1.5 CDM 2015 Project Documentation: PCI, Construction Phase Plan & Health and Safety File

Statutory Documentation under CDM 2015

CDM 2015 establishes a structured documentation chain across the pre-construction, construction, and post-completion phases of a project. The three main statutory documents are:

1. Pre-Construction Information (PCI)
2. Construction Phase Plan (CPP)
3. Health and Safety File (HSF)

Understanding the exact purpose, author, statutory responsibility, and timing of each document is critical for site managers and SMSTS candidates.

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1. Pre-Construction Information (PCI)

Purpose & Legal Duty

Pre-Construction Information (PCI) is the core hazard and information document prepared during the design and planning stage. The Client has primary legal responsibility for ensuring PCI is provided, while the Principal Designer (PD) assists in gathering, structuring, and distributing it.

PCI must be provided to every designer and contractor tendering for or appointed to the project as early as possible. Its purpose is to ensure that contractors can price for necessary safety measures and designers can design out known site hazards.

Key Components of PCI:

• Project Description: Scope of work, key dates, project team structure, and client constraints.
• Environmental & Site Restrictions: Surrounding land use, adjacent schools/hospitals, noise/vibration limits, traffic management restrictions.
• Existing Site Hazards:
  • Asbestos location reports and Refurbishment/Demolition Asbestos Surveys (R&D surveys).
  • Buried utilities (electric cables, gas mains, fiber optic lines) and overhead powerlines.
  • Contaminated land, ground instability, or high water table levels.
  • Structural stability of existing buildings, load-bearing capacities, fragile roofs.
• Design Risks & Residual Hazards: Hazards identified by designers that could not be designed out.
• Client Site Rules: Specific site rules mandated by the Client (e.g., security clearances, drug/alcohol testing protocols).

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2. Construction Phase Plan (CPP)

Purpose & Legal Duty

The Construction Phase Plan (CPP) is the master health and safety document setting out how health, safety, and welfare will be managed on site during actual construction operations. The Principal Contractor (PC) (or sole Contractor on single-contractor projects) must prepare the CPP before site setup or construction work commences.

The Client is legally prohibited from allowing site construction work to start until they are satisfied that a suitable site-specific CPP has been prepared by the PC.

Critical SMSTS Rule: Site-Specific vs. Generic Plans

Generic, off-the-shelf binders fail to meet statutory requirements. The CPP must be tailored to the specific site, reflecting actual ground conditions, sequence of work, site layout, and identified risks. It is a living document that must be continuously updated by the PC as work progresses.

Key Components of the CPP:

1. Project Overview & Management Structure: Site manager details, contact numbers, emergency procedures, first aid arrangements.
2. Site Rules & Inductions: Mandatory site PPE rules, working hours, delivery arrangements, alcohol/drug policy.
3. Welfare Facilities: Location and specification of Schedule 2 welfare provisions.
4. Worker Consultation & Cooperation: Daily briefings, Toolbox Talks, safety committee meetings.
5. Control of Specific Site Risks: High-risk activities detailing Safe Systems of Work (SSoW), Risk Assessments, and Method Statements (RAMS).

Schedule 3 High-Risk Construction Works

Under CDM 2015 Schedule 3, the CPP must contain detailed management controls for work involving specific high-risk hazards:

• Work involving risk of fall from height or burial under earthwork / fall into excavation.
• Work exposing workers to chemical or biological substances (COSHH hazards, lead, silica, asbestos).
• Work exposing workers to ionizing radiation.
• Work in the vicinity of high-voltage overhead electric lines or buried services.
• Work presenting a risk of drowning.
• Work in caissons, wells, underground shafts, or tunnels.
• Work involving the use of explosives.
• Work involving the assembly or disassembly of heavy prefabricated components.

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3. Health and Safety File (HSF)

Purpose & Legal Duty

The Health and Safety File (HSF) is an essential asset management safety record compiled for the Client. Its purpose is to ensure that anyone carrying out future construction, maintenance, refurbishment, cleaning, or demolition work on the structure can do so safely.

The Principal Designer is responsible for compiling, updating, and revising the HSF throughout the pre-construction and construction phases (incorporating information provided by the PC and designers). Upon completion of the project, the PD formally hands over the HSF to the Client.

The Client must retain the HSF and make it available to any future designers or contractors working on the building or structure.

Key Content of the Health and Safety File:

• Brief description of the work carried out.
• Residual hazards that could not be eliminated during design (e.g., location of lead paint, hazardous materials, fragile roof sheets).
• Key structural principles, safe floor loadings, and post-tensioned cable locations.
• Hazardous materials used in construction (e.g., insulation types, fireproofing coatings).
• Location of concealed services (underground drains, buried cables, embedded pipes).
• Information and 'as-built' drawings showing structural layout and access points.
• Maintenance guidelines and equipment manuals for built-in cleaning/maintenance plant (e.g., cradles, fall arrest anchor points).

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Statutory Documentation Lifecycle Matrix