CDM Regulations 2024: Is There a New Version? What Actually Applies
Plenty of people search for the CDM regulations 2024, expecting a fresh set of rules to have landed. The short answer is that there is no separate CDM 2024. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 are still the current regulation and remain in force unchanged. What has moved on around them is the wider legal picture, chiefly the Building Safety Act 2022 and its new regime for higher-risk buildings. This guide explains what actually applies in 2024 and beyond, why the confusion arises, and what you genuinely need in place on site.
Is there a CDM 2024?
No. There is no set of regulations called CDM 2024. The governing regulation is still the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, usually shortened to CDM 2015, which came into force on 6 April 2015 and replaced the earlier 2007 version. When someone refers to the CDM regulations in 2024, they are almost always talking about CDM 2015, because that is the version that applies to construction projects in Great Britain today. Nothing about the core duty holder structure has been replaced.
Why people search for CDM 2024
The confusion is understandable. The construction safety landscape genuinely changed after the Grenfell Tower fire, and the Building Safety Act 2022 introduced significant new duties that started to bite through 2023 and 2024. Because those changes arrived in stages, people reasonably assume CDM itself must have been rewritten to match. It was not. The Act sits alongside CDM 2015 rather than replacing it, so both apply at once, and that overlap is what makes 2024 feel like a year of new rules.
What the Building Safety Act 2022 changed
The Building Safety Act 2022 created a new, stricter regime aimed mainly at higher-risk buildings, which are broadly residential buildings of at least 18 metres or seven storeys with two or more dwellings. For those projects a new set of dutyholders and a gateway approval process apply, overseen by the Building Safety Regulator. The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 brought much of this into effect from October 2023, introducing the design and build dutyholder duties that competence, cooperation and information sharing now hang on.
The key point for most site teams is this: unless you are working on a higher-risk building, the new higher-risk regime does not change your day to day duties. CDM 2015 remains the framework you plan and record your project against.
What still applies under CDM 2015
The structure you already know is unchanged. CDM 2015 still sets out the same duty holders and the same core obligations.
- Client. Makes suitable arrangements for managing the project, appoints the other duty holders in writing, and provides pre-construction information.
- Principal designer. Plans, manages and monitors the pre-construction phase and coordinates health and safety in design.
- Principal contractor. Plans, manages and monitors the construction phase and draws up the construction phase plan.
- Designers and contractors. Eliminate and reduce risk through their work and cooperate with the principal duty holders.
The notification threshold is unchanged too. A project is notifiable to the HSE if construction is scheduled to last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers at any one time, or exceeds 500 person days.
What this means on site in 2024
For the vast majority of projects, ordinary domestic and commercial building work, the practical position in 2024 is identical to 2015. You still need a construction phase plan before work starts, you still need risk assessments and method statements, you still need proper welfare, and you still need a health and safety file where the project involves more than one contractor. The paperwork that proves your project is being managed safely is exactly the same paperwork CDM 2015 has always required.
Common misunderstandings
The biggest myth is that a new CDM version in 2024 has thrown out everything that went before. It has not. The second is assuming the Building Safety Act applies to every job, when its higher-risk regime is aimed at tall residential buildings, not a house extension or a shop refit. The third is thinking the changes removed the need for a construction phase plan or a health and safety file. They did the opposite, if anything, the direction of travel is more emphasis on competence, record keeping and being able to show who was responsible for what.
Frequently asked questions
Are there new CDM regulations in 2024?
No. There is no CDM 2024. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 remain the current regulation and apply unchanged. The main development around them is the Building Safety Act 2022, which introduced a separate regime for higher-risk buildings.
Which CDM regulations apply now?
CDM 2015 applies. It has been the governing regulation for construction projects in Great Britain since 6 April 2015, and it was not replaced in 2023 or 2024. The same client, principal designer, principal contractor, designer and contractor duties still apply.
Did the Building Safety Act replace CDM 2015?
No. The Building Safety Act 2022 sits alongside CDM 2015. It adds stricter dutyholder and gateway requirements for higher-risk buildings, but ordinary projects continue to be governed by CDM 2015 in the same way as before.
The shortcut
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This article is general guidance for UK construction and is not legal advice. For requirements specific to your work, check current HSE guidance and your own duty holder obligations under CDM 2015 and the Building Safety Act 2022.