Pre-construction phase
This is effectively the design and planning phase. The focus is to design in safety, remove risks where possible, and prepare information before work reaches site.
CDM guide for project life cycle, OSHA principles, and CDM interpretation.
A practical OSHCDM reference for Malaysian construction teams who need to connect legal duties with design choices, coordination work, and project decisions.
Guide Topics
Use the guide as a quick reference before training, design review, or project coordination.
Guide 01
The CDM and project lifecycle
Understand where CDM starts, how pre-construction and construction phases connect, and which documents keep the project traceable.
PCI FocusSafety and health goals in PCI
Set client expectations early so tender pricing, resource allocation, CPP rules, and project culture are aligned from the start.
Guide 02Conceptual and principles of OSHA
Read OSHA duties through self-regulation, AFAIP, general duties, and risk assessment instead of checklist-only compliance.
Guide 03Susunan dan tafsiran CDM
Rujukan Bahasa Malaysia untuk struktur CDM, tafsiran projek, tempat kerja, dan peranan Bahagian IV.
Guide 01
The CDM and project lifecycle.
The Occupational Safety and Health (Construction Work) (Design and Management) Regulations have applied in Malaysia since 1 June 2024. CDM replaced BOWECS as the core construction OSH framework and applies to places of work where construction projects are carried out, with no minimum project threshold.
Construction phase
The project moves into site execution, construction phase planning, welfare, supervision, coordination, and continued updates to the safety and health file.
Sets expectations, budget, resources, timelines, and early OSH requirements. The client appoints PCWD and PCWC in writing where required.
Coordinates pre-construction information and design risk decisions. CWD covers anyone who prepares, modifies, arranges, or instructs design work.
Leads the construction phase, prepares and manages the CPP, coordinates site work, welfare, supervision, and contractor communication.
PCI informs the project, CPP controls the construction phase, and SHF preserves information needed for future maintenance, repair, and later works.
JKKP12 notification: notify DOSH before the construction phase begins when the work is scheduled to last more than 30 working days or involves more than 500 person days.
PCI Focus
Client safety and health goals belong inside the PCI pack.
Under CDM, the client's safety and health goals should be stated in the Pre-Construction Information pack, especially under the client's considerations and management requirements. This gives the whole project team a clear standard before design, tender, and site planning decisions are locked in.
- Set the tone and safety standard from the top before the project culture forms.
- Help CWCs price safety, health, welfare, supervision, and control measures properly during tender.
- Give the PCWC a clear basis for CPP site rules, induction arrangements, submission timelines, and management procedures.
- Align CWDs and CWCs around what safety success looks like before appointment and mobilisation.
01
Eliminate Red List hazards
Require the design team to remove high-risk items before site work, including unsafe roof access, fragile roof assemblies, and steelwork that cannot support planned temporary protection.
02
Plan for whole-lifecycle safety
Set maintenance and cleaning goals that protect future users, including safer window cleaning, ground-level plant access, and permanent roof-edge protection where required.
03
Prioritise engineering controls
Use collective protection before individual PPE. For example, prefer fixed edge protection and dust elimination at source over harness-only or PPE-only controls.
04
Communicate residual risk visually
Keep significant project-specific risks brief and visible through drawing annotations, SHE boxes, and clear warning symbols that the people building the work can actually see.
05
Demand early buildability input
Use early contractor involvement and joint risk workshops before the design is frozen, including practical options such as early permanent stair access.
06
Use proactive safety indicators
Support a zero harm vision without hiding incidents. Measure near-miss learning, stop-work empowerment, blame-free investigation, and continuous feedback into site conditions.
Design Risk
Good CDM decisions happen before hazards become site conditions.
Construction work designers must apply the general principles of prevention by eliminating risks where possible, then reducing or controlling remaining risks through design, specification, sequencing, access, and maintainability decisions.
- Consider construction, maintenance, cleaning, and future access to the finished project.
- Record significant residual risks so they can be managed by the right duty holder.
- Keep PCI, CPP, and SHF as live information tools, not end-stage paperwork.
Guide 02
OSH duties are moving from checkbox compliance to accountable risk control.
Modern occupational safety and health law is built around self-regulation, broad general duties, and evidence that risks have been properly identified, assessed, controlled, and monitored.
As far as is practicable
The duty holder must be able to show that practical steps were taken to identify and control risks. The question is not only whether a rule was followed, but whether the risk was managed.
General duties
General duties set broad accountability for clients, designers, contractors, employers, and other duty holders according to their control over the work.
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is a systematic evaluation of hazards and risks. It must lead to suitable measures, implementation, and monitoring, not just a completed form.
Managing risk
Ask whether the risk sits within the duty holder's scope, whether any mandatory requirement applies, and what practical controls are reasonably available.
Guide 03
Susunan dan tafsiran CDM.
CDM disusun dalam 5 bahagian. Bahagian I mengandungi tafsiran penting seperti projek, tempat kerja, fasa pra-pembinaan, fasa pembinaan, dan peranan pihak berkewajipan.
- CDM terpakai kepada semua projek yang melibatkan kerja pembinaan di tempat kerja.
- Maksud projek merangkumi kerja pembinaan serta perancangan, reka bentuk, pengurusan, dan kerja lain sehingga fasa pembinaan selesai.
- Bahagian IV berfungsi seperti kerangka tapak pembinaan baharu, dengan fokus kepada pergerakan, struktur, persekitaran, dan kerja khusus.
Tafsiran projek
Dari perspektif CDM, projek bermula daripada perancangan dan reka bentuk, kemudian bergerak melalui pengurusan dan penyelarasan sehingga kerja pembinaan selesai.
Perkataan "sehingga selesai" memberi batas masa yang jelas: projek CDM berakhir apabila fasa pembinaan telah tamat.
Bahagian IV
Bahagian IV menyusun bahaya tapak kepada kategori mudah rujuk.
Bahagian IV menumpukan kawalan bahaya biasa di tapak pembinaan. Ia membantu pasukan projek melihat isu tapak mengikut kumpulan pergerakan, struktur, persekitaran, dan kerja khusus.
- Pergerakan: laluan trafik, kenderaan, tatacara kecemasan, laluan keluar.
- Struktur: kestabilan struktur, pengorekan, empangan kekotak dan kaison.
- Persekitaran dan khusus: sekuriti tapak, kebakaran, udara segar, pencahayaan, perobohan, bahan letupan, dan kerja tenaga.
Industry Position
CDM increases OSH awareness across project teams.
The practical effect of CDM is wider KKP responsibility during project planning, design, construction, and handover. Professional teams need competence, clear appointment terms, and project-specific scope when accepting PCWD, CWD, PCWC, or CWC responsibilities.
Competence matters.CDM duties are separate from ordinary professional design duties and should be supported by suitable CDM training and experience.
Appointments must be clear.PCWD and PCWC responsibilities should be appointed in writing with clear scope, authority, records, and fee basis.
Coordination is the centre.CDM links clients, architects, engineers, project managers, contractors, and safety professionals around shared risk information.
Use The Guide
Turn the guide into training, templates, or project advisory.
Use this page as a starting point, then move into the CDM module, training, or template set for project-level implementation.