Contractor Duties – In a Nutshell

General Duties

• A Contractor MUST have the Skills, Knowledge and Training & Experience (SKATE) to take on the role
• If the Contractor appoints any other Designers or Contractors – Make sure they have necessary SKATE
• Co-operate with everyone involved in the project and make sure everyone under their control co-operates with each other
• Report any Health & Safety issues that they become aware of to whom they are working for
• When providing information or instruction – make sure it is comprehensible and provide in good time

Specific Duties

The Contractor must

• Ensure that the Client is aware of their duties – if not they must not start
• Plan, manage and monitor construction work including that of others under their control
• Comply with direction of the Principal Contractor and/or Principal Designer when applicable
• Comply with the Construction Phase Plan
• If they are the only contractor they must take account of the General Principles of Prevention when
  • Deciding design, technical and organisational aspects of the work
  • Estimating the time required for the work
• Prepare a Construction Phase Plan BEFORE work starts on site (when they are the only contractor on a project)
• Provide each worker with supervision, instruction and information including a site induction (if there is no principal contractor induction)
• Prevent unauthorised access to the site
• Provide (where not provided by a Principal Contractor) welfare facilities to comply with Schedule 2.

Note – This page is for guidance only. Application on a project must comply with the official HSE issue of the Regulations