A construction phase plan (CPP) must be drawn up for every construction project, as governed by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.

It doesn’t need to be complicated, but if you’re either the principal contractor or sole contractor on a project, you’ll be responsible for:

Construction phase plans should demonstrate that the person in charge of the project has fully considered the health and safety aspects. If you’re either the principal contractor or sole contractor on a project, you need to create a CPP.

You may be a plumber, builder or other tradesmen, but if you undertake any of the following work, you’ll need a CPP:

Under the new CDM regulations, your role will determine whether you need to create a new construction phase plan, a health and safety file, or simply help to contribute to these documents.

Sole contractor
​If you’re the sole contractor on the job then you’ll experience the biggest change to your daily working routine. By law, you now need to create a construction phase plan, no matter how big or small your job is. You don’t need to go overboard, but you do need to spend some time considering the risks onsite in proportion to the job at hand. The HSE provides some free resources on how to manage this additional construction phase plan requirement.

Subcontractor
If there is more than one contractor on site, and you are working under an appointed principal contractor, your daily working routine will essentially stay the same. As a subcontractor you will still be expected to coordinate activities with others in the project team and comply with directions given by the principal designer or principal contractor. You may also be asked to help develop the construction phase plan, provide equipment instructions and develop your own risk assessments so the principal contractor can complete his health and safety file.

Principal contractor
By law, if there is more than one contractor on site, the client will need to appoint a principal contractor. If you or your company are appointed principal contractor, you will be responsible for managing the health and safety of all workers on site. You will be expected to create a health and safety file for the project, which will include:

As a principal contractor, you will also need to notify HSE of any construction work if:

You need to include this F10 notification document in the H&S file, along with any updated H&S file information introduced during the project. It should be handed over to the client at project completion.

Principal Designer
A principal designer, typically an architect or person responsible for pre-construction work, will take control of the pre-construction phase of any project involving more than one contractor.

Previously, this was the CDM coordinator’s role, but this duty has now been handed over to the designer who needs to plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety in the pre-construction phase of the project.

As well as writing RAMS, you can create construction phase plans in HandsHQ, based on a template written and approved by our EHS expert. The process is very similar to a RAMS, but you'll need an additional division set up on your account.

Learn how to access the CPP division in HandsHQ in this article.

🚨 Note: CPPs are only available on Pro Annual and Enterprise plans.

Contact us below to learn more!