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#004

As a developer & investor you are probably breaking the law in the eyes of the Health & Safety Executive when refurbishing your properties…

Sounds extreme doesn’t it….. however it’s unfortunately probably true! Read on to understand the simple steps you can take to protect yourself, your business & your tradespeople.

(And yes this applies to you on your simple BTL that needs a new bathroom & a lick of paint!)

3 caveats from me before we begin…

The first thing I need to caveat here is that this blog isn’t going to be a H&S rant about how everything should stop on your projects and how unsafe everything is!

The second is that I am not a H&S bore who doesn’t understand the practicalities of refurbishing properties as a small developer.

My final caveat is that I will introduce some perspective when it starts getting a bit scary!

So if you want to understand the simple steps to ensure you are compliant & legal, make a few mental notes & take some action on the details below….

To take a step backward before we move forward, and to understand why I’m talking about this topic, it will probably help to understand my background and simple aim for sitting down to write these articles. If we start with the latter; my aim is to take the good principles from the corporate construction world, and simplify them to improve the property development world. This month’s work will be based around H&S, and something called CDM Regulations (which we’ll get to explaining shortly!).

My background - and reason - for understanding this subject of H&S, is a previous life as a site manager running large scale construction sites for a decade. The reason I am now distilling this knowledge into the property world is because for the last 11 years I have been growing a HMO & BTL portfolio, and also now run a medium sized development company constructing new build apartments. Alongside this I am a consultant who helps other people ensure their refurbishment & construction projects run smoothly – essentially between my own businesses & visiting clients projects, I see a lot of property development & therefore a lot of projects onsite. My growing thought is there is a need for a greater understanding around your role as an investor when it comes to developing property safely.

So why are we talking about H&S compliance, all I’m doing is refurbishing a small 2 bed BTL property?

I hear this a lot, and the unfortunate truth is that as a property investor, as soon as you start work on that little BTL you’ve bought, you have entered into a commercial enterprise which means you are now bound by the Construction Design & Management Regulations 2015 – otherwise affectionally known in the industry, as the CDM regs.

Whether you are managing the trades individually or employing a main contractor, you now have a responsibility for H&S compliance.

So what are the consequences of ignoring all this and there being an accident on my refurbishment project?

To put it bluntly and to take the wording from the Health & Safety executive (HSE)….

“Depending on the nature and severity of the breach, penalties can range from monetary fines to periods of imprisonment”

Yes you read that correctly, you can ultimately go to prison under CDM regulations, if the worst was to happen to a tradesperson working on one of your projects.

So I’m assuming I have your full attention now?!

However lets revert back to my promise at the start of this blog for a minute, the one about being practical & this not being a H&S rant to scare people. Yes you can go to prison, however this is unlikely and you would have to be proven grossly negligent, and probably would have needed to be telling some lies & covering up a whole host of H&S infringements for quite a while. With that said, it is very realistic to expect a large fine at the very least.

This seems quite unfair, I’m not qualified to do this - how do I know what the risks are?

Unfortunately this is not how the HSE sees it. There is some practicality here however, and the HSE does not expect you to have the same measures in place as a company building a tower block in a city centre, however there is a basic standard you need to adhere to.

Time to get organised then!

The Construction Design & Management Regulations 2015

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!) there isn’t the space to fully cover this in detail, however what I can provide is a brief overview of how & why it affects you as an investor & developer. Initially we need to talk about the 3 main parties involved & also what the regulations state you have to do….

The 3 main parties involved on a refurbishment project in the eyes of the Health & Safety Executive are:

The Client = The person employing construction professionals or operatives to design & construct your new project

The Principle Designer = This is the person responsible for drawing up the new design, traditionally architects & engineers

The Principle Contractor = The person organising and managing the works onsite to build out the new design

And guess what? If you are a BTL investor refurbishing a property yourself, coming up with your own design, and manging the trades individually….

The HSE sees you as all 3 of these parties, i.e. all responsibility is on you! Back to my promise of some perspective - the design is far less relevant when refurbishing a property, this relates mostly to new build elements, so don’t worry too much!

So what do I need to do?

The following is by no means an exhaustive set of procedures to follow, however if you are carrying out a small to medium sized house refurbishment, these are the basic points that will keep your site safe & compliant. In the eyes of the HSE, you need to:

Plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the project

Take account of the health and safety risks to everyone affected by the work (including members of the public)
Liaise with all parties for the duration of the project to ensure that all risks are effectively managed
Prepare a written construction phase plan before construction begins and then regularly review and revise
Have ongoing arrangements in place for managing health and safety throughout the project
Consult and engage with workers about their health, safety and welfare
Ensure suitable welfare facilities are provided from the start to finish
Ensure all workers are met and briefed when they start onsite
Keep the site secure

How do we distil this down to something easy to implement?

In keeping with the theme of caveats, the information below is my interpretation of how a small to medium sized property investor can put in the work to ensure they are compliant with the regulations. This is not HSE advice, this is my recommendation based on understanding the regulations, with a practical view as an active property investor. To put it another way, if you do these five things below, you will be head & shoulders above any other investors out there & you will be compliant. However most importantly, you could help save a serious accident on your project.

Do these 5 main things:

A simple construction phase plan – this is a brief written document talking about the parties involved, the works involved and the risks involved in your project.
A site induction – this means that before anyone actually starts work on your project, you meet them onsite and talk through the works & any emergency procedures.
Risk Assessments – a simple written document that you & the tradesperson have filled out identifying what the risks are in relation to their works.
Emergency procedures – you have had a conversation on what to do in the event of fire or an accident on site.
Adequate welfare – you have provided basic amenities; a toilet, hand wash facilities & somewhere to rest/sit)

These five actions & documents will ensure that you are hitting a basic minimum standard in the eyes of the HSE, and in reality this will take less than 30 minutes per week once set up and implemented.

To sum up in one sentence; within reason you can do what you want on a construction project, as long as you have planned it, assessed the risks, implemented risk measures and have finally documented it.

To bring this to a close…

This is a very brief overview of a particularly detailed topic, however to make a start & be compliant, you should implement the points above on your projects. This is something you need to take seriously on your refurbishment projects, however it doesn’t need to be difficult or hinder your progress on site. The main objective of this blog is for you as a property investor to understand that this does apply to you, and you do have a responsibility, even with a small scale project.

Once implemented properly it will fall into your normal project management routine and will become second nature. If you do want a one stop shop to become compliant, I offer a H&S pack with all the relevant documents & templates - feel free to contact me through the website or Instagram.

Finally, if you have got this far, well done – health & safety isn’t the most exciting of subjects, however it does need to be at the forefront of your mind when investing & developing property.

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