Stockport Development safety breaches: CDM 2015 lessons for UK site teams
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Cheshire-based Stockport Development Limited has been fined £45,000, plus an £18,000 surcharge and £6,297 costs, after HSE inspectors found multiple safety failings at a Kingsley Road, Manchester housing site in November 2023. Defects included missing edge protection on first-floor landings, damaged and absent security fencing, no fire alarms or extinguishers, obstructed walkways and inadequate welfare, leading to four improvement notices. The prosecution under CDM 2015 regulation 13(1) follows four earlier HSE enforcement visits between February 2021 and March 2023, signalling rising intolerance of repeat non-compliance by principal contractors.
Technical Brief
- Breach was specifically of CDM 2015 regulation 13(1), covering principal contractor planning and management duties.
- Enforcement history included four separate HSE site visits between February 2021 and March 2023.
- All four earlier visits resulted in formal enforcement action, indicating a pattern of systemic non-compliance.
- HSE investigation concluded the firm had not acted on previous written warnings and inspector advice.
- Case was heard at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, with sentencing on Friday 12th December.
- Financial penalty totalled £69,297 when combining £45,000 fine, £18,000 surcharge and £6,297 costs.
- HSE explicitly referenced duties to protect both site operatives and members of the public near the works.
- Inspector’s statement confirms HSE will prosecute repeat CDM breaches even in the absence of an accident.
Our Take
Within our 135 safety‑tagged pieces, repeat enforcement against a single UK contractor like Stockport Development Limited is relatively uncommon, signalling that HSE is prepared to escalate where improvement notices over several years fail to change behaviour.
The concentration of incidents and inspections around Cheshire and Greater Manchester adds to a cluster of northern England safety coverage in our Infrastructure database, which may prompt local clients and principal contractors to tighten pre‑qualification checks on smaller developers.
Four HSE visits leading to enforcement action between 2021 and 2023 suggest that, for serial offenders, the regulator is now building a documented pattern over multiple years, increasing the likelihood of more severe penalties or restrictions on future work for companies such as Stockport Development.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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