1

What is Pre-Construction Information?

1) Pre-construction information provides the health and safety information needed by:
• designers and contractors who are bidding for work on the project, or who have already been appointed, to enable them to carry out their duties
• principal designers and principal contractors in planning, managing, monitoring and co-ordinating the work of the project. It also provides a basis for the preparation of the construction phase plan. Some material may also be relevant to the preparation of the health and safety file

2) Pre-construction information is defined as information about the project that is already in the client’s possession or which is reasonably obtainable by or on behalf of the client. The information must:

• be relevant to the particular project
• have an appropriate level of detail
• be proportionate, given the nature of the health and safety risks involved

3) Pre-construction information should be gathered and added to as the design process progresses to reflect new information about the risks to health or safety and how they should be managed. Preliminary information gathered at the start of the project is unlikely to be sufficient.

4) When pre-construction information is complete it must include proportionate information about:
• the project, such as the client brief and key dates of the construction phase
• the planning and management of the project, such as the resources and time being allocated to each stage of the project and the arrangements to ensure there is co-operation between duty holders and that the work is co-ordinated
• the health or safety hazards of the site, including design and construction hazards and how they will be addressed
• any relevant information in an existing health and safety file

2

What about domestic clients?

If your client is a DOMESTIC client their duties (inc the preparation of the Pre-Construction Information) must be carried out by;

• The Contractor, for a project where there is only one contractor
• The principal contractor, for a project where there is more than one contractor
• The principal designer where there is a written agreement that the principal designer will fulfil these duties

3

Easy to edit Pre-Construction Information

Much of the information contained in this document is specific to the individual job and must therefore be carefully prepared for each separate project you carry out.

In the Pre-construction Info screen, you are guided through editing the text of the Pre-construction Information document. However If you want to save any of the changes you have made to the text of Pre-Construction Information for use in other projects in the future, you can do this using the Save As button.

Once you are satisfied with the content of the Pre-construction Info, simply press Print button to print a copy.

4

Clear. Concise. Comprehensive

The information should be in a convenient form and be clear, concise and easily understandable to allow other duty holder involved in the project to carry out their duties.

The client has the main responsibility for providing pre-construction information. However, the principal designer must help and advise the client.

Use the Pre-Construction Information tab included with Health & Safety Xpert to help you prepare a comprehensive and detailed Pre-construction Information document for each job you carry out.