The Building Safety Act gave clients a new dutyholder to appoint. We carry it.
On building work that involves more than one designer or contractor, the client must appoint a Principal Designer for Building Regulations in writing. It's a separate duty from the one CDM 2015 already requires, even though it carries the same job title. If you're a client or developer commissioning building work, that duty is now yours. Spectra takes it on for you.
One of very few firms that can carry both Principal Designer duties on the same project.
Same name. Different law. Often a separate appointment.
There are two Principal Designer roles in UK construction, and confusing them is the most common mistake we see. One keeps people safe during the work. The other is about the building itself being compliant. Appointing one does not cover you for the other.
Manages health and safety during the design phase under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The role is about keeping people safe while the work is designed and built.
Introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022. Responsible for planning, managing and coordinating the design so that, if built as designed, the project complies with the Building Regulations.
Same job title, different legislation, different responsibilities, often a separate appointment. A project may legally require both, and one does not cover you for the other.
If your building work involves more than one designer or contractor, this is your duty.
Under the Building Safety Act, the client must appoint a Principal Designer for Building Regulations on that work, from a domestic extension to a multi-million-pound development. Here's how it lands.
Where more than one designer or contractor is involved, the client must appoint a competent Principal Designer in writing. That applies right across the scale of project size.
If your project is a Higher-Risk Building under the Act, additional requirements apply on top, including the gateway regime and stricter evidence and competence expectations. We'll tell you early whether your project falls into that category.
The duty falls to you as the client by default, unless you're a domestic client, in which case it sits with your contractor or designer. That leaves you accountable for compliance across the design, with enforcement and unlimited fines if it isn't done right.
As your Principal Designer for Building Regulations, we carry the work.
You get a named consultant who reads your project, and one appointment that can also cover your CDM duty. Here's what that means in practice.
So the project is designed to meet the Building Regulations from the outset, not retro-fitted to pass at the end.
So every discipline is working to the same compliance picture, with a clear record of design decisions.
The golden-thread information the Act now expects, so you can show how and why the design meets the regulations.
Across the design team, as the Act requires of the role, so the people doing the work can demonstrate they're up to it.
Early, where they apply, so the gateway requirements don't ambush your programme later on.
Who reads your project and stays on the appointment, with one engagement that can also cover your CDM 2015 duty.
Both duties with one team that knows your drawings, your programme and your client.
Spectra is one of very few consultancies that can act as your Principal Designer under both CDM 2015 and the Building Safety Act on the same project. That matters for a practical reason: the two duties run alongside each other through the design phase, and a gap between two separate suppliers is exactly where things get missed. With Spectra, both duties sit with one team. No stitching together advice. No assuming the other supplier picked it up.
Matthew carries the duty and stays on the appointment.
An APS-backed specialist who has stood on site, kept as your ongoing point of contact from first call to handover, and on the work that follows it. Not a one-off engagement, and not a different voice every time you ring.
“The two duties run alongside each other through the design phase. Put both with one team that knows your drawings, and the gap where things get missed simply isn't there.”
Book a free duty-holder callGet the duty off your desk in four steps.
Principal Designer (Building Safety Act) questions
What is a Principal Designer under the Building Safety Act?
Is this the same as the CDM Principal Designer?
Who has to appoint a Principal Designer for Building Regulations?
What happens if I don't appoint one?
My project is a Higher-Risk Building. Does that change things?
Can you act as both my CDM and Building Safety Act Principal Designer?
Get the duty off your desk.
Book a free duty-holder call with Matthew. We'll confirm which Principal Designer duties your project triggers, whether it's a Higher-Risk Building, and what you need to do next. Call 0161 926 8519 or book online. Nationwide, from our Altrincham base.