Last edited 03 Apr 2021

Project directory

A project directory provides details of the organisations involved in a design and construction project. This may include their role, organisation name, address, phone numbers, email addresses and names of key contacts.

This is an important document that should be established as soon as appointments are made, and will develop as the project progresses and there are new appointments.

In the first instance, a project directory might be included in the project brief and may contain blanks were appointments have still to be made. As it develops it may go on to form a part of, or be referenced in; the project execution plan, pre-construction information, the construction phase plan, the contractor’s project handbook and so on.

At different stages of the project it may include details project team members including the:

It may also include specific details of the roles and responsibilities of the site team, such as security operatives, health and safety officer and so on, and might include details for neighbours and key stakeholders.

It is important that the project directory is kept up to date, that responsibility for its preparation is allocated to a specific individual and that there is strict control of its distribution. Clearly without proper control and procedures in place, there is a danger that there will be different versions of the project directory and that confusion will occur, particularly, for example if one organisation, such as the contractor develops their own project directory, as their requirements may be different from those of the client or consultants.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM Regulations) 2015 require that the construction phase plan includes “details of key members of the project team”. The 2007 regulations required that pre-construction information included “details of client, designers, CDM co-ordinator (no longer required) and other consultants”, and whilst this is not a specific requirement of CDM 2015, it is difficult to see how duty holders could properly perform their duties without access to information identifying key project team members.