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The Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland, Engineers Ireland and the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland are pleased to announce the launch of Designing for Safety in Construction, a new practice manual for the use of professional designers in the construction industry.

The purpose of the manual is to provide practical guidance to designers in the context of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Act 2005 and of the regulations enacted under that Act, in particular the Safety Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006 to 2008. This legislation, which transposes EU Council Directive 92/57 into Irish Law, seeks to protect workers from accidents and ill health in the construction industry and places certain duties on clients, designers, project supervisors, contractors and workers in the case of construction projects.

The author of the manual is Jack Kavanagh, Chartered Engineer, who was advised by an ad-hoc committee established for the purpose by the three professional bodies. The brief given to the author was to produce a working manual written from the perspective of a practical designer, taking into account the Health & Safety Authority’s Guidelines to the legislation and the Briefing Notes issued by the professional bodies.

The manual provides clear guidance to the designer on the distinction between statutory duties under the legislation (which take precedence and must be complied with in their own right) and contractual duties to a client.

The three professional bodies believe that Designing for Safety in Construction, which has been produced “by designers and for designers”, represents the best and most detailed guidance available to designers working in Ireland and should be considered as an essential reference manual for every person who engages in design work on buildings, civil engineering works and other construction projects. It focuses mainly on the design of the permanent structure, but will also be of interest to those involved in the design of all necessary enabling works such as scaffolding and temporary supports during construction and the like.

It is noteworthy that a previous edition of this manual, by the same author in the context of the previous (2001) Regulations, won acclaim from professional bodies abroad, and was adopted by the European Federation of Consulting Engineering Associations (EFCA) and by the European Council of Architects (ACE) for use throughout Europe.

Copies of the document may be obtained from :
ACEI Secretariat
46 Merrion Square
Dublin 2

Download Order Form

Download DSC Manual DAR Form