VNP Constructions HSE fines: CDM 2015 compliance lessons for site engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
A London contractor converting a former public house and adjoining building into residential flats on White Lion Street, N1, has been fined after repeated failures to comply with Health & Safety Executive (HSE) prohibition and improvement notices over a 12‑month period, including unresolved work at height risks and inadequate site management competence. VNP Constructions Limited admitted breaching Regulation 15(2) of the CDM 2015 and two counts under Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, receiving a £7,200 fine plus £900 costs. Director Vasilis Paraskeva was personally fined £10,800 plus £900 costs under Section 37(1) for consent, connivance or neglect.
Technical Brief
- HSE inspectors’ initial 1 September 2022 visit identified uncontrolled work-at-height exposure and disorganised site conditions.
- Multiple prohibition and improvement notices were served over a 12‑month period, indicating persistent unmanaged risks.
- Failure mechanism was primarily management-level: inadequate planning, supervision and control under CDM 2015 Regulation 15(2).
- Legal liability extended personally to director Vasilis Paraskeva via Section 37(1) where offences arose from his consent, connivance or neglect.
Our Take
Among the 260 safety- and failure-tagged infrastructure pieces in our coverage, very few involve prosecution for non-compliance with HSE prohibition notices, signalling that the VNP Constructions case in London sits at the more serious end of enforcement rather than routine improvement notice activity.
The use of both Section 33(1)(g) and Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act in this United Kingdom case underlines that directors like Vasilis Paraskeva can be pursued personally where multiple company offences are proven, which is increasingly relevant for small contractors operating inner-London sites such as White Lion Street and Kings Avenue.
The 12‑month follow-up period between the initial September 2022 inspection and later visits reflects HSE’s pattern in our database of sustained oversight on non-compliant urban construction sites, meaning operators in London who ignore early notices should expect long-duration scrutiny rather than one-off inspections.
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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