Guidance · Reviewed August 2026
What CHAS accreditation is, which membership level you actually need, what documents and training the assessment asks for, and how SSIP mutual recognition can save you a second application.
The short answer
CHAS stands for the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme. It is a pre-qualification accreditation that lets contractors demonstrate health and safety competence once, rather than filling in a different questionnaire for every buyer. It runs in three paid tiers, is valid for 12 months, and is a founding member of SSIP — which means a certificate from another SSIP scheme may get you in without a full reassessment.
What Is CHAS Accreditation?
The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme was established in 1997 by health and safety professionals working with the Association of London Government. It was designed to create a single, nationally recognised standard for health and safety compliance across multiple industries. It is now operated as Veriforce CHAS.
Before CHAS existed, approving contractors for public and private projects was inconsistent and slow. Every organisation had its own safety requirements, so contractors submitted the same documentation over and over in slightly different formats.
CHAS introduced a centralised pre-qualification system: prove your compliance once, and buyers across the UK will accept it. CHAS puts its network at over 2,500 clients — local authorities, NHS trusts, housing associations, main contractors and private firms. Its assessments align with stage 1 health and safety pre-qualification under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, and with the Procurement Act 2023 and the Building Safety Act.
CHAS and SSIP: You May Not Need a Full Assessment
This is the part most contractors don’t know about, and it can save a considerable amount of time and money.
SSIP — Safety Schemes in Procurement — is the umbrella body for health and safety pre-qualification schemes in the UK. CHAS was one of its founding members when it began in 2009. Other members include SafeContractor, SMAS Worksafe and Constructionline.
Deem to Satisfy
SSIP’s mutual recognition process. If you already hold a valid certificate with another SSIP member scheme, you can apply to CHAS through Deem to Satisfy without repeating the full health and safety assessment. CHAS verifies your existing approval and tells you whether anything further is needed.
The reverse is also true. If a client asks for “SSIP accreditation” and you already hold CHAS Standard, that should satisfy them — you do not need a second badge. Worth checking before you pay for one.
Where mutual recognition stops is the non-health-and-safety layers. Schemes differ on financial checks, environmental modules, modern slavery and quality, so a client naming a specific scheme and tier may genuinely need that one. Ask which they want before you buy anything.
Which CHAS Level Do You Need?
CHAS is not a single badge. Buying the wrong tier is the most common and most expensive mistake contractors make with it.
| Level | What it covers | Typically wanted by |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | The health and safety assessment against SSIP core criteria. This is the SSIP-recognised certificate. | Most subcontractors. Clients who ask for “SSIP” or “CHAS” without specifying a tier. |
| Advanced | Standard plus wider modules covering the ground the old PAS 91 questionnaire used to. | Buyers wanting assurance beyond health and safety alone. |
| Elite | The full Common Assessment Standard, developed by Build UK and CECA, across a broad set of risk management areas. | Public sector frameworks and Tier 1 main contractors. |
The practical advice is short: find out which tier the client actually wants before you apply. Standard and Elite are very different amounts of work, and consultants have been known to push contractors towards a level they don’t need.
How Much Does CHAS Cost?
Fees are annual, quoted plus VAT, and scale with your employee headcount as well as by tier. Standard is the cheapest route to an SSIP-recognised certificate; Advanced and Elite step up from there.
We are not going to quote a figure here, because CHAS prices change and vary by headcount band — check the current fee directly with CHAS for your own headcount and the tier your client requires. What is worth budgeting for is the preparation: if your documentation isn’t in order, the cost of getting it there usually exceeds the fee itself.
What the Assessment Actually Asks For
There are three routes to a Standard certificate: a full desktop assessment where you complete a questionnaire and upload documents; an on-site audit, which can also be done remotely; or the SSIP Deem to Satisfy route described above. Assessments are usually approved within around ten days, with a fast-track option available.
Assessors judge your documents against the size and scope of your business, so a small contractor is not expected to produce corporate-scale paperwork. CHAS states that all its assessors are NEBOSH-qualified — worth knowing, because it tells you the standard your documents are being read against.
In practice they review your policies, training records, insurance details, maintenance records, construction phase plans, COSHH procedures, and your risk assessments and method statements.
In practice the health and safety assessment looks at three things, and it is worth being honest with yourself about whether you have them before you pay.
1. POLICY
Your health and safety policy
Assessors review your written health and safety policy. It needs all three parts — statement of intent signed and dated by the most senior person, named responsibilities, and practical arrangements. A statement of intent on its own is the commonest reason applications come back. Note the written policy is a legal requirement in its own right once you employ five or more people.
2. ORGANISATION
Structure, responsibilities and competence
Who holds health and safety responsibilities, what they are qualified to do, and how you access competent advice. This is where training records matter — and where most contractors discover a gap. See also safety culture.
3. ARRANGEMENTS
What you actually do
Your practical arrangements against buyer-accepted criteria: risk assessments, method statements, accident reporting, PPE, subcontractor control, and the rest. Current and specific to your work, not downloaded.
If your business doesn’t yet meet the standard, CHAS gives feedback to help you get there. Once approved you appear in the CHAS database, visible to buyers searching for pre-qualified contractors.
The Training Gap Most Applications Hit
The documents are usually fixable in a fortnight. Competence isn’t — you cannot produce a training record for a course nobody has taken. If you are preparing an application, this is the part to start on first.
| What the assessment expects | Usual route |
|---|---|
| Someone competent managing safety | IOSH Managing Safely for most contractors; the NEBOSH General Certificate where the risk profile or the client demands more. |
| Ability to carry out risk assessments | Risk assessment and method statement training — RAMS are requested by almost every principal contractor. |
| Site supervision and management | SSSTS for supervisors, SMSTS for site managers. |
| Everyone else on site | CITB Health and Safety Awareness, the usual route to a green CSCS card. |
| CDM duties on your projects | CDM training, plus Temporary Works Coordinator or Supervisor where relevant. |
| First aid provision | Based on a needs assessment — see first aid training. |
Work out where your gaps are
Map training requirements by sector, hazard and job role, and check when existing certificates expire — a lapsed card is as much of a problem at renewal as a missing one. Free, no account needed — the tools sit on envicourse.com, our course marketplace, and open in a new tab.
Benefits of Registering With CHAS
Streamlined pre-qualification
One assessment instead of a different safety questionnaire for every buyer you work with.
You get on the list
Construction, facilities management, engineering, care, catering and consultancy buyers increasingly filter tenders by accreditation before reading anything else.
Less duplicated admin
One set of standards, one renewal date, and under SSIP mutual recognition, potentially one certificate covering several buyers’ requirements.
Buyer confidence
Accredited contractors are treated as lower-risk suppliers, and buyers can verify status directly rather than chasing you for documents.
The discipline itself
Preparing for assessment forces a business without a dedicated safety function to get its arrangements in order. Often the most valuable part.
Frequently Asked Questions About CHAS
What does CHAS stand for?
The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme — a UK-wide accreditation verifying that contractors meet health and safety standards recognised by public and private sector buyers. It is now operated as Veriforce CHAS.
Who needs CHAS accreditation?
Any contractor, supplier or consultant working with organisations that require verified health and safety compliance — construction, maintenance, facilities management, healthcare, engineering and more. It is not a legal requirement; it is a commercial one, driven by what your clients ask for.
How long does CHAS certification last?
Twelve months. You renew annually and must show your health and safety arrangements remain current. Diary the renewal date — losing accreditation mid-tender is an expensive way to find out it lapsed.
Is CHAS the same as SSIP?
No, but they’re closely linked. SSIP is the umbrella body for health and safety pre-qualification schemes; CHAS is one of its founding members from 2009. Holding CHAS Standard means you hold an SSIP-recognised certificate, so a client asking for “SSIP” should accept it.
What is Deem to Satisfy?
SSIP’s mutual recognition process. If you already hold a valid certificate with another SSIP member scheme — SafeContractor or SMAS, for instance — you can apply for CHAS without repeating the full health and safety assessment. CHAS verifies your existing certification and tells you if anything else is needed. Eligibility depends on your current certificate and the scope you’re applying for.
CHAS or SafeContractor — which should I choose?
At the health and safety layer they are broadly interchangeable: CHAS Standard, SafeContractor, SMAS Worksafe and Constructionline all sit under SSIP, and mutual recognition means a client asking for “an SSIP certificate” should accept any of them. The differences are in the non-safety modules and in which scheme particular clients name by habit. Ask your main clients what they want before choosing.
How long does the assessment take?
The application is online and assessments are usually approved within around ten working days, with a fast-track option available for a quicker turnaround. Higher tiers take longer because there are more modules to evidence — allow extra time to gather documents before you submit rather than after.
Do I need training before applying?
You need to evidence competence, which usually means training records. Documents can be written in a fortnight; a qualification cannot. If nobody in the business holds anything like IOSH Managing Safely, book that before you start the application rather than after an assessor asks for it.
Related Guidance
Risk assessment →
CDM Regulations →
Building safety →
Management systems →
All guidance topics →
General guidance only, reviewed August 2026. Envico is an independent training intermediary and is not affiliated with CHAS, Veriforce, SSIP or Build UK. Check current fees, tiers and requirements directly with CHAS.