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CDM Awareness eLearning

Online CDM awareness training that explains the duty holders, when a project is notifiable, and what the client is actually on the hook for: which is more than most clients realise.

Price£15 + VAT
How longApproximately 30 to 45 minutes
Valid for3 years
WhereOnline, on any device
Two workers in hard hats and hi-vis reviewing drawings at a construction site

Who it is for

Who this cdm awareness course is for

CDM applies to every construction project in Great Britain, including small domestic ones. Its most misunderstood feature is that the client carries real duties, whether or not they think of themselves as a construction business.

  • Clients commissioning construction or refurbishment work
  • Principal designers and designers
  • Principal contractors and contractors
  • Project managers and quantity surveyors
  • Facilities and estates teams arranging building works
  • Anyone new to a role with CDM duties

Course content

What the cdm awareness course covers

Five short lessons covering what CDM covers, the duty holders, client duties, design and construction phase planning, and notification and the health and safety file, then a 12-question assessment.

1

What CDM covers

Construction work as CDM defines it, the scale of the risk, and domestic clients.

2

The duty holders

Client, principal designer, designer, principal contractor, contractor and worker.

3

Client duties

What a client must do, and the Building Safety Act dutyholder regime alongside CDM.

4

Design and construction phase planning

Designers eliminating risk, and the construction phase plan.

5

Notification and the health and safety file

F10 notification thresholds, the health and safety file, and competence.

Outcomes

What you will be able to do afterwards

  • Recognise when CDM applies, including to domestic clients
  • Identify the duty holders and their main duties
  • Explain what a client must do
  • Describe design risk management and the construction phase plan
  • Know when to notify HSE and what the health and safety file is for

Your legal duty

The law behind cdm awareness training

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 set out duties for clients, designers, principal designers, principal contractors, contractors and workers across the whole life of a construction project. They apply to all construction work, including domestic projects, where the client's duties normally pass to the contractor or principal contractor.

Notification to HSE is required where construction work is scheduled to last longer than 30 working days with more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point, or exceeds 500 person days. Notification does not change the duties. It simply tells the regulator the project exists.

  • Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM)
  • Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 - sections 2 and 3
  • Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 - risk assessment
  • Work at Height, PUWER and LOLER apply to the work itself

Practicalities

How the course works

WhereOnline, in a browser: phone, tablet or computer
WhenStart straight after payment; pause and resume any time
How longAround 30 to 45 minutes, with no time limit on completion
AssessmentKnowledge checks in every lesson, then a 12-question assessment. Pass mark 70% (9 of 12), retake as often as you need
CertificateIssued when you pass the assessment, downloadable as a PDF
RefresherRecommended every 3 years

Would you rather have a tutor?

Site managers and supervisors generally need SMSTS or SSSTS alongside CDM awareness.

See CITB Site Safety Plus courses

For employers

CDM Awareness training for a team

CDM awareness is worth having across a project team, because most CDM failures are co-ordination failures rather than technical ones.

  • One invoice instead of a card payment per person
  • Licences allocated as people join, so induction is covered
  • Completion and expiry reporting for your records
  • Renewal reminders before certificates lapse
  • Bespoke versions built around your own procedures

CDM Awareness eLearning: common questions

Yes. CDM 2015 applies to all construction work regardless of size, including domestic projects. What changes with size is whether the project is notifiable and how the client's duties are handled.

CDM applies to domestic projects, but the client duties normally transfer to the contractor, or to the principal contractor where there is more than one contractor. The course explains how that works.

Where construction work is scheduled to last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point, or exceeds 500 person days.

No. This is awareness training. The principal designer role requires the skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capability the Regulations describe.

About 30 to 45 minutes, with no time limit: start it, pause it, and come back whenever suits. The certificate is issued as soon as you pass the end assessment.

Yes. It runs in a browser on any modern phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install.

Yes. Open a business account and we invoice you for the licences, which you allocate as people need them, with completion reporting included.

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