Which Contractor Accreditation Scheme Do You Actually Need?

What these schemes are

If you have tried to get onto a client's approved contractor list, you have probably been asked for SafeContractor, CHAS or Constructionline, maybe all three. All three are contractor pre-qualification schemes. They assess your health and safety management, and in some cases environmental management and quality, to check that you meet a defined standard. Once you pass, you appear on the scheme's database, which clients use to find pre-approved contractors.

All three are members of the SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) forum, which exists to give mutual recognition between member schemes: in principle, holding one SSIP-member scheme should be accepted by a client requiring another. York Green is itself SafeContractor approved, so we see the assessment process from both sides of the fence.

CHAS

CHAS, now operating as Veriforce CHAS following a 2023 merger, was one of the first contractor assessment schemes and remains one of the most widely recognised, particularly in construction and public sector procurement. It checks that your health and safety policy, risk assessments, training arrangements and management systems meet a defined standard.

CHAS offers tiered accreditation: CHAS Standard covers the basics, CHAS Advanced adds environmental and quality management, and CHAS Elite is the top tier, assessed against the Common Assessment Standard with additional requirements around social value and modern slavery. The assessment is desk-based: you submit your documentation and a qualified assessor reviews it.

CHAS is particularly strong in construction, local government, social housing and facilities management. If your clients are in these sectors, CHAS is often the first scheme they ask about.

SafeContractor

SafeContractor, operated by Alcumus, works on a similar model to CHAS: desk-based assessment of your health and safety documentation against a defined standard. It is used across construction, manufacturing, food and beverage, utilities, retail and property management.

SafeContractor's strength is the breadth of its acceptance. It is recognised by organisations across diverse sectors, and its online portal makes the application and renewal process straightforward. Accreditation runs for one year, with annual renewal.

Constructionline

Constructionline was originally created as a government pre-qualification database for construction contractors. Capita once owned it, but sold the business to the private equity firm Warburg Pincus in 2018, so any reference to Capita ownership is out of date. It still serves as both a pre-qualification register and a procurement platform and remains particularly strong in public sector procurement and major construction projects.

Constructionline runs four membership tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum, with each tier up from Bronze adding a more rigorous assessment of your management systems. Its assessment is built around the Common Assessment Standard, the industry-wide standard published by Build UK and the CIOB that replaced the old PAS 91 in 2019. If you work in construction and want access to public sector contracts, Constructionline is often non-negotiable.

The Common Assessment Standard

The Common Assessment Standard is what actually sits behind most of these schemes now. It was introduced to stop contractors having to answer the same pre-qualification questions in slightly different formats for every scheme they join. CHAS Elite and Constructionline Gold and Platinum assess directly against it, and SafeContractor's own assessment covers substantially the same ground. Knowing this saves you re-explaining your safety management from scratch each time a client names a different scheme.

Does SSIP mutual recognition actually work?

In theory, SSIP mutual recognition, sometimes called "deem to satisfy", means that if you hold one SSIP-member accreditation, a client asking for a different SSIP-member scheme should accept yours instead of making you apply twice. In practice it is not always that simple. Some clients name a particular scheme and will not accept an alternative, regardless of SSIP mutual recognition. Large organisations may have contractual requirements that mandate a specific scheme, and the detail of what each scheme checks varies enough that a client may feel one is more rigorous than another.

That said, deem-to-satisfy recognition is improving and many procurement teams now accept any SSIP-accredited scheme. It is always worth asking the question before paying for a second or third accreditation.

So which one do you need?

The honest answer is whatever your clients ask for. There is no objectively best scheme; they all assess broadly similar things and all provide a credible statement of your health and safety competence.

• Working primarily in construction and public sector projects: Constructionline is often essential, with CHAS as a strong second option.
• Working across multiple sectors and wanting the broadest acceptance: SafeContractor is a solid choice.
• Working mainly with local authorities, housing associations and facilities management clients: CHAS is typically the most requested.

If you are not sure, ask your top five clients what they accept. That tells you which scheme gives you the best return for the time it takes to apply.

Getting ready for accreditation

All three schemes require you to demonstrate competent health and safety management. At minimum, you will need a current health and safety policy, relevant risk assessments, evidence of employee training and competence, employers' liability insurance, and documented procedures for key activities. HSE's brief guide to using contractors (INDG368) sets out the same core expectations any client will be checking for.

If your health and safety documentation is organised and current, the accreditation process is straightforward. If it is not, the application will expose the gaps, and it is better to fill those gaps before you apply than to have the application rejected. A safety management system, even an informal one, makes the process significantly easier and improves your chances of first-time approval.