PROJECT SUPERVISOR FOR DESIGN PROCESS:
Introducing...the enforcer

Health and safety professionals will make way for the new bulked up role of PSDP. Not surprisingly architects and engineers are uneasy

We are drawing towards the end of the transitional period during which those appointed as Project Supervisor for the Design Stage (PSDS) prior to 6 November 2006 could continue to discharge the duties under the old regulations (save for any further extensions mandated by the Health and Safety Authority).

All appointments since that date are as Project Supervisor for the Design Process (PSDP) pursuant to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006.

At the time these came into effect, there was some unease amongst architects and engineers that the new duties imposed upon the PSDP were too onerous, would not be covered by professional indemnity insurance and with increasing personal liability introduced by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (the 2005 Act), it was thought that the PSDP role would fall almost exclusively to health and safety professionals.

So what are the duties of the PSDP and are they as bad as they look? The Construction Regulations 2006 were aimed, in large part, at increasing the duties owed by clients, designers and project supervisors, particularly the PSDP, to ensure that risks involved in construction work are either eliminated or managed effectively during both the planning and design process, as well as at construction stage. As part of this, the role of the PSDP was expanded significantly
from that of the PSDS.

Who can be appointed as PSDP?

The PSDP must be an individual or a body corporate – a partnership or joint venture may no longer be appointed to this role. Given the expanded duties and the increased exposure to personal liability under the current health and safety regime, this change alone may have prevented many architectural and engineering practices taking on the role where they operate as partnerships, as no individual, and understandably so, was willing to assume the expanded duties imposed upon the PSDP. The PSDP must have the competence and resources required to take on the role, which will include health and safety qualifications, experience and expertise relevant to the role and the specific characteristics of the relevant project.

This article was written by Niav O’Higgins, partner, Construction, Arthur Cox and is an extract from the July/August issue of the Irish Construction Industry Magazine - Click Here to Subscribe