1st October 2023 – Regulation Changes – Your Responsibilities

What are your duties? See below to see where you fit and what’s expected.

CLIENT – DOMESTIC CLIENT – PRINCIPAL DESIGNER – DESIGNER – PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR – CONTRACTOR

You must:

Ensure suitable arrangements exist to plan, manage and monitor the building work to ensure compliance with the Building Regulations.
Ensure that these arrangements are maintained throughout the life of the project.
Take all reasonable steps to ensure any designers or contractors appointed are competent to carry out the work for which they are appointed.
Notify the Approved Inspector when you appoint Principal Designer and Principal Contractors, even if they are sole designers or contractors. Including:
- Name, address, telephone number and email of these parties.
- Details of any change in the dutyholders and the dates of their appointment.
- A signed statement of authority that the information is, to the best of your knowledge, correct.
Let the Approved Inspector know when the building work is commenced. See notes below on what is deemed commencement.
When the work is complete, you must provide notification to the Approved Inspector, which contains the following information:
- The Client’s name, address, telephone number and email address.
- The Principal Designer’s and Principal Contractor’s names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses.
- A statement that the building work is complete.
- A signed statement that, to the best of your knowledge, the building work complies with the building regulations.
- A signed statement from each Principal Designer and Principal Contractor that they have fulfilled their duties under the building regulations.

The Approved Inspector cannot issue its final certificate without receiving these signed declarations.

2. DOMESTIC CLIENT

You must:

Ensure suitable arrangements exist to plan, manage and monitor the building work to ensure compliance with the Building Regulations.
Ensure that these arrangements are maintained throughout the life of the project.
Take all reasonable steps to ensure any designers or contractors appointed are competent to carry out the work for which they are appointed.

However:

Unless:

3. PRINCIPAL DESIGNER

You must:

In addition, you must:

Plan, Manage and Monitor the design work during the design phase.
Coordinate all matters relating to design work to ensure that it will comply with the Building Regulations if building work is carried out.
Ensure dutyholder cooperation.
Ensure all designers coordinate their designs so that building work will be carried out following the designs and will comply with the Building Regulations.
Ensure all designers comply with their duties.
Liaise with the Principal Contractor.
Have regard to comments from the Principal Contractor about compliance with the Building Regulations.
Assist the Client in providing information to designers.
Review the arrangements of any previous Principal Designer.
Notify Building Control in writing, where applicable, that the work is being carried out on behalf of a Domestic Client.

Where applicable, sign the declarations as referred to above in the Client’s duties when work is complete.

4. DESIGNER

You must:

Plan, manage and monitor design work so that if the building work were carried out, it would comply with the Building Regulations.
Cooperate with the Client, designers, and contractors to the extent that if the building work were carried out, it would comply with the Building Regulations.
Not start any design work unless you are satisfied that the Client is aware of the duties owed by the Client.
Carry out design to ensure that if building work were carried out, the design it would comply with the Building Regulations.
Provide sufficient information about the building’s design, construction and maintenance to allow the Client, other designers and contractors to comply with the Building Regulations.
Consider any other design work and report any compliance concerns relating to the design compliance to the Principal Designers and Client.
Must advise the Principal Designer or the Client whether any work they are designing is Higher-Risk building work.

5. PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR

You must:

Plan, Manage and Monitor the building work during the construction phase.
Coordinate matters relating to building work to ensure the building work complies with the Building Regulations.
Ensure cooperation amongst all dutyholders.
Ensure all building work is coordinated so that it complies with the Building Regulations.
Ensure contractors comply with their duties.
Liaise with the Principal Designer as required.
Have regard to comments from the Principal Designer concerning compliance with the Building Regulations.
Assist the Client in providing information to contractors.
Review the arrangements of any previous Principal Contractor.
Notify Building Control in writing, where applicable, that the work is being carried out on behalf of a Domestic Client.

Sign the declarations as referred to above in the Client’s duties when work is complete.

6. CONTRACTOR

You must:

Plan, manage and monitor the building work so as to comply with the Building Regulations.
Cooperate with the Client, designers and contractors to the extent necessary to ensure that it would comply with the Building Regulations.
Not start any building work unless they are satisfied that the Client is aware of the duties owed by their duties.
Ensure the building work they are carrying out complies with the Building Regulations.
Provide each worker under their control with appropriate supervision, information and instruction to ensure the building work complies with the Building Regulations.
Provide sufficient information about the work to allow the Client, other designers and contractors to comply with the Building Regulations.
Consider other building works when you are only carrying out part of the building work and report any concerns relating to compliance to the Principal Contractor.
Provide advice to the Principal Contractor or the Client on whether any work is Higher-Risk building work.