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• • • •
increase the requirement to record fi re risk assessment;
increase the requirement to record fi re safety arrangement;
enhance requirements for coordination and cooperation;
ensure residents have access to fi re safety information. Regardless of the “Golden Thread,” haven’t the majority of these requirements been the case since the advent of the CDM Regulations?
The CDM regulations 1994 came into effect in March of 1995, and are still in force with the latest revision CDM 2015. While names and roles have changed or become obsolete, those who’ve worked in our industry for decades can see that the core principles haven’t really changed. The DNA of the regulations has always been to ensure the need for architects and designers to ensure that occupiers, property managers, facility managers and maintenance contractors can effectively manage and maintain the buildings, whether newly constructed or refurbished, and the regulations established the need for a Health & Safety fi le which should evolve and document the building throughout its life.
All informed professionals, contractors and clients know this, so aren’t the recent legislative changes merely reinforcing what the CDM regulations state should be done? When considering the recent requirements of the “Golden Thread” it’s clear to see that the core requirements are unchanged, and “communication” is key to end users. This is the same for all construction projects, and potentially even more important in educational establishments where challenges include: • •
ageing building stock;
• •
•
evolving educational needs requiring adaptation and change; limited funds;
severe timing restriction on projects (holiday and funding periods);
historically poor record keeping (pre- 1994);
Over time, there has been a signifi cant increase in the information end users of a building receive during and at the end of a project. Technology, PDFs, Building Information Management (BIM), and a myriad of facilities management IT solutions have given us this information “on tap”. Yet because of this digital
ADF MAY 2025
progress, many end users still fi nd it diffi cult to make sense of the information, keep it up-to-date when changes happen, prioritise legislative requirements and pass the right information onto end users. So how can we improve the information
fl ow so the “Golden Thread” and CDM regulations are adhered to?
1. An up-to-date record of how the estate is run
De-clutter historic documents and records into an archive. Some records are required for proof of maintenance etc but it’s essential that an estates team knows what’s important to the current operation of a building. Architects, or the Principal Designer, can help with this process from the outset of a project.
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
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