What is CDM training?
CDM training covers the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 — the main set of health and safety regulations governing construction projects in Great Britain. They apply to every construction project, from a domestic extension to a major infrastructure scheme, and they place named legal duties on the people involved rather than on the industry in general.
That last point is what surprises people. CDM does not simply require sites to be safe. It assigns specific duties to specific roles — client, principal designer, principal contractor, designer and contractor — and the duties attach to whoever performs that function, whether or not they realise they are doing so.
You may be a duty holder without having agreed to be one. CDM duties follow the role you actually perform. A client who commissions work, a designer who specifies a detail, a contractor who manages the site — each carries duties by virtue of what they do, not by what the contract calls them.
This is the most common way businesses find themselves non-compliant: not through negligence, but through not recognising which role they occupy. CDM training exists largely to close that gap.
Which CDM course do I need?
The courses split by duty holder role. Start with the one matching what you actually do on a project. Each is delivered by an accredited training provider.
Anyone working on construction projects
Start here
A grounding in what CDM 2015 requires and who carries which duties. The right starting point if you work on construction projects but are not sure whether the Regulations name you.
A broad view of the Regulations
Overview
A structured tour of CDM 2015 — the duty holder roles, the documents the Regulations require, and how a project should be managed from concept through to handover.
Named duty holders under CDM 2015
Duty holder
For those carrying named duties — what the Regulations require of you specifically, what you must produce and keep, and where the boundaries sit between your duties and someone else’s.
CDM for Designers and Principal Designers
Architects, engineers and design teams
Design side
Designing out risk, the general principles of prevention, and the coordination duties that come with the principal designer role. Relevant to anyone whose decisions shape how a building will be constructed, maintained and eventually taken down.
CDM for Contractors and Principal Contractors
Site delivery and construction phase
Construction side
The construction phase plan, site coordination, worker consultation and the duties that fall to the principal contractor. Also covers what a contractor must do when someone else holds the principal role.
Applying the Regulations day to day
Applied
For those who understand the Regulations in principle but need to apply them to real projects — what good documentation looks like, where problems usually arise, and how duties work in practice rather than on paper.
Breaking Ground in Construction for Duty Holders
Clients new to construction projects
Client side
For organisations commissioning construction work without a construction background — schools, landlords, retailers, manufacturers. CDM places real duties on clients, and this covers what those are before the first spade goes in.
Not sure which role you hold? If you commission work you are probably a client. If you specify anything you are probably a designer. If you manage construction work you are probably a contractor. On projects with more than one contractor, someone must be appointed principal designer and principal contractor in writing — and if the client does not appoint them, the duties fall back on the client.
Call 0808 1966 830 or make an enquiry and we will help you identify the right course before you book.
The five duty holder roles
CDM 2015 names five roles. One organisation can hold more than one, and on a small project the same person may hold several.
Client
Anyone who has construction work carried out for them. Must make suitable arrangements for managing the project, allow adequate time and resources, and make the appointments the Regulations require.
Principal designer
Plans, manages and monitors the pre-construction phase and coordinates health and safety during design. Appointed in writing where more than one contractor is involved.
Principal contractor
Plans, manages and monitors the construction phase, produces the construction phase plan and coordinates the contractors on site.
Designer
Anyone who prepares or modifies a design, including specifications and calculations. Must eliminate foreseeable risks where possible and provide information about those that remain.
Contractor
Anyone who manages or carries out construction work. Must plan, manage and monitor their own work and ensure the people they employ are informed, instructed and supervised.
And workers
Not a duty holder role as such, but CDM places duties on workers too — to be consulted, to report anything they consider unsafe, and to take care of themselves and others.
Training a project team? CDM works best when everyone on a project shares the same understanding of who holds which duties. Most of these courses can be delivered to a group at your own premises, which also allows the content to be framed around your own projects rather than generic examples. See on-site training for groups.
CDM training — frequently asked questions
Does CDM apply to my project?
CDM 2015 applies to all construction projects in Great Britain, including domestic ones. There is no minimum size or value threshold. What varies with the project is which duties apply and whether it must be notified to the HSE — not whether the Regulations apply at all.
When does a project need to be notified to the HSE?
Notification is required where construction work is scheduled to last longer than a set number of working days with more than a set number of workers on site simultaneously, or exceeds a set number of person days. Notification is made using form F10. The thresholds are set by the Regulations and are covered in detail on the courses above — and it is worth being clear that a project not being notifiable does not mean CDM does not apply to it.
Is CDM training a legal requirement?
No specific course is named in law. What CDM does require is that duty holders have the skills, knowledge and experience for the role they hold, and that organisations have the organisational capability. Training is the usual way of demonstrating that, and clients increasingly ask for evidence of it during prequalification.
Can one organisation hold more than one duty holder role?
Yes, and it is common. A design-and-build contractor may be both principal designer and principal contractor. A developer building for itself may be client and contractor. What matters is that all the duties of each role are actually discharged, not how few organisations are involved.
What is the difference between CDM training and SMSTS?
They overlap but serve different purposes. SMSTS is a five-day CITB course covering site management health and safety broadly, including CDM as one topic among many. CDM training goes considerably deeper into the Regulations themselves and suits duty holders whose responsibilities are defined by them — particularly clients and designers, who are not the audience for SMSTS at all.
Do CDM qualifications expire?
CDM courses generally do not carry a fixed expiry in the way card-based schemes do. However the Regulations require current knowledge, and guidance and industry practice do move — the Building Safety Act 2022 in particular has changed the context in which CDM operates. Periodic refreshing is sensible even where no certificate has lapsed.
Does CDM apply to domestic clients?
CDM applies to domestic projects, but a domestic client’s duties normally pass to another duty holder — usually the contractor on a single-contractor project, or the principal contractor where there is more than one. That transfer is automatic rather than something the householder arranges, but it means contractors working for domestic clients pick up duties they may not expect.
Related training and guidance
Building Safety Act 2022
CITB courses
SMSTS
NEBOSH Construction Certificate
Construction NVQs
Construction courses
On-site group training
This page is general information about the CDM Regulations, not legal advice.