CHAS accreditation explained: cost, process and whether it is worth it

This guide is for owners of small and mid-sized UK building firms and trades who have been told they need CHAS for a tender, a framework or a main contractor's supply chain. The guide covers what CHAS accreditation is, what each level costs, what the assessment involves, how long it takes, and whether it will actually win you work.

CHAS comes up constantly in tender conversations and almost never in domestic ones. The useful question is not "what is it" but "will it pay for itself". If commercial clients are the target, the accreditation also needs to be easy to find online, which is part of good contractor website design.

What is CHAS accreditation?

CHAS accreditation is a contractor pre-qualification assessment that shows clients a firm manages health and safety, and at higher levels wider business risks, to a recognised standard. CHAS originally stood for the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme and now trades as Veriforce CHAS.

The point of CHAS is that a client does not have to assess every contractor with its own questionnaire. The contractor is assessed once a year, and clients check the result. CHAS says its members are visible to more than 2,500 client organisations.

CHAS is a founder member of SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement), the umbrella body that lets health and safety assessments from one member scheme be recognised by another. CHAS is also a recognised assessment body for the Common Assessment Standard (CAS), the pre-qualification standard developed by Build UK, the construction trade association.

CHAS accreditation is not a legal requirement. Clients and main contractors ask for it in their supply chain rules and tender documents, so whether a firm needs it depends on who it wants to work for.

How much does CHAS accreditation cost?

CHAS accreditation costs from £429 a year for CHAS Standard, from £659 a year for CHAS Advanced and from £949 a year for CHAS Elite, according to the CHAS packages page in October 2026. Those are starting prices: CHAS says costs scale with the size of the organisation.

Headcount drives the final figure. The CHAS FAQ counts direct employees, PAYE, permanent, temporary and part-time staff, and labour-only subcontractors, but not bona fide subcontractors who are companies in their own right. The packages page does not say whether VAT is added, so check the price for your headcount on chas.co.uk before budgeting.

The second cost is time. A firm with no written health and safety policy or method statements has to write them before it can submit. CHAS also offers an optional Fast Track review and CHAS Assist support, so check those prices too if you need them.

Decision rule: CHAS Standard pays for itself in a year if it wins one job with more than £429 profit, plus VAT if it applies.

What does the CHAS assessment involve?

The CHAS assessment involves registering on the VeriforceONE portal, choosing a package by headcount, uploading evidence of how you manage health and safety, and having a CHAS assessor review it. CHAS says its assessors consider the size and scope of the business.

A CHAS evidence checklist to prepare before you register:

• A written health and safety policy, signed and dated
• Risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) for your typical work
• COSHH assessments for the substances you use
• Training records, CSCS cards and qualifications
• Accident and incident records, or a signed nil return
• Public liability and employers' liability insurance certificates
• Site inspection and equipment maintenance records
• How you select and monitor subcontractors
• How you consult your workforce on safety
• Construction phase plans, if you act as principal contractor

CHAS offers three routes: a desktop assessment of uploaded documents, an on-site audit that can also be done remotely, or an SSIP Deemed to Satisfy application for firms that already hold another SSIP scheme's certificate.

For a firm that already runs properly, CHAS is paperwork rather than change. For a firm working on habit and goodwill, the first assessment is useful because it shows what is not written down.

How long does CHAS accreditation take?

CHAS reviews a submitted assessment within a maximum of 10 working days, or a maximum of 2 working days on its Fast Track option, according to the CHAS FAQ. Verification starts only once every assessment in the package is complete.

If the assessor needs more information, CHAS issues a two-week deadline to supply it. If an application closes, CHAS says it can reopen it once for a fee within 14 days; after that, a new application is needed.

CHAS accreditation lasts a year. Membership renews on the annual payment date and the assessment is renewed each year, so put the expiry date in the diary and keep the evidence folder up to date between renewals.

Illustration: a firm that needs CHAS for a tender closing in four weeks should spend the first week gathering the evidence on the checklist, submit in week two, and leave the remaining time for the 10-working-day review and any follow-up questions.

Is CHAS accreditation worth it for a small contractor?

CHAS accreditation is worth it for a small contractor that wants public sector, main contractor or larger commercial work, and rarely worth it for a firm that works only for homeowners. The deciding factor is whether the clients you want ask for it.

CHAS is worth it if

• You tender for public sector work, where pre-qualification standards such as CAS are set out in government guidance
• You want a place on main contractor supply chains or approved lists
• You work for housing associations, councils, schools or the NHS
• You do commercial fit-out or industrial work
• You have been filtered out at pre-qualification for not holding an SSIP certificate

CHAS is probably not worth it if

• You work almost entirely for homeowners
• Your work comes from referrals and repeat clients
• No client has asked you for it in the last year

CHAS is built for business and public sector clients, not homeowners. For domestic work, schemes aimed at homeowners do that job instead: TrustMark (the government-endorsed quality scheme for work in and around the home), Federation of Master Builders (FMB) membership, and trade registrations such as Gas Safe Register or NICEIC. The guide on how to win subcontractor work covers what main contractors check before adding a firm to a tender list.

Which CHAS level do you need: Standard, Advanced or Elite?

The CHAS level you need is the one your client asks for: CHAS Standard gives SSIP certification, CHAS Advanced adds modules covering the withdrawn PAS 91 questionnaire, and CHAS Elite gives the Common Assessment Standard. Ask the client before buying, because paying for Elite when Standard was required wastes £520 a year at starting prices.

CHAS says construction clients often treat SSIP certification, which CHAS Standard provides, as baseline proof of safety competence for subcontractor approval. CHAS Advanced suits clients that still use PAS 91-style questionnaires, even though BSI withdrew PAS 91 in April 2023.

CHAS Elite is the level for clients that ask for CAS. Build UK lists two levels: CHAS Elite (CAS) as a desktop assessment and CHAS Elite (CAS) Assured with a site-based audit. CHAS says CAS offers streamlined assessment criteria for businesses with fewer than five employees and a turnover under £500,000.

What do UK public sector buyers ask for: SSIP, CAS or PAS 91?

UK public sector buyers pre-qualifying contractors for works contracts are told to use the Common Assessment Standard. Annex A of PPN 03/24, the Cabinet Office procurement policy note published on 27 March 2024 for procurements under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, says contracting authorities "should use the Common Assessment Standard (CAS)" for works contracts.

PPN 03/24 applies to contracting authorities in England, and to those in Wales and Northern Ireland exercising wholly or mainly reserved functions. The same note says each buyer must keep the questions relevant and proportionate to the contract being procured.

For a small UK contractor, that means:

• Councils, schools, NHS trusts and housing associations may ask for CAS through a recognised body such as CHAS Elite or Constructionline Gold.
• Main contractors often set their own supply chain rules and may name one scheme.
• PAS 91 questionnaires still appear, but BSI no longer maintains the standard.

Read the selection questionnaire in each tender before buying a level. The scheme named in the documents settles the question.

What are the alternatives to CHAS?

The main alternatives to CHAS are other SSIP member schemes such as Alcumus SafeContractor and Achilles, and other Common Assessment Standard bodies such as Constructionline, Achilles, CQMS and SMAS Worksafe. Under SSIP's Deem to Satisfy rules, a firm that has passed one SSIP member scheme's assessment usually does not need a full second assessment with another.

Deem to Satisfy is not free. SSIP says a second scheme may ask for a small amount of extra information, such as insurances, and each scheme charges its own fee.

Ask your two or three most important clients which scheme they accept before paying for one. A five-minute email can save a year's fee on the wrong scheme.

Where should CHAS accreditation go on your website?

CHAS accreditation should appear near the top of your website's home page and on a dedicated accreditations page listing the CHAS level, membership number and expiry date. A buyer checking a subcontractor online should be able to confirm the accreditation in seconds.

Show only accreditations you currently hold. Under Schedule 20 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, displaying a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without the necessary authorisation is always treated as an unfair commercial practice. Take a lapsed CHAS badge down the day it expires.

An accreditations page works best alongside sector pages, project examples with contract values, and insurance levels. The guide on how to create a website for a construction company covers those pages, and pricing tendered work properly is covered in how to price building work.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does CHAS cost a year?

CHAS costs from £429 a year for CHAS Standard, from £659 for CHAS Advanced and from £949 for CHAS Elite, according to chas.co.uk in October 2026. The price rises with the number of people the business employs, and the packages page does not say whether VAT is added, so check the figure for your headcount on the CHAS website.

How long does CHAS accreditation last?

CHAS accreditation lasts one year. Membership renews on the annual payment date and the assessment is renewed every year, according to the CHAS FAQ. A lapsed certificate can drop a firm off an approved list, so renew before the expiry date and keep policies, insurance certificates and training records up to date between renewals.

Is CHAS the same as SSIP?

CHAS is not the same as SSIP. SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is an umbrella body that does not assess contractors itself, while CHAS is one of its member schemes that does. Because SSIP members assess against the same core criteria, a CHAS Standard certificate can be used to apply to another SSIP scheme without a full second assessment.

Do I need CHAS to work for a main contractor?

You need CHAS to work for a main contractor only if that contractor's supply chain rules ask for it. No law requires CHAS. A main contractor's rules may ask for an SSIP certificate or the Common Assessment Standard, and some name one scheme, so ask the buyer which certificates they accept before you pay for one.

Can a sole trader or very small firm get CHAS?

A sole trader or very small firm can get CHAS accreditation, and the price scales with the size of the organisation. CHAS says its assessors consider the size and scope of each business, and the Common Assessment Standard has streamlined criteria for firms with fewer than five employees and a turnover under £500,000.

Sources

• CHAS: Contractor membership packages and prices
• CHAS: How to join CHAS
• CHAS: Standard health and safety assessment
• CHAS: Elite and the Common Assessment Standard
• CHAS: FAQs
• CHAS: PAS 91 vs SSIP vs CAS
• SSIP: Deem to Satisfy and mutual recognition
• Build UK: Common Assessment Standard
• Cabinet Office: PPN 03/24 Standard Selection Questionnaire
• Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Schedule 20
• Constructionline
• TrustMark