CDM Health and Safety File
The Health and Safety File contains information that may be needed to protect people carrying out, or affected by, future maintenance, repair, refurbishment, alteration or demolition work on a building or structure.
It should provide clear, relevant information about significant residual hazards, key design features and other matters that could affect future maintenance, refurbishment, alteration or demolition.
When is a Health and Safety File required?
Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, a Health and Safety File is required for projects involving more than one contractor.
The Client must ensure that the file is prepared and that suitable arrangements are made for relevant information to be collected throughout the project.
A file is not required under CDM 2015 for a single-contractor project, although other records or manuals may still be required.
Who prepares the Health and Safety File?
The CDM Principal Designer is responsible for preparing, reviewing, updating and revising the Health and Safety File.
Designers and contractors must provide relevant information for inclusion. The Principal Contractor will often supply much of the construction and as-built information, but the Principal Designer normally coordinates the file and decides what it should contain.
If the Principal Designer’s appointment ends before completion, the file must be passed to the Principal Contractor, who becomes responsible for completing and handing it to the client.
What should a Health and Safety File contain?
The contents will depend on the project and the risks associated with future work. Relevant information may include:
- A brief description of the work undertaken.
- Significant hazards that could not be eliminated through design.
- Key structural principles and safe working loads.
- Hazardous materials incorporated into or remaining within the building.
- The location and nature of significant services.
- Information needed for the safe removal of plant and equipment.
- Safe access arrangements for maintenance and cleaning.
- Relevant fire safety and compartmentation information.
- As-built drawings and information about residual hazards.
The file should focus on information that could be difficult for a competent contractor to identify when planning future work.
What should not be included?
The Health and Safety File should not become a repository for every document produced during the project.
Routine risk assessments, method statements, site records, progress reports, contractual documents and general product information should not be included unless they contain information genuinely relevant to future health and safety.
A concise, well-organised file is generally more useful than a large collection of unfiltered project records.
Is the Health and Safety File the same as an O&M manual?
No. An operation and maintenance manual provides information needed to operate, service and maintain the building and its systems.
The Health and Safety File focuses on information needed to manage health and safety during future work. Some information may appear in both documents, and they may cross-refer to one another, provided the statutory file information is clearly identified and easy to find.
What must the client do with the file?
The completed Health and Safety File is handed to the client at the end of the project.
The client must retain it, make it available to anyone who may need the information for subsequent construction work and update it where later projects introduce relevant changes.
If the client disposes of their interest in the building or structure, the file must be passed to the person acquiring it.
Need help with a Health and Safety File?
If you need assistance preparing, completing or reviewing a CDM Health and Safety File, contact Nautilus with brief details of the project and its current stage.