CDM 2015 applies to almost every job an electrician does — from a single-trade rewire in an occupied home to a multi-contractor commercial fit-out. This guide explains the duties that fall on you as a contractor, when a Construction Phase Plan and HSE F10 notification are required, and the documents (RAMS, induction, permit-to-work) you should have in place to demonstrate compliance.
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The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 ("CDM 2015") are the principal set of health and safety regulations governing construction work in Great Britain. They are enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and replaced CDM 2007 on 6 April 2015. The detailed practical guidance sits in HSE Approved Code of Practice L153, "Managing health and safety in construction".
CDM 2015 is deliberately broad in scope. "Construction work" includes alteration, conversion, fitting-out, commissioning, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration, maintenance involving a structural element, decommissioning, demolition and dismantling. The vast majority of electrical work — from a board change to a full rewire to a substation installation — sits inside that definition.
If you are working on a building, you are doing construction work, and CDM 2015 applies. The only question is which duties fall on you. Treat "I am an electrician, not a builder" as the wrong starting point — the regulations do not draw that line.
CDM 2015 sits alongside, not in place of, BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 and the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. BS 7671 governs the technical adequacy of the installation; EAWR 1989 governs the safe use of electrical systems at work; CDM 2015 governs how the construction work itself is planned, managed and delivered safely.
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CDM 2015 distributes duties across six roles. On a small electrical job all of these may sit with one or two people; on a large commercial site they will be separate companies. Knowing which role you occupy on each job is the first compliance step.
If you are the only contractor on a job, you are a Contractor under Reg 15. There is no Principal Contractor (because Principal roles only exist where there is more than one contractor), so the Client duties under Reg 4 sit directly with the Client. On a domestic job, those Client duties transfer to you under Regulation 7 by default.
CDM 2015 applies to all construction work in Great Britain. "Construction work" in Reg 2 is wide — refurbishment, redecoration, alteration, fitting-out, commissioning, decommissioning, repair, upkeep, and any maintenance that involves a structural element are all in scope.
For larger projects with more than one contractor — even where you are the only electrician — CDM imposes the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor appointment duties on the Client. Once appointed, those Principal roles take over the planning and management functions for their phase of the project.
A domestic client is, in CDM 2015 terms, a Client for whom a project is carried out which is not done in connection with a business — typically a homeowner. The regulations recognise that homeowners cannot reasonably be expected to act as Clients in the way a commercial developer can, so Regulation 7 reallocates the Client duties.
On a typical "rewire one house, one electrician" job, you are simultaneously the Contractor (Reg 15) AND the de-facto Client (Reg 7). That means you must produce the pre-construction information, the Construction Phase Plan, the RAMS, and ensure welfare arrangements are in place — even though no commercial Client is in the chain.
Tools like the RAMS Generator and the Permit-to-Work and Safe Isolation workflow are designed to produce the paperwork you need to evidence Reg 7 + Reg 15 compliance without spending half a day writing it from scratch.
Pre-construction information (PCI) is the information the Client must provide, as early as practicable, to every designer and contractor appointed (or being considered) for the project. The Principal Designer (where appointed) coordinates and supplements it. On single-contractor domestic jobs, the contractor produces it as part of carrying the Client duties under Reg 7.
On a domestic rewire, PCI does not have to be a 40-page document — it can be a one-page summary covering the property type, age, known hazards (asbestos in artex, lath-and-plaster ceilings, occupied during works), supply arrangement and any earlier electrical reports. The point is that the information exists in writing before the work starts.
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Regulation 12 requires that a Construction Phase Plan (CPP) is drawn up before the construction phase begins. There is no minimum-project threshold. A two-day domestic socket-circuit alteration still requires a CPP — it just needs to be proportionate.
HSE L153 is clear that the CPP must be proportionate to the size and risk profile of the project. A single-day fault-finding visit might have a one-page CPP; a six-month commercial fit-out will have many pages. What is not acceptable under CDM 2015 is having no CPP at all.
A project is notifiable to the HSE under Regulation 6 where the construction work will last either: (a) longer than 30 working days AND have more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point, OR (b) exceed 500 person-days of construction work. Notification is the Client's duty, made via HSE Form F10.
You can be working as a sole electrician on a project that is notifiable because of the overall site headcount. The F10 obligation belongs to the Client / Principal Contractor — but you should verify the F10 has been issued and is displayed before you start work. If it should be notifiable and is not, you have a Reg 15 duty to raise this in writing.
Three scenarios cover most electrical CDM situations. Read each one as a checklist of who carries which duty:
There is a Client, a Principal Designer and a Principal Contractor. You are appointed as a Contractor under Reg 15. The CPP exists; the F10 is displayed; site induction is mandatory. Your duties are: produce your own RAMS for each high-risk task, cooperate with the Principal Contractor, follow site rules, report defects, and ensure your workers are competent and inducted. The Site Induction guide covers what to expect.
The homeowner is a domestic client. Under Reg 7, Client duties transfer to you because you are the sole contractor. There is no F10 (small job), no Principal Contractor and no Principal Designer. You must produce the CPP, the PCI summary, the RAMS, manage isolation and welfare arrangements, and complete the work safely. The Full Rewire RAMS guide walks through exactly this scenario.
Typically a half-day to two-day domestic job. Reg 7 still transfers Client duties to you. The CPP is short but mandatory. RAMS must cover working at height (solar), live working procedures, vehicle interface (EV), and isolation of the existing supply. The RAMS for EV Charger Installation guide gives a template.
HSE Approved Code of Practice L153 ("Managing health and safety in construction") is the practical guidance the HSE expects dutyholders to follow. While ACOP guidance is not law, departing from it requires you to demonstrate that you have met the underlying regulations by some other equally effective means. In practice, electricians should treat L153 as the working standard.
A six-step working sequence that maps to CDM 2015 Reg 4-22 and HSE L153. Use it for both domestic and commercial electrical projects, scaled to the size and risk of the job.
Before pricing the job, decide which CDM role you are taking. Sole contractor on a domestic rewire? You are Contractor (Reg 15) and de-facto Client under Reg 7. Sub-contractor on a commercial fit-out? You are Contractor (Reg 15) only — the Principal Contractor handles the rest. Note your role on the quote so the client knows what you are taking on.
For commercial jobs, request the PCI pack from the Client or Principal Designer before mobilising. For domestic jobs where the duty has transferred, produce a one-page PCI summary covering property type, age, known hazards (asbestos, occupied during works, existing supply arrangement) and any prior EICR or installation records.
Every project needs a CPP — even single-day domestic jobs. Cover scope, programme, supervision, site rules (PPE, isolation, hot works), the RAMS list for each significant risk, welfare arrangements, accident reporting and the emergency contact. Use the [RAMS Generator](/tools/rams-generator) to produce the RAMS that feed into the CPP.
Cover live working (or rather: the elimination of live working through safe isolation), working at height, hot works, manual handling, dust generation, confined spaces and any vehicle / public interface. Each RAMS must identify the hazards, control measures, residual risk rating and the competence required to carry out the task. See the [Electrical RAMS Template](/guides/electrical-rams-template-uk) for the structure.
Run a documented toolbox talk / induction on day one of the project covering the CPP, the RAMS, the site rules and emergency arrangements. Record names and signatures. Hold copies of qualifications, ECS / JIB cards, asbestos awareness, IPAF / PASMA where relevant. On notifiable sites, this sits alongside the Principal Contractor's induction.
For every task that touches a live or potentially live system, follow a written safe isolation procedure with a permit-to-work record. Test before touch, lock off, prove dead, prove the tester. On completion, issue the appropriate BS 7671 certificate (EIC / Minor Works / EICR), update the health and safety file if one exists, and retain the project record.
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