Legal and regulatory compliance Flashcards
What are the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015?
- Statutory regulations that ensure the health and safety issues are properly considered during a projects’ development so that the risk of harm to those who build, use or maintain structures is reduced.
What are a client’s duties under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015?
- Clients do not have to take an active role in managing work as they are not always construction experts.
- Make suitable arrangements for managing the health and safety on a project.
- Ensure that other duty holders are appointed (PD / PC).
- Ensure the roles and responsibilities of the project team are clear.
- Ensure that the people they appoint have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to manage health and safety.
- Ensure sufficient time and resources are allocated.
- Ensure relevant information is prepared and provided to the duty holders – e.g existing health and safety file and have the principal designer prepare PCI and provide to designers and contractors.
- Ensure the principal designer and principal contractor carry out their duties under the regulations.
- Ensure the PD prepares the PCI, Construction Phase Plan (more than one contractor involved) and H&S file.
- Provide welfare facilities.
- Submit an F10 or have someone submit on their behalf.
What happens if a client fails to appoint a Principal Designer / Principal Contractor for a project?
- They are then required to undertake the PD / PC duties themselves under the CDM 2015 regulations.
What is included within the pre-construction information?
- Project description.
- Clients’ considerations and management requirements (site security, welfare facilities, traffic restrictions, permits etc).
- Environmental considerations and existing on-site risks (ground conditions, asbestos surveys, dangerous infrastructure e.g railway lines and existing emergency access and egress routes).
- Significant design and construction hazards (design risk assessment and suggested method statements to be included in the CPP).
What is included in a Construction Phase Plan?
- Description of the works and what H&S risks have been identified as part of the works.
- Management of the works - communication information (project directory / emergency contacts), working hours, training (toolbox talks and site inductions), welfare facilities, site security, site waste management plan, evacuation plan.
- Information on how significant site risks will be managed - site traffic management plan, handling of deliveries, and method statements for any risky works.
What would you find in a health and safety file?
- Only needs to contain H&S information that would be needed for the planning of future works and maintenance.
- Brief description of the works carried out.
- Any residual hazards which remain - asbestos surveys / buried services etc).
- Key structural principals - bracing, sources of substantial stored energy (pre and post tensioned members) and safe working loards
of floors / roofs. - Any hazardous materials used in the works, e.g coatings that shouldn’t be burnt off.
- Health and safety information about maintenance equipment e.g Building Maintenance Units (BMU) or man safe system.
- As built drawings that show plant locations, means of escape etc).
- Fire drawings.
How would a client evaluate the competency of appointed consultants?
- The HSE have an Approved Code of Practice which recommends two stages:
1. Assess the consultant’s H&S policy and general arrangements and knowledge (qualifications).
2. Assess the company’s experience and track record and verify that they have the skills and experience to take on the instruction - could use a interview or pre-qualification questionnaire.
What is an F10 required and when is it required?
- Statutory obligation under the CDM 2015 regulations to provide written notice of a ‘notifiable’ construction project to the HSE.
- It is required when:
- When construction work is scheduled to last more than 30 days and has more than 20 workers on site at one time.
- When works exceed 500 person days.
- Notice must be displayed in the site office to be clearly observable by all on the site.
What are the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012?
- Regulations impose legal duty on those who own, occupy and manage or have responsibilities for a non-domestic premises that may contain asbestos.
- They impose duties on the duty holder, the duty holder being the owner of a non-domestic premises or the person or organisation that has clear responsibility for the maintenance or repair of the non-domestic premises.
What are a the duty holder’s duties regarding asbestos under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012?
- Section 4 of the regulations requires that the duty holder must:
+ Take reasonable steps to find out if their are ACM’s in a property, the amount, location and their condition.
+ Keep and up-to-date record of the location and condition of ACMs or materials presumed to contain asbestos in a asbestos management register.
+ Have an up to date asbestos management plan (will include the register) which explains how the duty holder intends to manage the asbestos and prevent exposure to anyone using or working on the building.
+ Ensure that anyone working on the building is supplied with the asbestos management plan.
What is licensed work with regards to asbestos?
- Where worker exposure to asbestos is not sporadic and of low intensity.
- Where the risk assessment cannot clearly demonstrate that the control limit will not be exceeded (0.1 f/cm3 averaged over a 4 hour period).
- Where works are on an asbestos coating.
- Where works are on AIB where the risk assessment demonstrates the work is no short duration work (short duration being when working with ACMs for no more than 2 hoors in a seven day period and no one person works for longer that an hour in that two hour period).
- HSE gives guidance on what works are licensed but ultimately based on risk.
Give four examples of non-licensed work with asbestos
- Asbestos cement products – removing sheets from a roof.
- Applying plastic paint coatings to asbestos cement roof sheets that are in good condition.
- Screwing into AIB.
- Removing textured decorative coatings.
What is non-licensed work with regards to asbestos?
- Where work is sporadic and of low intensity (concentration of asbestos in the air should not exceed 0.6f/cm3 measured over 10 minutes).
- Work that does not expose workers to asbestos fibres that exceed legal limits (0.1f/cm3 over a 4 hour period).
- Works must meet one of the four conditions:
o Short and non-continuous maintenance task, with non-friable materials.
o It is a removal task where ACMs are in reasonable condition and not being deliberately broken up and the fibres are firmly contained within a matrix (contained in cement etc).
o It is a task where ACMS are in good condition and are being sealed or encapsulated.
o It is an air monitoring control task to check fibre concentrations in the air.
Give some examples of licensable work with asbestos.
- Removing sprayed coatings.
- Any work with loose fill insulation.
- Removal or other work that may disturb pipe lagging.
- All other works that are not sporadic and of low intensity and breaches control limit for fibres.
If works with asbestos are licensable, what actions should be undertaken before they can be undertaken?
- The appropriate authority needs to be notified by submitting a ASB5 form 14 days before the works commence.
- With the exception of railways (Office of Rail and Road), the enforcing authority is dependent on location of work and can be
the HSE or Local Authority.
What are the three types of Asbestos? What are each of their uses / where are they usually found?
- Chrysotile (least dangerous) / white asbestos: Most common found in pipe lagging, loose fill insulation, fire blankets, floor material,
Artex and reinforced plastics. - Amosite / Brown asbestos: Asbestos Insulation Board (AIB).
- Crocidolite (most dangerous) / Blue asbestos: Spray on insulation, pipe lagging, loose fill insulation, gaskets and cement sheeting.
What is the purpose of an AI? What are their main duties throughout a project? What kind of things do they look at on projects you have been involved with?
- Act as an independent party to ensure that a project complies with the building regulations.
- Service can be provided by the LA but often quicker and more attentive (provide more general advice).
- Submits an initial notice – notifies the local authority of the intended works, LA then hands over responsibility of building
regulations verification to the AI. - Issues a plan certificate - confirms that planned works comply with regs in principal.
- Give the client advise on the building regs to inform design of the works.
- Issues a final certificate – confirms that the works are compliant with building regulations – should be included in H&S file.
- Types of things the AI will look at:
Lighting designs.
Fire alarm designs.
Emergency lighting designs.
Water chlorination certificate.
Specification of fireboard.
What is section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927?
- Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 is often referred to as the “statutory cap on damages” as it places a statutory cap on the amount of damages a landlord can recover from a tenant for breach of their repairing covenants in a lease.
- Section 18(1) essentially has two limbs:
1. Damages from a tenant for a breach of their repair covenant cannot be more than the reduction in value of the property as a result of the breach (the diminution valuation).
2. No damages are to be paid for breach of repair covenant for works that will be superseded by a landlord’s intended structural alterations.
What are the Building Regulations?
- Building regulations are made under powers provided in the Building Act 1984.
- Apply in England and Wales.
- They ensure the health and safety of people in and around all types of building. They also provide requirements relating to energy conservation, access to and the use of buildings.
What is deemed to constitute building work under the Building Regulations?
- Regulation 3 of the regulations: building work can in include:
+ Erection of an extension to a building.
+ Installation of extension of a service or fitting which is controlled under the regulations.
+ An alteration project involving work which will temporarily or permanently affect the ongoing compliance of a building, service or fitting with the requirements relating to structure, fire, or access to and use of buildings.
