If a client has asked whether you hold CHAS, SafeContractor or Constructionline, and you're trying to work out which one to actually get, the honest answer is: it depends what the client will accept, and what tier they actually need — because these three schemes aren't interchangeable products, and "SSIP-approved" doesn't mean every scheme is treated the same by every buyer.
What SSIP actually is
SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) isn't an accreditation body itself — it's an umbrella forum of member schemes that agreed a common core standard, so a contractor doesn't have to pass a different health and safety assessment for every client who asks. SSIP describes its own purpose as reducing "duplication and costs for both suppliers and buyers," and the scale of that saving is real: SSIP reports that over £10 million was saved in 2023 alone through member schemes not duplicating each other's assessments.
The mechanism behind that saving is called deemed to satisfy (DtS) — mutual recognition between registered SSIP member schemes. SSIP's own description: member schemes agree to "accept a current, valid approval from any other registered member, as long as the details are correctly displayed on the SSIP Portal." In principle, if you're accredited by one SSIP scheme and a client asks for "SSIP approval," any registered scheme should satisfy that request.
In practice, "should" is doing some work in that sentence — plenty of buyers name a specific scheme in their tender documents rather than accepting "any SSIP member," which is exactly why the choice of scheme still matters.
The common standard behind all of this is PAS 91, a "government-endorsed construction pre-qualification document" that SSIP describes as a threshold standard approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), applied across all SSIP assessments. It typically covers health and safety policy and management arrangements, risk assessments and method statements, training and competence, insurance, and accident and incident recording — the baseline every scheme builds on, even where the exact question set differs.
CHAS — the original, and now tiered
CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) is the oldest scheme in the sector, and remains the one most commonly specified by local authorities, NHS trusts, housing associations and other public sector bodies. It now runs three tiers:
- CHAS Standard — entry-level, covering a core health and safety assessment that meets SSIP standards. Priced from £429/year plus VAT, scaling by company size.
- CHAS Advanced — meets both SSIP and the former PAS 91 standard through a single prequalification questionnaire. From £659/year plus VAT.
- CHAS Elite — the most comprehensive tier, assessed against the Common Assessment Standard across up to 13 areas of risk management. From £909/year plus VAT.
The tier that matters most right now is Elite. Since 27 June 2024, public sector clients have been required to specify the Common Assessment Standard — meaning CHAS Elite specifically — rather than accepting a lower tier. If your work is predominantly public sector, Standard or Advanced may not actually be enough, regardless of what mutual recognition theoretically allows.
SafeContractor — the commercial-sector equivalent
SafeContractor, run by Alcumus, is more commonly named by large private contractors, facilities management companies, retail and hospitality operators, and utilities and infrastructure clients. Alcumus states it serves over 50,000 organisations globally, including around 450 major brands, and describes SafeContractor as "the largest Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) provider to hold UKAS accreditation" — a claim about the rigour of its own assessment process, worth noting as their positioning rather than treating as an independent ranking.
The assessment covers the same PAS 91 ground as CHAS — policy, insurance, RAMS, training, accident history — but the portal, document submission process and specific question wording differ, which is why a contractor moving between the two isn't submitting identical paperwork twice, even though the underlying standard is the same.
Constructionline — five tiers, and a supplier database as well as an SSIP scheme
Constructionline is different in kind from CHAS and SafeContractor: it's a supplier database and pre-qualification platform as well as an accreditation route, and it now runs five membership levels:
- Associate — entry-level, for new suppliers.
- Bronze — manages insurance and SSIP data through a simplified question set.
- Silver — shares compliance and SSIP data with the largest construction and FM buyers.
- Gold — meets the Common Assessment Standard, and includes Building Safety Act assessments.
- Platinum — everything in Gold, plus a one-day premises audit.
All paid tiers (Bronze upward) include SSIP certification through Once For All Health & Safety as standard, so from Bronze up you're not choosing "Constructionline instead of SSIP" — you're getting SSIP recognition bundled into the Constructionline membership itself. Gold is the tier that's genuinely equivalent to CHAS Elite or a full SafeContractor assessment; Associate and Bronze are lighter prequalification products, not full SSIP-equivalent accreditation.
Many larger public sector and framework clients require both Constructionline and CHAS or SafeContractor — Constructionline for the supplier database and broader prequalification, the other scheme for the specific health and safety recognition their procurement policy names. If you're targeting framework contracts, budget for holding both rather than treating them as alternatives.
So which one do you actually need?
Deemed-to-satisfy recognition means, in theory, one accreditation should be portable across any SSIP-registered scheme a client asks for. In practice, the fastest way to answer this for your own business is the least glamorous one: ask your most important prospective client which specific scheme, and which tier, they name in their procurement requirements. Public sector work increasingly means CHAS Elite or Constructionline Gold specifically, not "any SSIP scheme." Private main contractors and FM providers more often name SafeContractor. If you're tendering broadly across both sectors, you'll likely need more than one — and because the underlying PAS 91 evidence is largely the same paperwork, renewing a second scheme once your documentation is already in order isn't double the work it looks like.
What an assessment actually wants to see
Regardless of scheme or tier, expect to evidence: a written health and safety policy appropriate to your size and work type; risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) for the work you actually do; training and competence records for your workforce; current employer's liability and public liability insurance; your accident and incident history, including how incidents were investigated and what changed as a result; and — at the higher tiers — how you manage subcontractors' compliance, and increasingly, Building Safety Act evidence for anyone working on higher-risk buildings.
The renewal trap
Most accreditations run for 12 months, and the most common reason contractors lose contracts isn't failing an assessment — it's letting one lapse. The renewal notice arrives, gets forwarded to an inbox, and sits there until a client runs a routine check, finds the accreditation has expired, and the contract is gone before anyone noticed there was a problem. A simple fix — a calendar with staged reminders, a named owner for the renewal, and documents stored somewhere searchable rather than scattered across email — closes this gap entirely.
Glossary
- SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) — the umbrella forum of member accreditation schemes operating mutual recognition on a common standard.
- PAS 91 — the government-endorsed, HSE-approved pre-qualification standard underlying SSIP assessments.
- Common Assessment Standard — the more comprehensive assessment tier (CHAS Elite, Constructionline Gold) now mandated for public sector procurement since 27 June 2024.
- Deemed to satisfy (DtS) — the mutual recognition principle: an approval from one SSIP-registered scheme should be accepted by another.
- RAMS — risk assessments and method statements, evidencing how a specific job will be done safely.
- UKAS — the UK Accreditation Service, which independently assesses certification bodies against recognised standards.
- Prequalification (PQQ) — the process of proving your business meets a buyer's baseline requirements before you can tender for work.
FAQ
If I already hold CHAS, do I still need SafeContractor for a client who asks for it? In principle no — deemed-to-satisfy recognition means a valid SSIP-registered approval should be accepted. In practice, some buyers specify a scheme by name in their procurement policy and won't deviate from it regardless of mutual recognition. Ask the client directly before assuming.
What's actually different between CHAS Advanced and CHAS Elite? Advanced meets SSIP and the former PAS 91 standard through a single questionnaire. Elite assesses against the newer Common Assessment Standard across up to 13 areas of risk management, and is the tier public sector buyers have been required to specify since 27 June 2024.
Do I need Constructionline as well as CHAS or SafeContractor? Often, yes, for larger public sector and framework work — Constructionline functions as a supplier database and broader prequalification platform as well as an SSIP route, and many buyers require both a named health and safety scheme and Constructionline membership.
Which scheme should I get if I only work with local authorities and the NHS? CHAS is the scheme most commonly named explicitly in public sector tender documents, and since June 2024 that increasingly means CHAS Elite specifically, not a lower tier.
Which scheme should I get if I mostly work for large private contractors? SafeContractor is more frequently specified by large contractors, facilities management companies, and retail/hospitality clients — but check the specific buyer's requirements rather than assuming.
Do all Constructionline tiers include SSIP certification? All paid tiers, Bronze upward, include SSIP certification through Once For All Health & Safety. The free/entry Associate tier does not carry the same level of assessment as the paid tiers.
How much does accreditation typically cost? It varies by scheme, tier and company size. CHAS's published starting prices run from roughly £429/year plus VAT for Standard up to £909/year plus VAT for Elite, scaling upward for larger organisations. Constructionline and SafeContractor pricing is calculated per business rather than published as a flat rate — get a quote for your specific size and turnover.
What's the single biggest reason contractors fail to renew on time? The renewal notice going to a general inbox with nobody specifically responsible for actioning it. A named owner and staged reminders (30/14/7 days) fixes this reliably.
Can I get away with the lowest tier of whichever scheme I choose? Only if your clients accept it. Increasingly, larger and public sector buyers name the top tier specifically — CHAS Elite, Constructionline Gold — so check the requirement before assuming the entry-level tier is enough.
We manage the full accreditation cycle for clients across CHAS, SafeContractor and Constructionline — application, document storage, renewal tracking with automated alerts, and submission. See how Deplexify manages CHAS accreditation, or get in touch to check what your specific clients actually require before you pay for the wrong tier.