Do I need CHAS?

If you are self-employed or a small contractor do I need CHAS. You may be asked to get CHAS or other SSIP certificate. Let us explain the situation to you.

Domestic Market

If you work in the domestic market and want to sail close to the wind, the answer is no, as homeowners will not insist that you work safely.

However, you have a duty of care for yourself and others under UK health and safety legislation. Even working in the domestic market, you will be in trouble if you have a terrible accident or cause harm to others.

Construction Market

The answer is yes if you work in the construction market or want to work there. You will need to have a recognised standard of health and safety.

Main contractors and clients such as local authorities insist that everyone who works for them has a standard of health and safety. They insist as it is part of their health and safety systems.

The most well-known standard is CHAS, but there are other providers of the same standard under the SSIP umbrella. SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is a organisation that manages accreditation suppliers, to ensure they work to the same standards.

The size of your business matters

If you are self-employed or a small contractor with less than 5 employees, you need CHAS or similar, SSIP but you will not be required to employ a competent person safety advisor.

You must employ a competent person safety advisor if you employ 5 or more people, including sub-contractors or other self-employed people. The easiest way to do this is to use a remote competent person safety advisor. We offer this service.

What is CHAS

The Core Criteria and the threshold standard of CHAS and all the other SSIP accreditations  is as follows:

• Health & safety policy
• Competent Advice
• Training arrangements
• Monitoring, audit and review
• Workforce involvement
• Accident reporting and enforcement action
• Subcontracting/consulting
• Risk Assessments and Safe Systems of Work
• Cooperations with others
• Welfare provision
• Hazard elimination

The Good News

We are here to support you through the process; we can prepare all the documents, complete the registration forms, and simplify the process. CHAS is expensive, but other providers are very economical. The best thing to do is chat with us and learn more; we can tell you about the costs and the time frame. Our number is 0800 031 5404, or you can complete a form and we will contact you.

What is SSIP

SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is an umbrella organisation formed in 2009 to reduce the duplication of health and safety assessments.

SSIP does not carry out the assessments; 30 companies, including CHAS, PQS, and Construction line, do that.

Which assessment company do you select?

CHAS
PQS
Construction line
Safe Contractor
SMAS
CQMA
Builders profile
Avetta

The most expensive is CHAS, and the least costly is PQS. Due to the Deem to Satisfy system by SSIP, a PQS accreditation is equivalent to a CHAS accreditation, and for a small fee, you can obtain certificates for both.

The driver for selection usually is your customer; if they insist on CHAS, you can get accredited with PQS and request a certificate for CHAS within the process.

Impartial advise

Feel free to call us, and we can advise you on the best selection for your needs. We have completed thousands of applications and understand the market inside out. We don’t mind which company you select; the assessment process is the same, thanks to SSIP.

Who is Seguro

Seguro Health and Safety Management employs qualified health and safety consultants who complete the application to obtain accreditation from all the assessment companies. Seguro removes the pain of completing all the documentation and ensuring you comply.

The history of SSIP

In April 2007, the revised Construction (Design & Management) Regulations came into force. The new regulations introduced the concept of accessing the health and safety competence of contractors and consultants working within the construction sector.

In May 2009, with support from HSE, SSIP was founded, with the core aim to streamline pre-qualification and encourage straightforward mutual recognition between its Member Schemes.

2015 saw SSIP adopting the Core Criteria from the HSE, ensuring that its members adhered to the highest health and safety standards. This alignment with HSE guidelines further solidified SSIP’s reputation as a health and safety pre-qualification leader.

In 2024, SSIP remains at the forefront of promoting health and safety standards within the construction industry.

More articles

The SSIP accreditation process

 

What is SSIP Deem to Satisfy?

Deem to satisfy allows you to obtain an SSIP certificate from a supplier other than the supplier from which you obtained your SSIP certificate.

For example, you can apply for a construction line certificate without going through a new accreditation process if you have a CHAS certificate.

You can save money using deem to satisfy; for example, if you have a CHAS and wish to renew, you can renew with a more economical supplier and still get your CHAS certificate through the deem to satisfy system.

All member schemes listed on the SSIP forum adhere to the SSIP Core Criteria, backed by the Health and Safety Executive.

By mutually recognising each other’s schemes, suppliers benefit from only needing to complete one assessment, while buyers enjoy more efficient procurement processes. This approach reduces costs and has saved over £68 million since 2016.

Deem to satisfy can be complex, we can do the hard lifting for you, the fee is very small.

Registered Members

Two-Way Deem to Satisfy between SSIP Registered Members

Approval with a Registered Member can only be used to Deem to Satisfy with another Registered Member; it cannot be used to gain a Deem to Satisfy with a Certification Body Member.

Below is the list of registered members you can use for deem to satisfy:

3Core2 Certification Limited Trading As SafeArb SafeArb

Achilles Information Ltd Building Confidence

Alcumus SafeContractor Ltd Alcumus Safecontractor

Altius VA Limited CDMComply

Arboricultural Association ARB Approved Contractor

Association for Project Safety APS Corporate Practice Membership

Avetta Avetta Assessed

CHAS 2013 Ltd Contractors Health & Safety Scheme

Construction Safety Solutions PASS

CQMS Ltd CQMS Safety-Scheme

D W Health & Safety DW Health & Safety Contractor Competency Scheme

Fall Arrest Safety Equipment Training Ltd FASET Membership Audit

Fortius Ltd Acclaim Accreditation

Greenlight Safety Assessment Scheme Ltd Greenlight Safety Assessment Scheme

Hire Association Europe Ltd SafeHire Certification Scheme

International Powered Access Federation [IPAF] IPAF SSIP

MSL Property Care Services Ltd MSL Safepartner

National Access & Scaffolding Confederation Ltd NASC SSIP Audit

National Federation of Demolition Contractors NFDC Membership

PQS Pre-Qualification Scheme PQS Health & Safety Approved

Salus Certification Salus Certification

Safe-T-Cert [NI] {Construction Employers Federation} Safe-T-Cert

Safe-T-Cert [ROI] {Construction Industry Federation} Safe-T-Cert

Safety Management Advisory Services Ltd SMAS Worksafe

SSG Training and Consultancy Ltd SSG Assessed

William Martin Compliance Limited Prosure 360

We can support you if you are not sure what to do.

CHAS and Constructionline Enquiries

Over the last few months we have had a large influx of clients that have been asked for an SSIP accreditation as well as Constructionline. There are a number of ways you can achieve this:

Constructionline

You can start your Constructionline Application as normal but request that you also get assessed for Acclaim. This will mean that your health & Safety will be assessed by Constructionline. The assessor will feedback and further information they need and the process can take up to 3-5 weeks to complete.

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CHAS and Constructionline

In order to get both accreditations we would recommend that you start the process for CHAS first, this can take an average of 4 weeks from start to completion. Once you have your CHAS certificate you can then apply to Constructionline when you apply you would tick yes to having an SSIP certificate and upload your CHAS certificate here.

There is then no need to apply for acclaim and you would go ahead with you constructionline application as normal.

If you looking for help with applying for both accreditation’s we can help with that here at Seguro.

CHAS Deem to satisfy process

There is an increased number of clients looking to see if they can Deem to Satisfy for CHAS. This process is where you already have a qualification that CHAS recognises and will accept instead of carrying out their own assessment.

If you think that you have one that will be eligible you can either contact CHAS on 0208 545 3838 or you can use the e-form provided below:

• Deem to Satisfy

If after checking the list you are unsure or don’t think you will be able to get CHAS this way and will need to complete the full application please get in touch.

We can help you to get your documentation in place within 10 working days to submit for assessment.

What is SMAS?

SMAS is part of the SSIP accreditation scheme known as  ‘Safety Schemes In Procurement’ (SSIP). When you begin working for clients they may ask you to become a member of SSIP. This is so they can be assured that your H&S practices are up to standard with a third party certification.

As a consultant that assists with the paperwork needed we are focusing on saving our clients money where we can. SMAS is one of the most reasonable outlays for your business and to renew year on year.

If you have any questions or would like us to help you get your accreditation please get in touch on 0800 031 5404.

The assessment for CHAS needs to be paid direct to them for an assessor to look through the paperwork you have submitted.

On an annual basis these fees increase, a new client fee of approx £50 + vat will also be charged.

Please see the new fees for this year:

 

Standard

1 Employee – £299 +vat

2-4 Employees – £339 +Vat

5-15 Employees – £509 +vat

16-30 Employees – £699 +Vat

31-50 Employees – £789 +vat

Advanced

1 Employee – £469+vat

2-4 Employees – £559 +vat

5-15 Employees – £779 +vat

16-30 Employees – £1079 +Vat

31-50 Employees – £1239 +vat

Elite

1 Employee – £659 +vat

2-4 Employees – £689 +vat

5-15 Employees – £909 +vat

16-30 Employees – £1359 +vat

31-50 Employees – £1559 +vat

 

These fees are correct at 3rd October 2022.

If you are looking for assistance with your CHAS application we have frozen our prices since 2021 for assisting you. Please get in touch.

CHAS have recently renamed their current levels.

The new levels fall under the criteria below:

• CHAS Standard (formally CHAS H&S)
• CHAS premium has been removed as a level all together)
• CHAS Advanced (formally CHAS premium Plus)
• CHAS Elite (formally CHAS premier)

Your existing qualification will just be renamed in your portal.

You may be asked by a client for the additional verification on your existing CHAS, that’s no problem it can easily be bolted on and we have the documentation you need available.

As a valued customer we will be offering loyalty discounts to complete these sections for you. Get in touch if you need any assistance.

Constructionline and Acclaim

Acclaim is the constructionline version of a Health & Safety Assessment.  Gaining your Acclaim Accreditation would enable you to become a member of ‘Safety Schemes In Procurement’ (SSIP), which is an umbrella organisation for health and safety assessment schemes.

Unsure how this works please click here to see the the flow of the process.

SSIP is known in the industry as one of the largest growing schemes with more buyers recognising it within the construction industry. This gives suppliers the opportunity to become a member of the scheme that suits them. This helps companies to eliminate the need to apply for multiple accreditation’s to appease different buyers.
Benefits of the Acclaim scheme

• The simple questionnaire contains twelve questions and wont require you to resubmit any information you have already provided as part of your Constructionline membership.
• The Acclaim Accreditation assessment is undertaken by the experts at Capita Property and Infrastructure. You will be provided with full details of the assessment and the assessor comments.
• Acclaim Accreditation fees are based on your annual turnover, ensuring that the payment is affordable to all companies who require it.

If you would like some more information on the accreditation and think you may need help in completing the process please get in touch.