Building Regulations Principal Designer
Coordinating Design Compliance
Good design needs to do more than look right.
It needs to work technically, coordinate across disciplines and satisfy the requirements that govern how buildings are designed and constructed.
As Building Regulations Principal Designer, Jervis Architects plans, manages, monitors and coordinates the design work so that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that, if constructed in accordance with the design, the building work complies with the relevant requirements of the Building Regulations.
For projects in England involving, or reasonably expected to involve, more than one contractor, the client must appoint a Principal Designer in writing to take control of the design work.
Our approach is straightforward:
Define the requirements. Coordinate the design. Review compliance. Manage change.
What Does a Building Regulations Principal Designer Do?
The Building Regulations Principal Designer leads the coordination of the design team in relation to Building Regulations compliance.
Rather than each consultant considering their part of the project in isolation, the Principal Designer helps ensure that architectural, structural, fire, energy, accessibility, building-services and specialist design information is considered together.
The role includes planning, managing and monitoring design work, coordinating designers, encouraging cooperation between the project team and taking reasonable steps to ensure designers fulfil their duties under the Building Regulations.
The aim is simple:
A coordinated design in which Building Regulations compliance is considered throughout the design process, not checked as an afterthought.
Our Building Regulations Principal Designer Process
01 - APPOINT
Establish responsibility
The process starts with establishing the project dutyholders, design team and responsibilities.
Where more than one contractor is involved, or is reasonably foreseeable, the client is required to appoint a Principal Designer in writing.
The Principal Designer must be a designer with control over the design work and must have the necessary competence to fulfil the role. Where the Principal Designer is an organisation, it must have the appropriate organisational capability and designate a suitably competent individual to manage its Principal Designer functions.
For most projects the appointment must be made before the construction phase begins. Different timing requirements apply to higher-risk building work.
In simple terms:
Who is responsible for coordinating the design for Building Regulations compliance?
02 - DEFINE
Establish the compliance strategy
At the beginning of the technical design process, we identify the Building Regulations requirements relevant to the project and establish how compliance will be considered and demonstrated.
Depending on the project, this may involve matters including:
Structure
Fire safety
Ventilation
Resistance to moisture
Sound insulation
Sanitation and drainage
Accessibility
Energy efficiency
Electrical safety
Overheating
Infrastructure for electric vehicles
Other relevant requirements applicable to the project
We establish the responsibilities of the different designers and identify where specialist input, calculations, reports or further design information will be required.
In simple terms:
What does the building need to comply with - and who is responsible for demonstrating it?
03 - COORDINATE
Bring the design team together
Building Regulations compliance rarely sits with one designer.
The architect, structural engineer, building-services engineer, energy consultant, fire specialist and other designers may all contribute information that affects the compliance of the completed design.
As Principal Designer, we coordinate matters relating to the design work and take reasonable steps to ensure designers cooperate with one another and that their respective designs are appropriately coordinated.
This allows interfaces, gaps and conflicting information to be identified while the design can still be developed and resolved.
In simple terms:
Does everybody's design work together?
04 - REVIEW
Monitor design compliance
As the project develops, we monitor the design information produced by the project team and review how the relevant Building Regulations requirements are being addressed.
Designers remain responsible for the design work they undertake, but the Principal Designer has an additional duty to plan, manage, monitor and coordinate that design work and take reasonable steps to ensure designers fulfil their duties.
Where information is incomplete, inconsistent or raises a compliance concern, we work with the relevant designer to identify what needs to be resolved.
The objective is not simply to create more drawings.
It is to create clear, coordinated and considered information that demonstrates the compliance strategy for the project.
In simple terms:
Can we demonstrate how the design satisfies the Building Regulations?
05 - CONTROL
Manage design change
Projects evolve.
Products change, details develop, contractors propose alternatives and unforeseen conditions can require the design to be reconsidered during construction.
Those changes can affect Building Regulations compliance.
Where design work continues during construction, we liaise with the Principal Contractor and relevant designers so that changes affecting the design are properly considered and coordinated.
The Building Regulations require the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor to share information relevant to the planning, management, monitoring and coordination of the design and building work.
This helps prevent seemingly small changes in one part of the project creating unintended problems elsewhere.
In simple terms:
If the design changes, does the project still comply?
06 - COMPLETE
Close out the design process
As the project moves towards completion, we review outstanding design matters and coordinate the information required to close out our Principal Designer responsibilities.
Where our Principal Designer appointment ends, the Building Regulations require us to provide the client, within 28 days, with a document explaining the arrangements put in place to fulfil our Principal Designer duties.
Where another Principal Designer takes over, the incoming Principal Designer must review the arrangements previously put in place.
The aim is to maintain continuity of responsibility and provide a clear record of how design compliance has been managed.
In simple terms:
Have the design responsibilities been properly coordinated, recorded and handed over?
The Building Regulations PD Journey
Appoint → Define → Coordinate → Review → Control → Complete
Our aim is to make Building Regulations compliance an integral part of the architectural process.
By establishing responsibilities early, coordinating specialist designers and reviewing information as it develops, compliance can be considered alongside the design rather than becoming a separate exercise at the end of the project.
When Do I Need a Building Regulations Principal Designer?
For projects in England where there is more than one contractor, or where it is reasonably foreseeable that more than one contractor will work on the project, the client must appoint a Principal Designer and a Principal Contractor in writing.
This can apply to projects of many different scales and is not limited to large or complex developments.
The Principal Designer must be a designer with control over the design work and have the competence necessary for the particular project.
For domestic clients, the regulations contain specific provisions governing how dutyholder responsibilities operate.
If you are unsure which appointments are required for your project, we can help establish the appropriate responsibilities at an early stage.
Building Regulations Principal Designer Services
Depending on the project and scope of our appointment, our service can include:
Building Regulations Principal Designer appointment
Establishment of dutyholder responsibilities
Review of available building and project information
Building Regulations compliance strategy
Designer responsibility matrix
Coordination of architectural and consultant design information
Coordination of specialist designers
Design compliance reviews
Identification of information gaps and interfaces
Monitoring of designers' Building Regulations duties
Liaison with the Principal Contractor
Review and coordination of design changes
Coordination of compliance-related information
Principal Designer handover and close-out documentation
Principal Designer Integrated With Architecture
At Jervis Architects, we believe the Building Regulations Principal Designer role works best when it is integrated with the design process.
Government guidance makes clear that the Principal Designer should be part of the design team and have genuine influence over design decisions, rather than operate as a third-party compliance reviewer with no control over the design.
As architects, we are already working at the point where many of the project's key design decisions are made.
Bringing Principal Designer coordination into that process allows architectural design, technical development, consultant coordination and Building Regulations considerations to be considered together.
Better coordination. Clearer responsibility. More considered design.
CDM Principal Designer or Building Regulations Principal Designer?
The two roles have similar names but different responsibilities.
CDM Principal Designer
Focuses primarily on managing foreseeable health and safety risks arising from design under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.
Building Regulations Principal Designer
Focuses on planning, managing, monitoring and coordinating design work for Building Regulations compliance.
On suitable projects, the same organisation may undertake both roles, but they remain separate statutory appointments with different duties.
Understanding that distinction at the beginning of a project helps establish clear responsibilities from the outset.
Principal Designer and Building Control
The Building Regulations Principal Designer role should not be confused with the role of Building Control.
The Principal Designer is part of the project design team and coordinates the design process in relation to compliance.
Building Control provides the separate regulatory building-control function.
Our role as Principal Designer is therefore not simply to obtain Building Regulations approval. It is to help ensure that compliance is properly considered, coordinated and managed within the design itself.
Speak to Jervis Architects
If you are planning a project and require a Building Regulations Principal Designer, Jervis Architects can help establish the appropriate dutyholder responsibilities and discuss the level of service required.
Where we are also appointed as architect, the Principal Designer role can be integrated directly into the wider architectural and technical design process.