Construction Phase Plan: CDM Template and AI Draft

What does CDM 2015 regulation 12 require?

Regulation 12 assigns the construction phase plan to the principal contractor and specifies its timing, content and continuing review. The principal designer must assist by providing relevant information.

The plan must set out health and safety arrangements and site rules, plus specific measures for work in Schedule 3 categories where applicable. It must be drawn up during the pre-construction phase, before setting up the construction site. Throughout the project, the principal contractor must ensure it is appropriately reviewed, updated and revised.

Ask the principal designer for relevant information before drafting. Keep missing information visible rather than allowing a model to replace it with plausible wording. Arranging for a draft does not remove the principal contractor’s responsibility under regulation 12.

For broader guidance on choosing tasks for AI, see our overview for construction managers.

What should the construction phase plan template contain?

Start with project details, health and safety arrangements, site rules, applicable Schedule 3 measures and a review record. The detailed fields below are suggested drafting aids, not a claim that regulation 12 prescribes this layout or requires a signature.

Copy this outline and adapt it to the project. Keep unresolved fields visible during drafting; resolve them before treating the document as ready for use.

CONSTRUCTION PHASE PLAN
CDM 2015, regulation 12
Status: [DRAFT / REVIEWED VERSION]

PROJECT DETAILS
Project and site: [PROJECT NAME, SITE ADDRESS]
Scope: [DESCRIPTION OF WORKS]
Client: [ORGANISATION]
Principal contractor: [ORGANISATION, RESPONSIBLE CONTACT]
Principal designer: [ORGANISATION, CONTACT]
Site set-up date: [DATE]
Version and preparation date: [VERSION, DATE]
Prepared by: [NAME, ROLE]

PRINCIPAL DESIGNER INFORMATION
Documents received: [TITLES, DATES, REVISIONS]
Relevant hazards and constraints: [DETAILS, SOURCE DOCUMENTS]
Outstanding information: [ITEM, PERSON CHASING, STATUS]

HEALTH AND SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS
Management responsibilities: [ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES]
Contractor communication and coordination: [ARRANGEMENTS]
Induction, training and competence checks: [ARRANGEMENTS]
Workforce consultation: [ARRANGEMENTS]
Welfare: [FACILITIES, LOCATION]
First aid and incident reporting: [ARRANGEMENTS]
Fire, evacuation and rescue: [SITE-SPECIFIC ARRANGEMENTS]
Inspection and monitoring: [RESPONSIBLE ROLE, FREQUENCY]
Risk assessments and method statements:
[PREPARATION, REVIEW AND BRIEFING PROCESS]

SITE RULES
Access and security: [RULES]
PPE: [RULES]
Permits: [APPLICABLE ACTIVITIES, ISSUING ROLE]
Deliveries, vehicles and pedestrians: [RULES]
Housekeeping and waste: [RULES]
Working hours and other project-specific rules: [DETAILS]

SCHEDULE 3 WORK, WHERE APPLICABLE
Category assessment: [FOR PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR TO CONFIRM]
Applicable category: [CATEGORY]
Specific measures: [MEASURES, RESPONSIBLE ROLE, SOURCE]
Unresolved questions: [QUESTIONS REQUIRING REVIEW]

PROJECT RISKS AND CONTROLS
[RISK | CONTROL | RESPONSIBLE ROLE | SOURCE]

REVIEW, UPDATE AND REVISION RECORD
Suggested review triggers: [PROJECT-SPECIFIC TRIGGERS]
[VERSION | DATE | CHANGE OR REVIEW OUTCOME | REVIEWED BY]
Outstanding actions: [ACTION, OWNER, STATUS]

SUGGESTED INTERNAL APPROVAL RECORD
Principal contractor reviewer: [NAME, ROLE, DATE]
Approval status and unresolved actions: [DETAILS]
Current version issued to: [RECIPIENTS]

Avoid carrying over arrangements simply because they appeared in an earlier plan. Confirm that facilities, responsibilities and procedures describe this site. The outline has not been tested as a complete template and does not guarantee compliance.

How do I fill the template with AI?

Supply the project information alongside the template and require the model to flag gaps rather than fill them. Review the output against those inputs before making any approval decision.

• Gather the principal designer’s information, scope, proposed management structure, site rules and available risk assessments or method statements.
• Remove unnecessary personal information. Use role placeholders where names are not needed; do not paste medical details or home addresses.
• Run the prompt below with the relevant extracts and their document references.
• Compare each completed field with its source. Confirm or remove anything unsupported.
• Save a dated version and record unresolved actions separately.

This prompt is adapted from a tested prompt for job hazard analysis, but this construction phase plan adaptation has not itself been tested. Find related task prompts in our prompt library for construction managers.

Help draft a construction phase plan under CDM 2015 regulation 12.
Use only the supplied project information and template.

Rules:
- Do not invent people, dates, hazards, facilities, controls or procedures.
- For missing information, write [TO CONFIRM: information needed].
- Identify the supplied document supporting each completed arrangement.
- Keep confirmed information separate from questions for review.
- Do not introduce regulatory references beyond CDM 2015 regulation 12
  and Schedule 3.
- Flag work requiring a human assessment of Schedule 3 applicability.
  Do not treat silence in the inputs as evidence that none applies.
- For potentially applicable work, reproduce only supplied specific
  measures and flag missing measures.
- Keep site rules clear and concise.
- Preserve outstanding actions in the review record.
- Do not describe the draft as compliant or approved.
- Begin with: "DRAFT: principal contractor review required."
- Finish with a consolidated list of missing information and conflicts.

TEMPLATE:
[PASTE THE TEMPLATE]

PRINCIPAL DESIGNER INFORMATION:
[PASTE RELEVANT EXTRACTS, DOCUMENT TITLES, DATES AND REVISIONS]

SCOPE AND SITE CONDITIONS:
[PASTE PROJECT INFORMATION]

MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS AND SITE RULES:
[PASTE CONFIRMED ARRANGEMENTS]

RISK ASSESSMENTS AND METHOD STATEMENTS:
[PASTE RELEVANT EXTRACTS OR STATE WHAT IS OUTSTANDING]

If documents conflict, resolve the conflict with the responsible person. Do not ask the model to choose whichever arrangement sounds more credible.

Which AI model should I use?

Start with a tool your organisation permits, then assess whether its draft preserves supplied information and exposes gaps. Our construction-task results do not establish which model is most suitable for this construction phase plan.

In our October 2026 test round, the English construction-manager results covered round 1: 3 prompts, with 3 runs per prompt.

Model results dated 2026-10-19; Claude Fable 5.1 and Gemini 4 Argon added 2026-10-20.

These were API runs through a command-line harness with tools, web and memory off, with Gemini through Google’s Antigravity CLI using a tool-less agent, not consumer-app runs; app results may differ. Judge asymmetry matters: GPT-6 Astra’s raw percentage must not be compared directly with the others. In round 1 calibration on Claude outputs, the published judge gpt-6-astra gave 93% and the swap judge claude-opus-5-5 gave 98% across 30 sampled runs; part of the gap between model families comes from the grader. No model is “better” overall on this evidence.

The tasks were a daily report, job hazard analysis and delay calculation, not this plan. “Tested” means at least 2 completed, graded runs, not professional sign-off. See the methodology for the evaluation approach. Check UK plan prices including VAT on the vendor’s UK page.

What should I check before sending or signing?

Check the draft against the source documents and actual site arrangements by hand. Separate regulation 12 requirements from your organisation’s document-control and approval practices.

• Timing: the plan is drawn up during pre-construction, before site set-up.
• Responsibility: the principal contractor has reviewed the draft and resolved questions requiring its decision.
• Designer information: received documents and outstanding requests are accurately recorded.
• Arrangements: facilities, procedures and responsibilities match what will happen on site.
• Site rules: each rule is relevant and usable on this project.
• Schedule 3: applicability and any specific measures have been checked; unresolved placeholders have not been mistaken for completed assessments.
• Unsupported content: every added hazard, control or procedure is confirmed or removed.
• Review: record review outcomes, updates and revisions. Suggested triggers include design changes, new contractors, incidents and phase changes.
• Distribution: identify the current version and mark superseded copies.
• Personal information: remove details unnecessary for the plan’s use.

Limits: this is drafting guidance, not legal advice. The principal contractor must ensure the required review and revisions. Have site suitability, Schedule 3 applicability and unresolved safety questions checked by an appropriately qualified professional, licensed where required in the relevant jurisdiction. The template’s internal approval record is a suggested workflow field, not a signature requirement established here.

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