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DavidBrede  
#1 Posted : 08 February 2010 16:10:40(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
DavidBrede

Hi,

Has anyone any knowledge or views of persons taking on designer roles through making decisions.

I have a case of a local authority seeking to make a change to the design of a structure?

In my view this makes them a designer and therefore they accept designer roles and responsibilities, but should a client let them do it as they have not been deemed competent by them to make changes?

Is anyone aware of any case law on CDM2007?

Thanks
boblewis  
#2 Posted : 08 February 2010 16:41:27(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
boblewis

David

No case law to my knowledge yet but there is plenty of guidance from the HSE to say that such people are designers and need to prove their competency.

Bob
firesafety101  
#3 Posted : 08 February 2010 17:18:25(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
firesafety101

........................... and take responsibility for their input to the design.
DavidBrede  
#4 Posted : 09 February 2010 09:17:43(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
DavidBrede

Thanks for this guys.

I was hoping someone had actually been through this and did the theory expressed in the guidance stand the test?

I am encouraging a robust response from my client side people!
bob youel  
#5 Posted : 09 February 2010 11:09:20(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
bob youel

I have been through this process and any guidance only stands a test if it enforcement is present and the word 'enforcement' is the problem

Apparently [to my personal knowledge] those approving planning applications are not always competent designers / planners etc as such committees are made up of both professionals and political appointments who may have no knowledge of design yet they OK applications and may not understand their design liabilities

I suggest you find out all you can before moving forward
Stedman  
#6 Posted : 09 February 2010 12:42:43(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Stedman

Just in case many of you are going off at a tangent, paragraph 117 of the ACOP for the 2007 CDM Regulations deals with the issue of Local Authorities or Government Officials and advice relating to design.
holyterror72  
#7 Posted : 09 February 2010 20:00:45(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
holyterror72

Agree with Arran. If they are demanding things outside of standard Building Regs etc though they do have designers duties under CDM Regs. Had a run in with an LA over this and after a bit of pushing and shoving they backed down.
paulclark  
#8 Posted : 10 February 2010 10:09:18(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
paulclark

The way I see it, if the LA are requesting a change, the responsibility falls on the designer who has to make that change.

So for instance, if the architect has to change a detail, he has the responsibility to consider and make safe that detail for construction and end use. It’s really no different than a client requesting a change really, it’s what 117 infers, it’s a design constraint which the designer has to manage.
Ron Hunter  
#9 Posted : 10 February 2010 15:48:00(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Ron Hunter

"Seeking to make a change" need not necessarily mean influencing or changing the Design.
In real terms, the Client will always have an influence on the final design. It for him to select the winning/preferred design in a bidding contest and it is his budget.
The real question has to be about influencing or changing a design to the safety detriment of others, otherwise the matter tends to be irrelevant in a CDM context.
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