RIBA Encourages Architects to Embrace Principal Designer Role

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) encourages architects to embrace the role of principal designer under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) Regulations and the Building Regulations and make it their own.

RIBA has published its Principal Designer Practice Note to set out the institute’s position on the roles under the two regulatory regimes to offer best practice guidance for members intending to accept an appointment as principal designer under either regime. This practice note covers the CDM Regulations (Great Britain) and the Building Regulations (England).

The origin of principal designer duties goes back to 1995, when the first statutory duties for a designer with control over the design team were enshrined in law. Since then, these statutory duties have developed to reflect the principal designer duties that exist today, with the most recent development being the introduction of additional duties with respect to Building Regulations compliance under the Building Safety Act 2022.

New secondary legislation published in August 2023, under the Building Safety Act 2022, introduced new duties under The Building Regulations 2010 via The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 for the client, designer, principal designer, contractor and principal contractor. The amended Building Regulations has a similar definition for principal designer as the CDM Regulations, defining the principal designer as a designer with control over the design work (which applies to all buildings in England, requiring building control approval).

Principle designers are not expected to know all the detail of all the applicable guidance and standards that apply to the design and construction of your project, but need to be sufficiently familiar with the regulatory requirements of the CDM and Building Regulations to know when they apply and where to find the relevant guidance and/or where to seek advice at the appropriate time.

For further information view RIBA’s Principal Designer Practice Note.