The Principal Contractor is a contractor appointed by the client to coordinate the construction phase of a project where it involves more than one contractor. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations requires the principal contractor to plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety during the construction phase of a project.
Clients that routinely appoint Wardell Armstrong as their Principal Designer benefit from us liaising with the principal contractor for the duration of our appointment. Through regular construction phase plan audits, we ensure that information relevant to the planning, management and monitoring of the construction phase and the coordination of health and safety matters during the construction phase is achieved.
We liaise closely with the client regarding the recommendations made during audits and the monitoring of the Principal Contractor’s closeout actions.
Achieving compliance with workplace fire safety requirements is mandatory for all employers. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order requires the ‘responsible person’ to make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the size of their undertaking and the nature of its activities, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures.
Wardell Armstrong assist clients with ensuring that the fire safety arrangements are properly monitored and reviewed. We identify gaps and advise our clients on the suitability of their fire risk assessments, fire management plans, fire alarm and automatic fire detection systems, fire evacuation plans and training.
Workplace audits help employers, owners, landlords and managing agents to comply with their statutory duties defined by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations.
Our workplace audits help ‘duty holders’ to identify the workplace hazards and risks and ensure that existing and proposed health and safety control measures are practical. During workplace audits it is common to find that poor housekeeping affects the integrity of fire escape routes when being used for the storage of materials and equipment and would prompt a review of the fire safety arrangements.
Promoting ownership and achieving higher levels of management commitment are essential behaviours exhibited by safe and healthy workplaces. We work closely with our clients to ensure that their places of work are fully compliant with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations.
