Designer Duties

A designer is an organisation or individual whose business involves preparing or modifying designs for construction projects, or arranging for, or instructing, others to do this. Designs include drawings, design details, specifications, bills of quantity and design calculations.

Designers can be architects, consulting engineers, quantity surveyors and interior designers, or anyone who specifies and alters designs as part of their work. They can also be principal contractors, specialist contractors, tradespeople or even commercial clients, if they get actively involved in design work for their project.

A designer's decisions can affect the health and safety of all those involved in constructing a building, those who use it as a workplace, and those who maintain, refurbish and eventually demolish it.

General Duties

• A Designer MUST have the Skills, Knowledge and Training & Experience (SKATE) to take on the role
• If the Designer appoints any other Designers or Contractors – Make sure they have the necessary SKATE
• Co-operate with everyone involved in the project and make sure everyone under their control co-operates with each other
• Report any Health & Safety issues that they become aware of to whom they are working for
• When providing information or instruction – make sure it is comprehensible and provided in good time

Specific Duties

The Designer must;

• Ensure that the Client is aware of their duties – if not they must not start
• Make sure that all designs take account of the General Principles of Prevention to identify and eliminate foreseeable risks to people building, maintaining, cleaning & using a structure where possible.
• Provide information about risks that cannot be eliminated to the Principal Designer
• Provide all appropriate information for inclusion in the Health and Safety File
• Provide information with their design to assist the client, other designers and contractors comply with their duties

Note - This page is for guidance only. Application on a project must comply with the official HSE issue of the Regulations