Who prepares the health and safety file, and who keeps it?
Under the CDM Regulations 2015, the principal designer prepares the health and safety file during the pre-construction phase and keeps it updated, fed by the principal contractor's information. At the end of the project the file passes to the client, who keeps it available for inspection and hands it on to whoever acquires the structure.
Prepared during the project, handed over at the end
The file holds the information likely to be needed for the health and safety of anyone on a later project. At the end of the project the principal designer, or where there is none the principal contractor, passes the file to the client (reg 12(10)).
| Duty | Window and section | If missed |
|---|---|---|
| Prepare a health and safety file for the project during the pre-construction phase, keep it updated, and feed it with the principal contractor's relevant information | none setA duty during the project, with no day count, so no window is recorded.reg 4(5)(b), 12(5)-(7), 12(9) | an offenceLapsed compliance |
| Pass the health and safety file to the client at the end of the project, or to the principal contractor if the principal designer's appointment ends first | none set'At the end of the project', with no day count, so no window is recorded.reg 4(7), 12(8), 12(10) | an offenceLapsed compliance |
What the library notes on each duty
Quoted a whole sentence at a time from the library's note on each row.
Prepare a health and safety file for the project during the pre-construction phase, keep it updated, and feed it with the principal contractor's relevant information
reg 4(5)(b), 12(5)-(7), 12(9) · none set · an offence
- Binds the principal designer, who prepares and updates the file (reg 12(5), (6)), and the principal contractor, which must give the principal designer any information it holds that is relevant to the file during the project (reg 12(7)) and takes over updating the file if the principal designer's appointment ends first (reg 12(9)).
- The client must ensure the file is prepared, revised and kept available for inspection (reg 4(5)(b)).
- The file holds the information likely to be needed for the health and safety of anyone on a later project.
Pass the health and safety file to the client at the end of the project, or to the principal contractor if the principal designer's appointment ends first
reg 4(7), 12(8), 12(10) · none set · an offence
- At the end of the project the principal designer, or where there is none the principal contractor, passes the file to the client (reg 12(10)).
- A client that disposes of its interest in the structure must give the file to the person who acquires it and make sure they know its nature and purpose (reg 4(7)).
Where the file starts
The file is the principal designer's to prepare, fed by the principal contractor during the construction phase.
What this page is, and is not
It is the section text this library holds for England, from The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (Great Britain), Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, Part II (Construction Contracts) and The Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, as amended for England, with the window and the consequence. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the Regulations, the Act, the Scheme and the contract you signed.
Demiton does not yet track English projects. These pages set out the duties; the product does not run these checks on an English job today.
No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.