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Construction projects will require a new role that combines several existing competences in order to meet a single, overarching set of safety requirements in the future – if the Hackitt recommendations are implemented.
That’s according to Martin Cox, head of health and safety and CDM at construction and property consultancy Pellings, who has been examining the report.
Cox said Dame Judith Hackitt’s recommendations following her independent review into Building Regulations and fire safety would require a “gelling of competences”.
He explained: “Currently, a construction project will normally have a project manager, an architect, a quantity surveyor, and a structural engineer, plus other roles.
“Many of these professionals operate in their own specialist area, but the Hackitt recommendations require an understanding of how all these competencies meld together. Combining these areas of knowledge into one set of safety requirements will require professional knowledge across the CDM spectrum. There is no standardised accreditation for this process.”
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Surely what the Principal designer should already be doing as per CDM2015!
If there was such a competency, it would take 20 years to get it.
I guess being an Architect, completing a QS degree, working some of the time in a PM role, at times having to review the work of Engineers and request corrections, I wouldn’t qualify…
Once upon a time there was a Clerk of Works. Sadly, a role not required in the modern construction industry. There is nobody checking what is being built!
There will be no improvement until proper training across all disciplines is put in place. Skills, management and safety training need rethinking for an industry where the big players are actually a minority.
With the over reliance on cheapest price sub-contractors, who are left to their own devices on site because the site manager spends all his time at a desk, it is no surprise a lack of quality is endemic in the industry and why so many buildings fail basic scrutiny.
How long will it be before there is a resurgence of the CDM Co-ordinator or similar role I wonder?