Other required participants

Role	What triggers it
Safety and health coordination	the characteristics of the site
Energy performance officer	the nature of the works and the region
Inspection by an approved body	the technical field concerned

None of these roles is negotiable in principle. Only the holder is chosen, and sometimes not even freely.

The most frequently encountered role, and the one most often reduced to a formality. It concerns safety and health coordination.

It applies where the characteristics of the site make it compulsory, notably where several firms work there simultaneously or successively. The appointment falls to the client.

Three features.

It splits into two phases. Coordination during design and coordination during execution, which may be entrusted to the same person or not.

It produces documents that outlive the site, in particular a file intended for later works on the building.

It belongs to welfare at work, a federal matter, as the guide on building regulations explains.

The common error is to treat it as an administrative formality. Its requirements bear on design, notably access, protection and later maintenance provisions.

An entirely regional role, with the usual consequences. It concerns energy performance.

Each region organises the appointment of an officer responsible for certifying the project's compliance with applicable energy requirements, under its own arrangements and terminology. The arrangements differ from one region to another.

Two points of attention.

The appointment must be made at the right time, generally before the permit application is submitted, failing which the procedure may be blocked.

The role carries its own liability, distinct from the architect's, even where both functions are held by the same person.

The requirements themselves are covered in the guide on construction costs per m². The thresholds are given there region by region.

An involvement required in certain technical fields, notably services installations. It concerns inspection bodies.

Their status, the difference between accreditation and approval, and the limits of their involvement are covered in detail in the guide on building regulations. Their reach is explained there in detail.

One reminder suffices here: their involvement does not transfer liability and covers only what was requested, within the scope and at the date of the inspection.

Four differences from an ordinary contractual role. They relate to the source of the appointment and its object.

Its content is defined by a text, not by negotiation. The parties may choose the holder, not the scope.

It cannot be set aside where its triggering conditions are met.

It carries its own liability, which does not merge with that of the client who appointed it.

Its omission is not neutral. It may block an administrative procedure, engage the client's liability or prevent acceptance.

Three mechanisms produce the same effect. They organise coordination between required participants.

These roles do not stop the site. A project can proceed without an appointed coordinator, until an inspection or an incident reveals it.

They surface at formalities, often at permit submission or at acceptance, that is when remedying is costly.

They are not always in the initial budget, particularly for occasional clients, which makes them invisible until the invoice.

Four rules.

List the roles triggered from brief stage, based on the project's characteristics and its region.

Appoint at the right time, some appointments governing administrative steps.

Do not confuse appointment with transfer of liability, each participant remaining liable for their own role.

Budget for these roles, their omission producing a late discovery and unanticipated cost.