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6 Contractor Management

Contractor Management

IN THIS SECTION...

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• When a client takes on the services of a contractor both parties have shared responsibilities for ensuring good
standards of health and safety.
• The client must carefully select contractors on the basis of their health and safety competence. This can be done
by looking at the contractors’ policy documents, accident and enforcement history, references, qualifications and

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experience.
• The client must ensure that contractors carry out risk assessments and develop method statements for their
work. The client must monitor contractors to ensure that they work safely to agreed methods.
• The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) impose a framework for the
management of construction projects (both non-domestic and domestic). For projects involving more than one
contractor, the CDM Regulations identify six duty holders who each have specific duties assigned to them: the
client, principal designer, designers, principal contractor, contractors and workers.
• The regulations require the preparation of a Construction Phase Plan and, where the project involves more than

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one contractor, a Health and Safety File for the finished structure.
• Projects over 30 working days in duration and involving more than 20 workers at any one time, or involving over
500 worker days must be notified to the HSE by the client.
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Introduction
Contractors are used widely in the workplace, either to deliver a specific project or skill or to deliver extra labour when
needed. For example, a site wanting to extend the premises would usually take on a building contractor to deliver the
project rather than employing the manpower directly, in the same way a company may engage a training contractor to
deliver a NEBOSH course.

The Client/Contractor Relationship

Contractors are engaged by clients in lots of different circumstances at work. A contractor may be engaged to perform
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a one-off service, such as the refitting of an IT suite, or they may be engaged on a more permanent basis to provide
in-house catering or cleaning services.

Quite clearly it is not in the interest of health and safety for the client to
DEFINITION
ignore the risks associated with the contractor’s work or for the contractor CONTRACTOR AND CLIENT
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to ignore the risks inherent in the client’s workplace.

Contractor – a person or
This section outlines some simple principles for the management of the organisation engaged to
contractor/client relationship. It then moves on to the specific issue of the undertake certain work on
management of construction projects under the Construction (Design and behalf of a client but not under
Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM). the client’s direct supervision
and control.
Client – a person or
organisation who engages a
contractor.

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 Contractor Management 1.6

Shared Duties
Contractors are responsible for their own health and safety and the health and safety of others who might be affected
by their work activities.

A contractor company (such as a cleaning company) is an employer in their own right. They therefore, as noted

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earlier in the section on HSWA, owe a duty to:
• Their employees (the individual contract cleaners doing the work in a client’s premises) because of Section 2.
• Other people (such as the client’s employees and visitors to the client’s premises) who might be affected by their
work, because of Section 3.

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And the individual cleaners doing the work in the client’s premises are employees of the contract cleaning company.
They therefore owe a duty to:
• themselves; and
• other people (such as fellow workers, the client’s employees and visitors to the client’s premises) who might be
affected by their acts and omissions, because of Section 7.
The client (as an employer) owes a duty to:
• His own employees because of Section 2.
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• Others who might be affected by his undertaking because of Section 3.
These others would include:
–– The contract cleaners in the premises.
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–– Any other workers in the premises (such as other contractors).
–– Visitors to the client’s premises.
Importantly, case law exists which clearly indicates that when a client brings a contractor onto site the contractor’s work
becomes a part of the client’s undertaking.

The individual employees of the client also owe a duty to:

• themselves; and
• other people (such as contract cleaners, fellow employees, visitors) who might be affected by their acts or
omissions because of Section 7.
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Put simply, the contractor and his employees owe a duty to everyone and the client and his employees also owe a duty
to everyone.

There are additional duties under MHSWR to carry out risk assessment, provide information and training, etc.

The responsibility for ensuring health and safety is therefore shared between the client and the contractor. It is in both
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parties’ interests to ensure that each does everything that might be considered reasonable in the circumstances to
discharge their duty and avoid criminal liability.

The way that a client manages contractors can be broken down into three key areas:
• Selecting the contractor.
• Planning the work.
• Monitoring the work.

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1.6 Contractor Management

The Selection of Contractors

TOPIC FOCUS

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Selecting the Contractor
It is good practice to select a contractor carefully on the basis of their health and safety competence. To help in
this, you can ask to see evidence of competence, such as:
• A copy of their health and safety policy.

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• Examples of risk assessments.
• The qualifications and training records of staff.
• Membership of a professional organisation or certified body.
• Records of maintenance and testing for plant and equipment.
• Names of previous or current clients.
• Accident history records.

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• Records of enforcement action taken by authorities against them.
• Proof of adequate resources, such as access to specialist safety advice.
• Proof of adequate insurance.
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Planning and Control of Contractors
Planning the Work
Information must be exchanged between the client and the contractor. The client should tell the contractor about the
hazards and risks in the workplace, and the contractor should tell the client about the hazards and risks created by the
contract work. In this way, the work can be planned so that everyone is kept safe.

The contractor should carry out risk assessments on the work involved and develop safe working methods to control
the risks identified. This safe working method must be documented and is often referred to as a “method statement”.

Monitoring the Work

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Arrangements must be made by the client to ensure the contractor complies

with safe working practices. These arrangements should include: DEFINITION
• Having a signing in and out procedure.
PERMIT-TO-WORK
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• Ensuring that the contractor provides a named works foreman.

• Carrying out site induction training for all contractor workers. A formal, documented safety
procedure forming part of a
• Controlling high-risk activities with a permit-to-work system.
safe system of work, which
The client will need to monitor the contractor’s work to ensure that the ensures that all necessary
contractor is working to agreed safety standards. This can be done by actions are taken before,
monitoring against the method statement that was developed during the during and after particularly
planning stage. high-risk work. We will cover
permits in more detail in
Element 3.

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 Contractor Management 1.6

Management of Construction Projects

Construction projects usually involve many different parties in a collaborative effort. Each party has a role to play in
ensuring that the project is carried out safely and that the end result (the structure) is safe.

All construction projects are subject to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM).

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These regulations are split into various parts, some of which deal with the practical control of construction work. The
following section deals with projects involving more than one contractor where all parts of the regulations apply. (Note
that reference to ‘more than one contractor’ refers to more than one contractor organisation, not more than one
individual worker.)

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Notification
A notifiable project is one where the construction phase is planned to:
• last over 30 working days and involve more than 20 workers at any one time; or
• involve more than 500 worker days.
If a project falls into one or both of these categories, then a notification has to be sent by the client to the HSE, detailing:
• The address of the construction site.

• Contact details of the client.

• Contact details of the principal designer.
• Contact details of the principal contractor.
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• Brief description of project and construction work involved.
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• Planned date for the start of the construction phase and its planned duration.
• Time allowed for planning and preparation for construction work.
• Estimated maximum number of people at work on the site.

CDM Duty Holders

For projects involving more than one contractor, the CDM Regulations identify six duty holders who have a part to
play in ensuring safety:
• The client - for whom the project is being carried
out (this can be commercial or domestic). The
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client has health and safety responsibility at the

tender stage.
• The principal designer (PD) - who plans and co-
ordinates health and safety in the pre-construction
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phase of the project. The PD has health and safety

responsibility through the pre-construction phase.
• Designers - who work under the control of the
principal designer.
• The principal contractor (PC) - who plans and co-ordinates health and safety during the construction phase of
the project. The PC takes health and safety responsibility through the construction phase.
• Contractors - who work under the control of the principal contractor.
• Workers - who undertake the construction work.

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1.6 Contractor Management

The regulations also require the preparation of a ‘Construction Phase Plan’ for all construction work and a ‘Health
and Safety File’ for the finished structure if the construction work involved more than one contractor.

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Construction phase plan

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 Contractor Management 1.6

The regulations assign the following duties to each party:

• The client should ensure that:
–– Suitably competent designers and contractors are appointed.
–– Adequate pre-construction information is provided to the other duty holders.

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–– Principal designers and principal contractors carry out their duties.
–– A Construction Phase Plan for the project is prepared by the principal contractor before work starts.
–– The Health and Safety File is prepared by the principal designer for the building/structure and that this is
made available for future reference.

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–– Suitable welfare facilities are available during the construction phase.
–– Notifiable projects are notified to the HSE.
CDM applies to all construction work carried out for both commercial and domestic clients. However, for domestic
clients, the clients’ duties pass to the contractor or principal contractor (or principal designer where a written agreement
has been entered into).
• Designers should ensure that:
–– The client is aware of his duties under the CDM Regulations.

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–– Their design eliminates or minimises health and safety risks created by the project.
–– Design information is passed to the principal designer, client and contractors.
–– They communicate, co-operate and co-ordinate with other designers and contractors.
• The principal designer should ensure that:
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–– They plan, manage, monitor and co-ordinate health and safety during the pre-construction phase of the
project.
–– The client is advised on the bringing together of pre-construction information that will be useful to designers
and contractors.
–– The design eliminates or minimises health and safety risks created by the project.
–– Proper communication, co-operation and co-ordination takes place during the pre-construction phase.
–– The Health and Safety File is prepared and passed to the client at the end of the project.
• The principal contractor should ensure that:
–– The construction phase of the project is adequately planned, managed, monitored and co-ordinated.
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–– A Construction Phase Plan for the project exists and is kept up to date.
–– The site is secure.
–– All workers have access to suitable welfare facilities.
–– All contractors receive site-specific induction training.
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–– Workers are consulted on site health and safety issues.

• Contractors should ensure that:
–– The client is aware of his duties under the CDM Regulations.
–– They plan, manage and monitor their own work to control safety
risks.
–– Their workers have the skills, knowledge, training and experience to
carry out their work safely.
–– They provide appropriate information, instruction and supervision to
their workers. Designers and main contractors must
• Workers should ensure that they: assess the safety implications of any
changes to the design – both for
–– Take reasonable care of their own health and safety and the health construction workers and for end-
and safety of others who their work might affect. users.

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1.6 Contractor Management

–– Report anything that they see that could affect their own or others’ health and safety.
–– Co-operate with all other duty holders.

The Construction Phase Plan

The Construction Phase Plan is the health and safety management plan for the construction phase of the project.

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The plan is the responsibility of the principal contractor (or contractor if the project involves only one contractor).

Typical contents would include:

1. Project description:

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–– Including key project team members.
2. Management of the work:
–– Site rules.
–– Arrangements for ensuring co-operation between parties.
–– Arrangements for consultation.
–– Site induction.
–– Welfare facilities.
–– Fire and emergency procedures.
3. Arrangements for controlling significant site risks:
–– Safety risks, such as fall prevention.
–– Health risks, such as removal of asbestos.
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The Health and Safety File
The Health and Safety File contains information about the new or modified structure that the client needs to know.

Typical content would include:

• Brief description of work.
• Residual hazards.
• Key structural principles.
• Hazardous material used.
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• Information relevant to dismantling.

• Information on cleaning or maintenance equipment.
• Nature, location and marking of significant services.
• Information and as-built drawings of the structure and plant and equipment.
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This file is created by the principal designer and passed to the client on completion of the project. The client must then
keep the file up to date and make it available to workers who need to know its contents (such as future contractors).

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STUDY QUESTIONS
25. List the criteria that might be used to assess the suitability of a contractor to undertake work on behalf of a
client.

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26. What types of construction project are notifiable projects?

27. What are the main duties of the following parties under the CDM Regulations?

(a) The client.

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(b) The principal designer.

(c) The principal contractor.

(Suggested Answers are at the end.)

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