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Part of our CDM 2015 series. See CDM Regulations 2015 explained for every duty holder and key document in one place.
Design decisions fix many of the risks that workers later face on site and that maintenance teams face for decades afterwards. That is why CDM 2015 places duties on designers, and why the definition of a designer is much wider than architects and engineers.
Who counts as a designer?
A designer is anyone who, as part of a business, prepares or modifies a design for a structure or a product or system for a structure, or arranges for or instructs someone else to do so. That includes:
- Architects, architectural technologists and interior designers
- Structural, civil and building services engineers
- Temporary works designers
- Contractors who design, including design and build firms and specialist subcontractors
- Surveyors and others who specify materials or methods
- Manufacturers who design bespoke products for a specific project
- Clients who specify particular materials or methods
Every designer duty at a glance
| Duty | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Check the client knows their duties | A designer must not start work on a project unless satisfied the client is aware of its CDM duties. |
| Eliminate foreseeable risks | Take account of the general principles of prevention and any pre-construction information to eliminate risks to anyone building, maintaining, cleaning or using the structure as a workplace. |
| Reduce or control the risks that remain | Where a risk cannot be eliminated, reduce or control it through the design, giving priority to collective measures over individual ones. |
| Provide information | Give the principal designer, other designers and contractors information about significant remaining risks, in a clear and usable form. |
| Cooperate | Work with the principal designer and other duty holders, and help prepare the health and safety file. |
The ERIC approach to design risk
Many design teams use the ERIC acronym to apply the duty in practice. It is industry shorthand rather than wording from the regulations.
| Step | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Eliminate | Remove the hazard through design | Specify factory-finished components so no on-site cutting creates silica dust |
| Reduce | Reduce the risk if it cannot be removed | Specify lighter blocks to reduce manual handling |
| Inform | Tell others about the remaining risk | Note on drawings that a roof light is fragile and needs protection |
| Control | Design in controls | Include permanent edge protection and safe access for roof maintenance |
What good design risk information looks like
- Focused on significant and unusual risks, not obvious ones every competent contractor knows
- Specific to this project, location and design
- Shown where people will see it, such as on drawings, rather than buried in a long register
- Updated when the design changes
Designs prepared outside Great Britain
Where a design is prepared or modified outside Great Britain for use here, the person who commissions it, if established in Great Britain, or otherwise the client, must make sure the designer duties are met.
Training that helps
Our CDM awareness eLearning gives design teams a quick introduction to their duties. For a recognised qualification, the NEBOSH Health and Safety Management for Construction certificate covers design risk management, and designers of temporary works can look at our Temporary Works Coordinator course.
Where this fits in SMSTS and SSSTS
Design risk and how designers fit into a project are part of the CDM content on SMSTS and SSSTS. Our free SMSTS mock test and SSSTS mock test let you check your knowledge before the course or a refresher, and you can email yourself the results sheet at the end.
When you are ready, the five day SMSTS course is for site managers and the two day SSSTS course is for supervisors. If your certificate is due, the SMSTS refresher and SSSTS refresher keep it current.
Frequently asked questions
Is a contractor a designer under CDM?
Yes, if it prepares or modifies a design, including temporary works design or design and build work.
Does a designer have to produce a design risk assessment?
CDM does not require a document by that name. It requires designers to eliminate, reduce or control risks and to provide information about significant remaining risks.
Can a client be a designer?
Yes. A client who specifies particular materials, products or methods is acting as a designer for those decisions.
What does ERIC stand for?
Eliminate, reduce, inform, control. It is industry shorthand for how designers manage risk.
Read the source
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, regulations 2, 8, 9 and 10; HSE guidance L153, Managing health and safety in construction; and CITB industry guidance for designers. Facts checked on 6 October 2026.
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