Dutyholder Responsibilities
The government introduced the concept of dutyholders into the Building Regulations 2010 on the 1st October 2023, through what is often referred to as “Part 2A”.
Part 2A of the Building Regulations applies to all regulated building work to varying degrees. There are however some misconceptions about the three roles, not helped by the fact that the same three dutyholders exist under health and safety legislation.
Dutyholders are defined as: –
- Client
- Principal Designer
- Principal Contractor
“Client” means any person for whom work is carried out
“Principal Designer” means the principal designer appointed under Regulation 11D to perform the duties of the principal designer under the Building Regulations
“Principal Contractor” means the principal contractor appointed under Regulation 11D to perform the duties of the principal designer under the Building Regulations
Domestic Client
Ordinarily a client must make suitable arrangements for the planning, managing and monitoring of a project to ensure compliance with relevant requirements (of Building Regulations). They must ensure that the design of a building, and its construction is carried out so that it meets the requirements of the regulations. In doing so, they should also carry out periodic reviews of the work.
The client must cooperate with anyone working on the project, or any other person such as a registered building inspector. They must also ensure that building information is provided as soon as possible to the designers and contractors.
Where projects relate to your home, the client is defined as a “domestic client”. In this situation client responsibilities pass to the contractor if there is only one contractor, or principal contractor or principal designer if there is more than one contractor.
If the domestic client fails to appoint a principal designer or principal contractor, then the designer in control of the design work is the principal designer, and the contractor in charge of the construction phase is the principal contractor.
Principal Designer/Contractor
These people (or organisations) must have the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours necessary to achieve compliance with the Building Regulations.
We interpret this to mean that your designer/contractor must have previous experience of undertaking the work that you have asked them to do. This means that you shouldn’t ask an architect, or designer to design your office building if all they have previously designed is domestic extensions. Similarly, you may want to ask your builder if they have ever constructed similar buildings to your work before, or check that they are familiar with a certain type of construction, e.g. installation of gas membranes in ground floors. If they have not undertaken the type of work that you require them to do, then they must be supervised by someone that has that experience.
Practical Application of Part 2A
We will not be auditing compliance with Part 2A when you make an application, however, if we unfortunately need to take enforcement action, then the skills of the designer or contractor could then form part of any formal action that we take.
The dutyholders must communicate with each other and ensure that relevant information is provided to the builder, and ourselves, in a timely manner.
Completion Declaration
On completion of the building work the three duty holders will need to sign a declaration before we can issue a completion certificate. This will be sent to the client at some point before the completion inspection.
The client will sign to say that to the best of their knowledge the work complies with the Building Regulations. The designer and contractor will sign to say that they have undertaken their duties in accordance with Part 2A. This is not a declaration for any other purpose than Part 2A of the Building Regulations and it does not commit the designer to inspecting the work on site, unless there is a problem with that person’s design.
DIY work
We do not need the declaration signing when the work is carried out entirely by the client. If, however, there has been the need to use a contractor, e.g. an electrician, then the declaration needs to be completed by the client and the contractor. We would expect the contractor to also sign the designer section where no plans have been produced.
Disputes
We are aware that occasionally there are disputes amongst the dutyholders, which may mean that the client can’t obtain all three signatures. In the first instance please contact our support team by email or in writing, setting out the reasons why you are unable to obtain the signatures.
Liabilities
Part 2A is a reminder that responsibility and liability for compliance with Building Regulations remains with those designing and undertaking the building work, not the local authority.
Building Control is not a clerk of works, or principal designer, our inspections only allow us to see a snapshot of the work undertaken, therefore our completion certificate is not a guarantee of compliance. Any disputes about compliance should be addressed by the dutyholders.