Posted By Lee Mac Hi All, I encountered an issue on Friday last where open excavations were found on an adopted highway near our site. It soon became apparent that these were to do with a utility company. Our site manager claims he knew nothing about it. I spoke with the Project Managers and it turned out they were ordered by the Company I belong to- talk about being left out of the loop. Anyways I have since spoken with the said utility co. and they have addressed the situation, however, the Project Manager said he notified the Site Manager but cannot provide proof of this, and the Site Manager is claiming he knew nothing of this. This is my stumbling block- without creating more paperwork, can anyone suggest an effective method of ensuring we know who has been given the relevant information. Thanks Lee

Posted By CFT Lee Do you have any element of control over the team, in particular the Project Manager, or is this outside your area of direct responsibility? If the latter who is currently assuming total responsibility; is it part of a larger scope of works with a dedicated team outside of your remit? CFT

Posted By Lee Mac Hi I have a situation whereby a designer has designed the refurb of a building into 4-5 storey open plan office space. All levels have stairlwells, lift access, w/c x2. I note no canteen/ restroom. I refered back to the Acops & Workplace (HSW) Regs. I do note in the Acop that Designers are take account of H&S requirements of offices- however, with the building being designed in open plan, the new owners could be anything from lab work, to call centres- the numbers of people will vary considerably. How can we as PC provide a "suitable & sufficient" canteen without knowing the numbers? Your thoughts please. Lee

Posted By Philip McAleenan Lee, The designers are required to give consideration to the OSH issues that the building poses for workers, users etc. and to create a design that avoids “foreseeable risks” to any person during the construction, use (including maintenance) and demolition phases of the building’s life. See Reg.11, Philip

Posted By Bryan Goldsmith 16052 Lee, I make a couple of assumptions on your original question; 1. Your site is a construction development 2. The Utility company works is to do with providing services to your development. Whether that service is to provide a highway crossover, sewage,gas or electric connection etc. it should have been flagged during planning / design and would have been applied for either through the Local Authority or the statutory undertaker responsible for the utility service. eg sewer adoptions / connections and s278 highways. If the project was notifiable under CDM, then the CDM Co Ordinatior would have a key role in ensuring that the information is passed to all concerned. In all cases of 'opening up' public highways the local highways authority (HA) should be aware as a road opening notice should have been issued to the utility company - there are grey areas here where the contractor is the highways authorites own people. The NRSWA and the new traffic management act provide the basis to these procedures and it goes without saying that the works site should be safe and signed according to the 'code of practice associated with the NRSWA (New Roads and Street Works act. If the above assumptions are not applicable and your site is a business premise then the utility company would not have any direct link with yourselves although the HA may require dialogue with premise occupiers to ensure safe access etc to sites eg schools, hospitals and the like. Even on projects which are not notifiable under CDM requires Co -operation and Co Ordination between all parties involved and this should where necessary include 'neighbours'- considerate contractors and all that. Utilty companies when dealing with emergencies may also have immediate powers allowing them to serve notices to the HA retrospectively. Hope this helps but also 'google 'streeworks' which will provide some useful links. Regards Bryan

Posted By Mitch Lee, Sorry, where are you looking? My copy of the ACoP (125) is "Designers are required to avoid foreseeable risks......" Mitch

Posted By Lee Mac Thanks Phillip, Client is as said previously wants open plan office units to sell. End user not identified as of yet, construction stage welfare will be addressed. Considering when not knowing what the end use of these office units are going to be & numbers of workers and taking into account of what is said in the ACOP- when reference is made to the Workplace Regs- how can a Designer design the restrooms in accordance with these when end use is not known. Lee

Posted By Lee Mac Mitch, Check out reg 11 of the ACOP para 130- it addresses the fact that Designers have to take into account the provisions of the Worplace Regs when the structure is going to be used as a workplace. Solution as a learned colleague has just suggested- provision of waste water waste pipes, water supply and electrical supply that will offer the opportunity to tap into, the end location of the rest room can be decided then by end user's and their design team. Really appreciated the feedback on this one folks. Lee