Principal Contractor services under CDM 2015
Where appointed, Norvek takes the Principal Contractor role on UK commercial construction projects — planning, managing and monitoring the construction phase, controlling the site and the contractors on it, and handing the finished asset back with the documentation you need.
What a Principal Contractor is responsible for
Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, the client must appoint a Principal Contractor in writing whenever more than one contractor will work on a project. That appointment carries specific legal duties for the construction phase. These are the duties we take on.
Plan, manage and monitor the construction phase
We produce and maintain the construction phase plan, sequence the works around live operations and monitor progress against it week by week.
Coordinate health and safety on site
Site rules, inductions, permits, method statement and risk assessment review, and coordination between every contractor working on the project.
Control who works on the project
We check the skills, knowledge, training and experience of appointed contractors, and the organisational capability of the firms behind them.
Secure the site and manage site access
Perimeter, welfare, segregation from the public and from trading areas, traffic management and out-of-hours control.
Consult and engage the workforce
Regular briefings and a route for operatives to raise health and safety issues before they become incidents.
Liaise with the Principal Designer
Design risk carried into construction is tracked, resolved and fed back, and the health and safety file is populated as the works proceed.
How we run the construction phase
Pre-construction review
We review the design, pre-construction information and client brief, identify the buildability and safety risks, and agree the delivery strategy.
Construction phase plan
A project-specific plan covering sequencing, site set-up, welfare, logistics, interfaces and the controls for each significant risk.
Procurement and appointment
Trade packages scoped and let to contractors we have checked, with clear scope boundaries so nothing falls between packages.
Delivery and site control
Daily site leadership, weekly progress and cost reporting, change control, and inspection as the works are built.
Handover and health and safety file
Snagging closed out, commissioning witnessed, O&M and the health and safety file issued so the asset can be operated and maintained safely.
Experience behind the appointment
Norvek works on commercial construction across retail, public sector, industrial and renewables — including a full Morrisons to Tesco store conversion in Preston and a solar farm supplying Leicestershire Police. Much of it is delivered on live, occupied or operationally sensitive sites, where control of access, phasing and safety is the difference between a smooth handover and a stalled programme.