“That’s the specialist contractor’s design.”
It is a common phrase in construction, and it may be correct. Specialist contractors regularly design façades, fire-stopping systems, roofing, services, balustrades and access systems.
But responsibility for one package does not make that package independent from the rest of the building.
A façade interacts with the structure, fire strategy and ventilation. A service penetration affects compartmentation. A door may affect accessibility, security and escape routes.
Each package could appear compliant on its own while creating problems at the interfaces.
Responsibility versus coordination
Design responsibility establishes who designs each element.
Design coordination establishes whether those elements work together.
The Principal Designer does not need to personally design every element. However, the role must involve more than collecting drawings and assuming each package works in isolation.
Under CDM 2015, designers must communicate, cooperate and coordinate so that their designs are compatible. The Principal Designer must plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety during the pre-construction phase.
The challenge with design and build
Design continues to develop after the contract is signed. Specialists are appointed, products change, consultants may be novated and value engineering takes place.
Project teams should therefore ask:
- Who owns each design package?
- Who reviews the interfaces?
- Who communicates changes?
- Who considers the wider compliance implications?
- How are decisions recorded?
- Does the final information reflect what was built?
There is an important difference between:
“That’s not my design.”
“Someone has checked that the designs work together.”
Coordination requires visibility
A Principal Designer appointment should not be treated as another line on a responsibility matrix.
Effective coordination requires access to relevant information, cooperation from the design team and the ability to question unclear or conflicting details.
Buildings do not recognise contractual package boundaries. The completed design must work as one building.
So, at the next design meeting, do not ask only:
“Who owns this package?”
“Who has checked that this package works with everything around it?”
How TSD can help
TSD provides practical Principal Designer support to help project teams clarify responsibilities, improve communication and manage design interfaces more effectively.
Need greater clarity across your project’s design packages? Speak to TSD about Principal Designer support.
Dutyholder responsibilities should always be checked against the latest official guidance before publication or application to a specific project.
