ACE publishes Amendment Sheet covering CDM 2015

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (“ACE”) has published an amendment sheet (“Amendment Sheet”) for the ACE Agreements 2009 Edition, Second Revision covering the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (“CDM 2015”) which came into force on 6 April 2015.   For a copy of the Amendment Sheet, click here.

The amendments all concern the Schedules of Services to the ACE Agreements and do not amend the “front end” of the ACE Agreements.  They relate to the need to co-operate with the Principal Designer, rather than the services that any such role would include. 

As the role of the Principal Designer is wider than that of CDM-Co-ordinator and includes duties which potentially give rise to strict liability, we advise that those appointed as principal designer carefully consider the terms of their appointment and the agreed scope of their services.

In addition, it is important that those who are not appointed as Principal Designer understand at the outset of any project who will take on the role and how they will collaborate with that person.  If the client does not appoint a principal designer there will be significant risks for the design team (for example, on domestic projects, the designer with control over the pre-construction phase will assume the role even if not appointed in writing). 

For more information on CDM 2015 and the ACE amendments, or if you would like assistance with any Principal Designer appointment, please contact Sheena Sood on s.sood@beale-law.com and/or Andrew Croft on a.croft@beale-law.com.