Principal Designer appointments.

They are two different appointments, even when the same organisation holds both. CDM Principal Designer concerns planning, managing, monitoring and coordinating health and safety in the pre-construction phase. Building Regulations Principal Designer is a Building Regulations dutyholder role for building work in England, concerned with coordinating design work so that, if built, it would comply with the applicable Building Regulations. One title is not a substitute for the other. The Building Regulations appointment described here should not be assumed to apply in the same form in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

For commercial projects involving, or likely to involve, more than one contractor, the client must appoint a Principal Designer in writing under CDM and, for relevant building work in England, under Building Regulations. These are separate roles.

Building Regulations Principal Designer duties also apply on single-contractor projects. The appointments should be considered early, with additional procedures applying to higher-risk building work.

Yes, if it is competent and appointed for each role. Holding both appointments does not merge the duties. Each appointment still needs a defined scope.

No. The client retains their own statutory responsibilities.

Where appointed, MGRA plans, manages, monitors and coordinates health and safety in the pre-construction phase, to the extent of that appointment. The role is not the same as contract administration, and it is not the same as Building Regulations Principal Designer.

Pre-construction information is the health-and-safety information about the project and the site that designers and contractors need before construction work is carried out. The client has a duty to provide information in the client’s possession. Where appointed as CDM Principal Designer, MGRA typically prepares or coordinates that information to the extent the appointment requires.

Where a project is notifiable under CDM, the commercial client retains the statutory notification duty. MGRA may prepare the F10 information and, where instructed, submit it on the client’s behalf. That does not transfer the duty.

Designer Risk Assessments are a working method MGRA uses to record foreseeable health-and-safety risks arising from design. CDM does not require a document of any one title. A Designer Risk Assessment is not a construction-phase risk assessment, and it is not a substitute for the contractor’s Construction Phase Plan.

No. Other designers remain responsible for considering the risks in their own design. The CDM Principal Designer’s role is to coordinate that information, not to author every specialist’s assessment.

The CDM Principal Designer coordinates health-and-safety information in the pre-construction phase so that the Principal Contractor can plan and manage the construction phase. Neither role replaces the other.

Where appointed for building work in England, MGRA plans, manages and monitors the design work, and coordinates design work, so that the design is such that, if built, it would comply with the applicable Building Regulations — to the extent of that appointment.

Coordination means identifying the Building Regulations issues that the design must address, obtaining the right information from the designers who hold it, checking that those strands can sit together, and recording what has been coordinated. MGRA coordinates; it does not replace Building Control.

No. Specialist designers remain responsible for their own design. Coordination is not the same as authoring the specialist design.

The Building Regulations Principal Designer needs enough design information from each specialist to understand what is proposed, how it is intended to comply, and how it interfaces with the rest of the work. MGRA cannot make the design compliant by coordinating information that has not been provided.

MGRA needs enough to understand the project and the appointment being offered, including whether the appointment is CDM Principal Designer, Building Regulations Principal Designer or both. A vague instruction to provide “Principal Designer services” is not a sufficient brief.

Fees are agreed according to the appointment. MGRA may agree a fixed fee. For appropriate CDM Principal Designer commissions, the fee may instead be calculated by reference to construction cost.

Yes. MGRA can be appointed for either role or both.