Australia Model Code of Practice: Construction Work 7a: 7 Principal contractor arranges compliance with the general workplace duties (r 314)

The principal contractor must put in place arrangements to ensure compliance at the workplace with the general workplace management duties: a safe work environment, adequate and accessible facilities, first aid, an emergency plan, PPE where required, airborne contaminants, hazardous atmospheres and ignition sources, storage of flammable and combustible substances, falling objects and falls (r 314). The code describes this as Part 3.2 Divisions 2 to 11 and Part 4.4 and adds psychosocial risks; the text of r 314 in the model WHS Regulations as at 5 December 2025 lists Divisions 2 to 5 and 7 to 10 of Part 3.2 and Part 4.4, so remote or isolated work (Division 6) and psychosocial risks (Division 11) are duties every PCBU holds directly rather than items of the principal contractor's r 314 arrangements. These arrangements do not relieve other PCBUs of their duties, but where the principal contractor provides facilities, others need only satisfy themselves they are adequate. Arrangements may be made through contracts, but the principal contractor cannot rely on contracts alone: it must coordinate with subcontractors and check compliance whenever it attends, or provide the facilities and procedures itself.