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CHAS is a health and safety accreditation scheme, primarily for the construction industry and often acts as a type of pre-qualification during the tender process. But, what exactly is CHAS accreditation, when do you need it, how much does it cost, and is it worth it?
If you work in construction,
you have probably heard of CHAS. You might have seen the logo on the side of
contractor vans, or you may have heard a client mention it in a meeting.
But, what exactly is CHAS
accreditation?
What does CHAS stand for?
CHAS stands for the
Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme.
- Contractors
- Health and Safety
- Assessment
- Scheme
What is CHAS accreditation?
CHAS is a health and safety
accreditation scheme, primarily for the construction industry and often acts as
a type of pre-qualification during the tender process.
Some clients require CHAS
accreditation before they will allow you to tender - this is seen more often in
public procurements and commercial projects such as for councils, schools and
other public sector bodies.
The purpose of CHAS is to
help buyers (your potential clients) and suppliers (usually contractors) assess
health and safety competence.
CHAS can help buyers by
reducing the lengthy process of assessing contractors' health and safety
standards individually. CHAS can also help contractors like you by reducing the
time-consuming process of completing and submitting full details of health and
safety processes on each project they compete for.
But CHAS isn't the only
option. CHAS is one of several health and safety assessment schemes available
to businesses. It is probably the most well-known because it was one of the
first third-party health and safety accreditation schemes for the construction
industry.
It's basically a review of
your health and safety management systems, you answer questions, supply
evidence and if you meet the required standard, you get CHAS accredited.
When do you need CHAS?
CHAS isn't a legal
requirement - you don't need it by law to work in construction or on
construction sites. But while the law doesn't require it, some clients can
specify that you need it to work on their sites. It's a common requirement for
public sector (e.g. Government) and commercial contracts.
If that's the case for your
potential clients, you will need a valid CHAS certificate* to get in the door -
or on the tender list!
What are CHAS accreditation
requirements?
There are three levels of
CHAS:
- CHAS Standard: SSIP requirements
- CHAS Advanced: SSIP + PAS91 requirements
- CHAS Elite: SSIP + PAS91 + Common
Assessment Standard requirements
While the application forms
and guidance notes are no longer available on the CHAS website since they moved
to a fully online system, you can download a copy of PAS91 from BSI with
section C4 matching the SSIP core criteria.
If you're aiming for the
elite level, you can download a copy of the Common Assessment Standard
questions from Build UK.
How much does CHAS
accreditation cost?
The cost of applying
for CHAS accreditation can vary depending on the type of assessment you
get, and how many employees you have.
For CHAS SSIP accreditation
(CHAS standard), current prices go from £279 for one employee, to £1099 for
over 1000 employees.
What are the benefits of
CHAS accreditation?
The purpose of CHAS is to
help both buyers and suppliers in the assessment of health and safety
competence.
Helping buyers by reducing
the lengthy process of assessing contractors' health and safety standards
individually. Helping suppliers (contractors) by reducing the time-consuming process
of completing and submitting full details of health and safety processes on
each project they compete for.
As a contractor, you'll only
have to have your health and safety assessed once a year, instead of completing
health and safety pre-qualification questionnaires for each project you quote
for.
When you pass the
assessment, you will be provided with a certificate, and be allowed to use the
CHAS logo. That means you can tell people you have reached the CHAS standard,
you can put the logo on your stationery and vans, you can include a copy of
your certificate when you are tendering for work, and you can get access to
some exclusive work opportunities.
You'll also go into the CHAS
accredited contractors database, which CHAS clients can search. So you might
get clients reaching out to you directly.
Even when clients don't
specifically require CHAS or an equivalent SSIP standard of accreditation,
having that certificate can still help you by adding an extra level of trust
and assurances for clients when you promote your business.
Is CHAS accreditation worth
it?
You might also find the
initial assessment process time-consuming and demanding - but remember, it's a
once-a-year assessment instead of an every-client-every-project assessment. It
should save you time in the long run.
Without a third-party
accreditation, there are often lengthy pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs)
to fill out. But, if you have already been assessed by CHAS or a similar
scheme, you can often skip a large portion of the health and safety questions
as these have already been assessed under your accreditation.
That can be a huge time
saver if you are tendering for lots of projects because rather than completing
a different PQQ in full for each opportunity; you just have your single annual
CHAS assessment.
CHAS isn't the cheapest way
to get SSIP
accreditation. In fact, it's one of the more expensive routes. If you
pass the SSIP level assessment with any SSIP member (of which CHAS is a
founding member - but there are 15+ other members), you have reached the CHAS
standard.
But CHAS remains one of the
more popular accreditation schemes, with over 32,000 members. I think there are
several reasons for its popularity:
- It's been around a long time and is
probably the most established
- Seems to be well staffed - so
applications and enquiries get handled quickly
- The CHAS helpline is helpful to members
and people going through the application
- Good brand recognition - especially with
construction clients and contractors
In theory, other SSIP
accreditation schemes should qualify you for the same clients, but it's
not always the case. Some clients may insist on one assessment scheme or
another. Explaining that you have the same level of accreditation but from
another SSIP member should be sufficient - but it's not always.
CHAS is worth it if you:
- Don't have an equivalent accreditation,
and
- It's the preferred accreditation for
your (potential) clients, or
- You value the brand recognition CHAS has
How often does CHAS
accreditation need renewing?
You'll need to renew your
CHAS accreditation annually.
There used to be different
levels of compliance and accreditation, with compliance not requiring annual
assessments. However, CHAS has since moved towards annual assessments for
everyone, which helps to reduce the confusion between compliance and
accreditation.
With CHAS
accreditation UK, you are
committing to yearly assessments to show you maintain the high levels of health
and safety management required.
How do you get CHAS
accreditation?
There is an online
application on the CHAS website to complete. You will need to register with
CHAS, pay the applicable fee, fill out the questionnaire and submit your
supporting evidence.
Your application will then
be passed to an assessor who will review the information submitted and let you
know if you have passed, or they will ask for more information if your
application fails.
The application process can
be confusing to those unfamiliar with the procedure. It's been reported
previously that only 20% of contractors pass on the first attempt.
So it's a good idea to familiarize
yourself with the requirements before applying, so you can gather the needed
paperwork and get everything ready for your assessment.
In our small
contractors guide to SSIP application and approval, we go into more details
about the requirements for SSIP (CHAS standard level) and what's required.
For more info:-
Construction Accreditations Uk
ACCLAIM
Accreditation Assistance Uk
Builders
Profile Accreditation Assistance Uk
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