Safe Contractor Joining fees

Safe Contractor is part of the SSIP umbrella group and is an assessment of your companies Health & Safety capabilities. It is often a requirement to have Safe Contractor should you wish to work with some private and public sector clients.

There are a number of ways you can apply for safe contractor you can register and complete all the required paperwork yourself or you can enlist the services of a 3rd party consultant. They will provide expert advice and support and help you through the process.

If you are looking for help please see our information available.

The fees listed below are correct as of 25/10/2016

Owner Operator	£189 + VAT
1-4 employees	£279 + VAT
5-15 employees	£369 + VAT
16-30 employees	£469 + VAT
31-50 employees	£579 + VAT
51-250 employees	£739 + VAT
>250 employees	£899 + VAT

 

 

Contractors working on Domestic premises

If you are a domestic customer employing a contractor to do work within your home there are a number of helpful resources you might need when looking for the right contractor.

Domestic clients:

People who have construction work carried out on their own home or the home of a family member, that is not done in furtherance of a business, whether for profit or not. Domestic clients are in scope of CDM 2015, but their duties as a client are normally transferred to:

• the contractor, on a single contractor project, or
• the principal contractor, on a project involving more than one contractor.

However, the domestic client can choose to have a written agreement with the principal designer to carry out the client duties.

www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/domestic-clients.htm

Health & Safety

Are they accredited by a reputable safety Scheme e.g. CHAS or other SSIP Scheme?

If you wanted to verify that a company is

CHAS registered:www.chas.co.uk/ContactCHAS.aspx

SSIP:www.ssip.org.uk

It is abit of minefield knowing exactly what you need to do and what you should expect from the contractor you are using, CHAS have arranged everything in one convenient place if you would like more details.

2015 / 2016 HSE workplace stats 

The HSE has released provisional figures indicating that 144 people were killed while at work in 2015/2016 – up from 142 in 2014/5.

The figures have been broken down to key sectors:

• 43 workers deaths in construction
• 27 deaths in agriculture
• 27 deaths in manufacturing
• 6 deaths in waste and recycling
• 41 in various other sectors

There was a further 103 deaths for members of the public connected to work in 2015/16.

Although these may seem high compared with other statistics available for the rest of Europe the UK to be one of the safest places to work.

Mesothelioma, one of the few work related diseases where deaths can be counted directly, contracted through past exposure to asbestos killed 2,515 in Great Britain in 2014 compared to 2,556 in 2013.

A more detailed assessment of the data will be provided as part of the annual Health and Safety Statistics release in early November.

Further information on these statistics can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm

 

CHAS new E form Process

In 2016 CHAS have introduced a new system where you can apply for your CHAS direct on their online portal. Previously you were only able to pay online and had to submit your documents separately.

The online E form Process is not available for groups or for other members of the SSIP umbrella group they need to contact chas.admin@chas.co.uk. You will also need to use the old way of applying if you a Designers or Principal Designer.

The new  process is different as you will need to pay for your CHAS on submission. Before you start your application you need to make sure you have everything you need to hand in electronic format:

• Examples of Risk assessments and Method Statements in situ on previous jobs
• COSHH Assessments specific to your business
• Evidence of Health & Safety Training specific to your business and employees
• Evidence of Contractor Management & Competence Assessment
• plus other necessary documents
• valid payment method

Once you have everything in place start the process by clicking here:

CHAS

Once you have made payment your application will  be assigned to an assessor and they will login and commence the assessment. The assessment can take up to 10 working days and this can result in a pass or feedback requiring more information. All updates will be sent to you via the E Forms system.

The assessment process remains the same whereby, if more information is needed you will need to provide this to get your certificate.

Using the E Forms system means that once you have been passed by the assessor a confirmation letter and an electronic copy of your certificate will be uploaded to your account.  You will then receive a hard copy of the certificate & accreditation pack post within 10 working days.

If you are unsure if you have the right information or would like some support to complete the accreditation please get in touch.

Applying and renewing your SafeContractor accreditation has never been easier. SafeContractor have introduced a new fast track service to help to speed up the assessment of your application:

• Standard turnaround – 4-6 weeks
• Fast Track – 3-5 working days
• Fast Track Premium – 2 working days

There are additional benefits to the new service as well as the response time, these are:

• Dedicated support officer
• Advice and Assistance
• Priority audit and certificate
• Partial Completion

There are associated costs involved, to find out the latest fees get in touch and we will give you all the insights you need to make a decision.

If you are unsure if Safe Contractor is what you need and would like some advice on which accreditation would be best for your company please get in touch and we will be happy to help.

Domestic Construction Phase Plan

Domestic projects involving only you as a contractor

On these projects, the client duties are transferred to you, who must carry out the client’s duties as well as your own. In practice, this will involve you doing no more than they have done in the past to comply with health and safety legislation. Compliance with your own duties as a contractor will be taken as compliance with the relevant client duties to the extent necessary given the risks involved in the project. As a result of you taking on the client duties, any designers involved in the project will work with you in their role as the ‘client’.

Domestic projects involving more than one contractor

For projects involving more than one contractor the Principal Contractor will normally assume the Client duties. The domestic Client can choose to appoint the Principal Designer for the project. If, however, they do not make this appointment, the first Designer appointed during the preconstruction phase is the Principal Designer for the project. If so, the Principal Designer will be answerable to the Principal Contractor in their role as ‘Client’ for the project and will be responsible for liaising with them.

Refer to the following flow diagram for further details of CDM domestic projects.

CDM 2015 Applies to Domestic Clients

 

 

Safecontractor Scheme

Safecontractor is part of the Alcumus Group. The Safecontractor scheme is a web based portal where suppliers can complete an online version of an Health & Safety PQQ. This is then assessed and measured to ensure that your company complies with the guidelines set out.

As Safecontractor is a set of guidelines clients can use this to measure companies without having to get individual PQQ’s filed in for each occasion. There are over 24,000 members currently in the scheme.

The process for safe contractor takes on average 8 weeks once you have submitted your documentation to them for review. Safecontractor is a good way to show you have demonstrated your Health & Safety competence and both new and existing clients will recognise that.

Safecontractor is part of the SSIP umbrella organisation of accreditations so gaining Safecontractor can also deem you to satisfy for other accreditations should your clients require them such as CHAS of exor.

To find out more about deeming to satisfy please read our blog

If you are looking for help in completing your Safecontractor application get in touch with us today.