CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline and the Common Assessment Standard, UK wide
SSIP and Accreditation Support
Most firms meet an accreditation deadline for one reason. A client has made it a condition of the next order. AL23 Safety builds the evidence, submits the application and deals with the assessor questions that come back, for clients UK wide.
What is SSIP and accreditation support?
Passing the assessment, then keeping the system worth the certificate
SSIP stands for Safety Schemes in Procurement. It is an umbrella forum rather than an assessor and it does not audit anybody. Its purpose is to reduce duplicated health and safety pre-qualification assessment across the supply chain by holding its member schemes to a common set of core criteria. Around 90,860 suppliers were registered with an SSIP member scheme as at January 2026.
Our work is the preparation and the aftermath. We identify which scheme your clients accept, assemble the evidence against the question set, write the policies and assessments that are missing and answer the assessor clarifications. Where your arrangements need work before an application makes sense, we say so at the start rather than after a failed submission.
Who needs one
Usually the supply chain, occasionally the buyer
- Contractors and subcontractors told by a client to hold a named scheme.
- Firms bidding for public sector work, where the Common Assessment Standard is the required route.
- Suppliers moving into construction, housing or facilities frameworks for the first time.
- Businesses holding one scheme who are being asked for another by a different client.
- Buyers deciding which scheme to specify in their own contractor management arrangements.
The regulations that apply
Your legal framework, in plain terms
No law requires you to hold an accreditation. The requirement is contractual, though it is built on legal foundations. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 section 3 makes a client responsible for people who are not their employees. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 require a client to satisfy themselves that appointees have the necessary skills, knowledge, training, experience and organisational capability. Pre-qualification schemes exist because those duties need evidence.
SSIP core criteria
The common standard behind every member scheme assessment, derived from CDM 2015 Appendix 4. This is what makes one certificate meaningful to a scheme that did not issue it.
CDM 2015 client duties
The reason capability has to be assessed before appointment rather than assumed from a logo. Our CDM consultant services cover that side of the transaction.
PPN 03/24
Central government and the wider public sector are required to use the Common Assessment Standard. If public work is your market, this decides the route.
Building Safety Act 2022
The Common Assessment Standard contains a building safety section, which can be used to demonstrate organisational capability for dutyholder roles.
What the service covers
From scheme choice to renewal planning
- A scheme decision based on what your clients name in their contracts rather than on which scheme markets hardest.
- A gap analysis against the current question set before any fee is paid to a scheme.
- Health and safety policy, with the organisation and arrangements sections written to the expected standard.
- Risk assessments and method statements matching the trades you carry out.
- Training matrices, competence records and evidence of how you check subcontractor competence.
- Accident, incident and RIDDOR reporting arrangements, with the records that show they are used.
- Consultation, monitoring and audit evidence, plus the management review that closes the loop.
- Application submission, assessor liaison and a response to every clarification raised.
- Renewal planning that makes the next assessment a review rather than a rebuild.
- Where relevant, the route through accredited ISO 45001 certification.
The schemes, in one place
CHAS
Veriforce CHAS. SSIP Registered Member and Common Assessment Standard assessment body, desktop and site-based.
SafeContractor
Alcumus. SSIP Registered Member, widely named in facilities and retail supply chains.
Constructionline
Gold, Silver and Platinum tiers. SSIP Registered Member and Common Assessment Standard assessment body.
Achilles
Sector networks covering utilities, rail and oil and gas. SSIP Registered Member and Common Assessment Standard assessment body.
SMAS Worksafe
SSIP Registered Member and Common Assessment Standard assessment body, desktop only.
Acclaim Accreditation
SSIP Registered Member, often met through the Supply Chain Sustainability School.
Altius VA
SSIP Registered Member, strong in facilities management and retail supply chains.
Accredited ISO 45001 certification
SSIP recognises Certification Body Members providing accredited ISO 45001 certification as an SSIP-equivalent route. That group includes BSI, Bureau Veritas, DNV, Intertek, LRQA, NQA, SGS and SOCOTEC.
The Common Assessment Standard
PAS 91 was withdrawn by BSI in December 2022 and has not been reissued. Do not let anyone specify it. Its replacement is the Common Assessment Standard, owned by Build UK and delivered through recognised assessment bodies. It is broader than SSIP, covering the core health and safety criteria plus financial, environmental, quality, equality and diversity, modern slavery, information security and building safety. An SSIP certificate is not the Common Assessment Standard.
Certification comes at two levels. Desktop is a document review. Site-based adds an on-site audit. Proportionate assessment is available for micro-businesses. Seven assessment bodies are recognised, being Achilles, Compliance Chain, Constructionline, CQMS, SCCS, SMAS Worksafe and Veriforce CHAS. Data is portable across all seven, meaning one assessment produces credentials several buyers can read.
The question set matters for timing. Version 5 is current. Version 6 launches on 1 November 2026. Build UK has allowed scaffolding and temporary works suppliers extended completion time until that point. If your renewal falls close to that date, we plan the submission around it.
What mutual recognition does and does not do
Mutual recognition, known as deem to satisfy, means an assessment by any SSIP Registered Member or Certification Body Member is treated as equivalent because all assess against the same core criteria. A supplier holding one member certificate should be deemed to satisfy the Stage 1 health and safety assessment of another member scheme without a full reassessment. Buyers can verify certificates free through the SSIP Portal.
The limits are the part that catches people out. Mutual recognition covers the Stage 1 core criteria only. It does not cover scheme specific add-ons such as financial, environmental, quality, equality and diversity, modern slavery or building safety modules. It does not oblige a client to accept a scheme other than the one they specified. Many principal contractors still name one. Some members assess by desktop only. Higher risk trades may still face a site-based assessment. Deem to satisfy is a right to avoid duplicated assessment, not a right to be accepted everywhere.
Our process
Decide, prove, submit and defend
- 01
Decide the route
We check what your clients contractually require, then recommend the scheme or certification route satisfying the most of them.
- 02
Gap analysis
We assess your documents and records against the live question set and give you a written list of what is missing.
- 03
Build the evidence
We write or rewrite the policy, arrangements, assessments and records using your real projects rather than sample content.
- 04
Submit and defend
We complete the application, upload the evidence and answer assessor queries until the decision is made.
- 05
Hold it
We set the renewal date, keep the evidence current and prepare you for the next question set.
What you get
A pass built to survive the next audit
- A written recommendation on which scheme or route to use, with the reasoning behind it.
- A gap analysis report listing every missing document and record against the question set.
- A complete evidence pack, structured in the order the assessor reads it.
- The submitted application, with every clarification answered and tracked.
- A renewal plan with dates, owners and the changes expected at the next question set.
What we need from you
The requirement and a few real jobs
- The client requirement in writing, including the scheme name and any tier or level specified.
- Your existing policy, risk assessments, training records and insurance certificates.
- Accident and incident records for the period the assessment covers.
- Two or three recent jobs we can use as evidence of how you plan and control work.
Why AL23 Safety
Route-neutral advice you can act on
Accountable
If your arrangements are not ready, we tell you before you pay a scheme fee, not after the assessor declines the submission.
The system, not just the submission
A pass built on documents nobody uses fails at the next site-based assessment. We write arrangements your team can actually operate.
Route-neutral
We are not tied to a scheme. Where accredited ISO 45001 certification serves you better than another questionnaire, we will say so.
UK wide
We support accreditation across the UK. The assessment decision belongs to the scheme. We prepare you properly for it.
Renewal date approaching
A short call will tell you whether you are ready to submit
Tell us which scheme your client has asked for and when the deadline falls. We will tell you what is missing and how long it realistically takes.
Common questions
Answers, up front
Cannot see your question? Get in touch and we will answer it directly.
Contact usStart with what your clients name in their contracts. If public sector work is in your pipeline the Common Assessment Standard is the route, since central government and the wider public sector are required to use it under PPN 03/24. If one principal contractor drives most of your turnover, hold the scheme they specify.
Mutual recognition should mean your existing certificate satisfies their Stage 1 health and safety assessment. It does not compel them to accept it. Buyers often name a single scheme in their framework. Point them at the SSIP Portal first. Where they will not move, a cross-over application is lighter than a first assessment.
It can. SSIP recognises accredited ISO 45001 certification through its Certification Body Members as an equivalent route. The certification must be accredited and within a scope covering your work. ISO 45001 is a far bigger undertaking than a scheme assessment. It makes sense when you want the management system anyway rather than only the credential.
No. BSI withdrew PAS 91 in December 2022 and it has not been reissued. Any tender document still requesting it is out of date. The Common Assessment Standard is its replacement, owned by Build UK.
It depends on your renewal date. Version 5 is the current question set and Version 6 launches on 1 November 2026. If you certify shortly before the change, plan for the new questions at renewal rather than meeting them as a surprise.
Our fee depends on how much evidence already exists and whether we are writing your management arrangements from scratch. The scheme charges its own fee separately and we do not mark that up. Where the documentation is largely in place, preparation and submission takes weeks. Where it is not, allow longer and expect to build a system rather than a folder of documents.
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