As per the Environment Agency, around 5.2 million properties in England, or one in six properties, are at risk of flooding. For projects in such areas known to be at risk of flooding, a flood risk assessment is required to be submitted with planning applications. And that’s where your principal designer comes in. A principal designer is an organisation or an individual appointed by a commercial or domestic client to take the lead in the pre-construction phase of a project that involves more than one contractor or if it is reasonably foreseeable that more than one contractor will be used on a project.
Required by Law
As per the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 or CDM 2015, clients are legally obligated to appoint a principal designer for any project that hires more than one contractor. CDM 2015 is regulations that govern the way construction projects are planned in the UK, no matter their size. In short, its intention is to reduce the risk of harm to all concerned with the project, which basically entails the builders, the ones who are going to use and take care of them. This includes the potential damage and harm caused to property and humans in the event of a flood. Flood risk assessment is, therefore, an important element that gets covered by the principal designer.
Appointed in Writing
Services to Look for to Mitigate the Effects of Floods
The principal designer you appoint will look into various aspects related to flood risk assessment. Some of them include flood risk analysis, flood flow route analysis and flood scenario modelling, negotiations with insurers, budget advice as well as maintenance of your flood resilience plan. Therefore, it is very important for the principal designer to have the required skills and expertise to carry out the plan.
