Health and Safety Coordinator
A health and safety coordinator (koordinátor bezpečnosti) is a person the builder appoints for a site where more than one employer works.
What is a health and safety coordinator?
A health and safety coordinator, in Slovak koordinátor bezpečnosti a ochrany zdravia pri práci (usually shortened to koordinátor bezpečnosti), is the person who looks after safety and health on a construction site where several employers work at the same time. The builder, called stavebník in Slovak, must appoint one or more coordinators for each such site. The duty comes from a government regulation on construction-site safety, not from the building act itself.
Which legal rules create the duty?
The main rule is Government Regulation 396/2006 Z. z., whose official title is the Government Regulation of the Slovak Republic on minimum safety and health requirements at a construction site (Nariadenie vlády o minimálnych bezpečnostných a zdravotných požiadavkách na stavenisko). Its § 11 and Annex 4 state that it takes over Council Directive 92/57/EEC, which dates from 1992 and is the European origin of the coordinator model. The current version on Slov-Lex has applied since 1 January 2023 (amended by 469/2022 Z. z.).
The building act, Act 25/2025 Z. z. (Stavebný zákon), does not create the duty. It names the coordinator in several places. A coordinator may enter the site as one of the listed persons, the stavbyvedúci must let the coordinator write in the construction diary, and the stavebný dozor for a reserved structure is entitled to cooperate with the coordinator. The contractor must follow the coordinator's instructions on work procedures and protective equipment (§ 32 ods. 2 písm. f)). For the act itself, see Building Act.
| Provision | What it says about the coordinator |
|---|---|
| Regulation 396/2006 Z. z., § 3 ods. 1 | The builder appoints one or more safety coordinators for each site where more than one employer, or more than one self-employed person who is not an employer, works. |
| Regulation 396/2006 Z. z., § 3 ods. 2 | The builder has the safety and health plan prepared before the site is set up. |
| Regulation 396/2006 Z. z., § 6 ods. 1 | The construction coordinator may be an authorised site manager, an authorised construction supervisor or a safety technician. A site manager may not be coordinator on a site where he or she acts as site manager. |
| Regulation 396/2006 Z. z., § 5 ods. 1 and 2 | The design coordinator, who must be the designer, coordinates the design and its changes, and prepares the plan and an information document. |
| Act 25/2025 Z. z., § 38 ods. 2 písm. j) | The coordinator is one of the persons who may enter the site, with the site manager's knowledge. |
| Act 25/2025 Z. z., § 39 ods. 2 písm. g) | The site manager must allow the coordinator to write in the construction diary. |
| Act 25/2025 Z. z., § 36 ods. 2 písm. e) | The stavebný dozor for a reserved structure is entitled to cooperate with the coordinator. |
Who does what: design coordinator, construction coordinator and site manager?
The regulation separates two coordinator roles. The design coordinator (koordinátor dokumentácie) is the designer, and works on the project during design and on every later change. The construction coordinator (koordinátor bezpečnosti) is appointed for the site itself under the same appointment rule in § 3 ods. 1, which also covers the construction-stage coordinator described in § 6. The site manager (stavbyvedúci) runs the building work on site and is a separate role.
| Role | Legal source | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Design coordinator (koordinátor dokumentácie) | Regulation 396/2006 Z. z., § 3 ods. 1 and § 5 ods. 1 | During design, and for every change to the design; must be the designer |
| Construction coordinator (koordinátor bezpečnosti) | Regulation 396/2006 Z. z., § 3 ods. 1 | On site, where more than one employer works |
| Site manager (stavbyvedúci) | Act 25/2025 Z. z., § 39 ods. 1 | Keeps the construction diary from the set-up of the site until handover |
When must the coordinator be appointed?
The trigger is the number of employers, not the size of the project. Under § 3 ods. 1 of the regulation, the duty applies when more than one employer, or more than one self-employed person who is not an employer, will work on the site. If only one employer carries out the work, the trigger is not met. The text does not say how to count one employer together with one self-employed person. In that case, ask the contractor or a safety technician. The safety plan must exist before the site is set up (§ 3 ods. 2), so the appointment has to be made early enough for the plan to be ready at that point.
Appointing a coordinator does not remove the builder's own responsibility for the tasks (§ 3 ods. 5). The builder also sends a notice to the labour inspectorate before the works start. This applies if the works last longer than 30 working days with more than 20 people on site at once, or exceed 500 person-days (§ 3 ods. 3). The notice must also be displayed visibly on the site (§ 3 ods. 4).
What does the coordinator do on site?
The regulation ties the coordinator to a written safety and health plan. The design coordinator prepares that plan, which sets the rules for carrying out work on the site and includes special measures for the high-risk types of work listed in Annex 2 of the regulation. The design coordinator also prepares an information document that covers all later work (§ 5 ods. 2).
The construction coordinator's tasks are set in § 6 ods. 2. They include:
- applying the general prevention principles to work that runs at the same time or in sequence, and to the time set for each stage,
- making sure employers and self-employed persons apply the general principles of § 7 and follow the safety plan,
- adjusting the safety plan as the works change,
- organising cooperation between the employers on site,
- checking that work procedures are applied correctly,
- making sure only people with work duties enter the site.
In the building act, the coordinator is a standing participant on site: entry is allowed with the site manager's knowledge, and the coordinator may write in the construction diary.
How is the coordinator different from the building supervisor?
The two roles are often confused. The construction supervision (stavebný dozor) is a person the builder engages to check that building work follows the verified project. The coordinator's job is safety and health on site, under the safety regulation. The building act lets the two cooperate, but they have different legal bases. The regulation allows a person authorised to carry out construction supervision to act as construction coordinator (§ 6 ods. 1), so one person may hold both roles.
Does a small project need a health and safety coordinator?
A house built by one contractor with its own staff does not trigger the rule, as only one employer works on site. Each separate employer on site counts toward the trigger, so a project where the main contractor brings in a roofing firm, an electrician and a groundworks company as separate employers does meet it. The client should ask the contractor during tendering which employers will work on site, so the appointment can be planned before the site handover.
Does the new building act change this duty?
The duty stays in Government Regulation 396/2006 Z. z. The building act 25/2025 Z. z. refers to the coordinator in its site rules and in its fines. For example, a business that does not provide protective equipment to its employees after a call from the safety coordinator or the site manager can be fined EUR 100 to 500 (§ 80 ods. 1 písm. c)). Amendment 243/2026 Z. z. applies from 1 January 2027 and is not described here.
Frequently asked questions
- Does every construction site need a health and safety coordinator?
- No. The regulation requires a coordinator for each site where more than one employer, or more than one self-employed person who is not an employer, carries out work. A site where a single employer does all the work does not meet that trigger.
- Who appoints the coordinator?
- The builder, called stavebník in Slovak, appoints one or more coordinators for each site under § 3 ods. 1 of Government Regulation 396/2006 Z. z. The design coordinator must be the designer who prepared the project.
- Is the coordinator the same as the construction supervisor?
- No. The stavebný dozor checks that building work follows the verified project. The coordinator covers safety and health on site under the regulation. The two roles have different legal bases, but one person authorised for construction supervision may act as coordinator (§ 6 ods. 1).
- When must the safety and health plan be ready?
- The builder must have the plan prepared before the site is set up, under § 3 ods. 2 of Government Regulation 396/2006 Z. z. The plan sets the rules for the work on site and is the basis for the coordinator's work.
- Which law created the coordinator duty in Slovakia?
- Government Regulation 396/2006 Z. z. on minimum safety and health requirements at a construction site sets the duty. Its § 11 and Annex 4 record that it takes over Council Directive 92/57/EEC. Act 25/2025 Z. z. mentions the coordinator in its rules on site access, the construction diary, supervision, contractor duties and fines.
Sources
- Nariadenie vlády Slovenskej republiky o minimálnych bezpečnostných a zdravotných požiadavkách na stavenisko (396/2006 Z. z.), version from 1 January 2023 · Slov-Lex (Ministerstvo spravodlivosti SR) · § 3 ods. 1 to 5, § 5 ods. 1 and 2, § 6 ods. 1 and 2, § 11, Annex 2, Annex 4
- Stavebný zákon a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov (Stavebný zákon), 25/2025 Z. z., version from 1 November 2025 · Slov-Lex (Ministerstvo spravodlivosti SR) · § 32 ods. 2 písm. f), § 36 ods. 2 písm. e), § 38 ods. 2 písm. j), § 39 ods. 1 and 2 písm. g), § 80 ods. 1 písm. c)