. We would recommend them wholeheartedly."
Michael
"We employed R B Designs to do the structural calculations for our loft conversion. Their work has been impeccable with exceptionally friendly and approachable customer service. Our project was a little complicated but R B Designs were extremely helpful and went above and beyond what we had expected of them. We will most certainly be using Sue and Cliff for all our future projects."
Rachel
"We have recently undertaken structural engineering plans, party wall and also revised structural engineering plans and I really cannot fault the customer service levels and the ability to talk through complexities of party wall agreement which were made very simple. Also great to have a company that can do designs, party wall and engineering designs all in one place especially during Covid 19 . Sue Watkins was absolutely brilliant. Thank you."
Tanya
Previous
Next
institute-structural-engineers
chas
imaps
fpws