Achieve the elite standard of accreditation in the construction industry backed by Build UK & CECA. Find everything you need to get started with CHAS, a Veriforce company.
Common Assessment Standard
Become a CHAS Elite member to complete the Common Assessment Standard. Streamline your construction supply chain and achieve compliance across 13 areas of risk management.
The Common Assessment Standard is for construction companies aiming to achieve accreditation, prequalify for projects, and reduce risks across a wide range of areas.
Developed by Build UK, Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) and other accreditation bodies and industry experts, the Common Assessment Standard is a leading accreditation programme that’s recognised industry-wide.
CHAS can help you complete the Common Assessment Standard, gain accreditation and make the most of the benefits that come with compliance.
What Is the Common Assessment Standard?
The Common Assessment Standard is an accreditation designed to standardise the prequalification process, helping both clients and contractors improve supply chain efficiency, reduce supply chain risks, and find reliable business opportunities.
The Common Assessment Standard builds on the PAS 91 prequalification questionnaire, helping contractors achieve compliance and mitigate risks across 13 key areas of risk management. And to achieve certification, you need to evidence your compliance in these areas once a year. This can all be achieved via our intuitive, easy-to-use, online contractor portal.
With the Common Assessment Standard, you can achieve compliance and certification without the need for time-consuming processes, multiple assessment bodies, and confusing requirements.
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from
£749
/y + VAT
- Meet SSIP and PAS 91 requirements and achieve Common Assessment Standard – recognised industry-wide as the most comprehensive prequalification system.
- Demonstrate compliance across 13 key supply chain risk management areas – from health and safety to environmental, modern slavery and much more.
What Does the Common Assessment Standard Cover?
The Common Assessment Standard is the most comprehensive accreditation programme we offer, covering 13 key areas of risk management, including and building on areas assessed under the PAS 91. By covering many different aspects of risk management, the Common Assessment Standard can reduce risk across the whole supply chain.
- Identity — General information about your company is used to verify that you’re legally able to operate within the UK. This information includes your company’s name, contact details, registration, company size and address.
- Financial — The Assessment will check that you’ve taken the necessary steps to reduce financial risks, so you will need to answer a few questions about your company’s financial information and provide any required supporting documentation.
- Insurance — Business insurances are not only a legal requirement, but they also cover your business against mistakes, accidents, theft, damage and legal fees. Having the right level of insurance enables your business to keep running — even when things go wrong.
- Corporate and Professional Standing — The Common Assessment Standard will look into your corporate and professional standing with questions relating to criminal activity, corruption, terrorism and human trafficking.
- Health and Safety — A huge amount of importance rests on health and safety during the Common Assessment Standard. You will need to demonstrate that your company has taken steps to protect workers, site visitors and the public from harm.
- Environmental — The Common Assessment Standard will include a set of environmental questions that will ask about whether your company has taken the necessary steps to reduce the environmental impact of projects and meet environmental management standards.
- Quality — Quality assurance can prevent problems from arising and reduce the risks involved in projects, so the Common Assessment Standard will require confirmation that your company meets quality management standards.
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) — The Assessment will ask you to confirm that your company promotes equality and diversity in the workplace and that all people are treated fairly.
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) — The Common Assessment Standard considers how your company impacts society, so you will need to answer a few questions about your CSR policy.
- Information Security — You will need to demonstrate that your company is protecting personal data in line with the GDPR.
- Information Management — Questions about Information Management explore how your company develops, manages and controls design information, if applicable.
- Anti-Bribery and Corruption — The Common Assessment Standard will check that you have implemented procedures to prevent persons within or associated with your organisation from receiving bribes or bribing others.
- Modern Slavery— You will need to confirm that your organisation has taken steps to assess and manage modern slavery and human trafficking risks.
How Is the Assessment Carried Out?
There are two levels of certification: Full Desktop Assessment and CHAS Assured On-Site Audit. Both types of assessment will involve completing a set of prequalification questions covering the above areas of risk management and providing supporting documents and evidence for your answers.
Full Desktop Assessment
If you opt for a Desktop Assessment, your CHAS assessor will review the information you provided and check it against the relevant assessment standard. This will be done remotely, without any site-visits.
CHAS Assured On-Site Audit
The CHAS Assured On-Site Audit will check you are implementing the policies and procedures submitted during the Desktop Assessment by sampling live documents during an on-site audit (Assured can be completed On-Site or Remotely).
Assessments will be carried out by CHAS, once a year. To maintain certification, you will need to update time-critical documents when they expire. For example, insurance certificates, company policies and risk assessments will all need to be reviewed and updated whenever they expire or changing circumstances affect their validity and relevance.
Who Does the Common Assessment Standard Apply to?
The Common Assessment Standard helps all companies in construction and related industries achieve and demonstrate compliance, so the standard is accessible to UK companies of all sizes.
The Common Assessment Standard takes into account small micro-businesses with less than five employees and a turnover of less than £500,000 and offers these companies streamlined assessment criteria to help them achieve accreditation.
The Benefits of the Common Assessment Standard
The Common Assessment Standard has many benefits for both clients and contractors. Companies can achieve compliance across a wide range of risk management areas and unlock a variety of business benefits as a result.
Achieve Compliance and Accreditation
CHAS provides support and guidance to help you achieve compliance and gain accreditation without having to deal with multiple assessment bodies. When you join CHAS to gain access to the Common Assessment Standard, our risk management experts can guide you through the process from start to finish. You’ll also have access to training and support to ensure you’re fully prepared for the assessment.
Demonstrate Your Company’s Compliance
By completing the Common Assessment Standard, you can demonstrate your compliance and commitment to risk management to customers, clients and employees.
There are over 2,500 CHAS clients using the client portal to source new contractors based on trade and locations of work. Maximise your visibility by achieving the new industry gold standard — the Common Assessment Standard.
Prequalify For Business Opportunities
Contractors who complete the Common Assessment and gain accreditation through CHAS will prequalify for a wide range of business opportunities. Your business profile will be listed on our client portal and having Common Assessment Standard certification will help you maximise your visibility to these 2,500+ clients. By unlocking work opportunities, the Common Assessment Standard can help you grow your business.
Improve Your Supply Chain
Clients can benefit from improved supply chain efficiency and reduced supply chain risks. You’ll benefit from greater access to prequalified contractors, which can improve the efficiency of your supply chain. And if any contractors’ accreditation lapses, you’ll get real-time notification and alerts so you can address the problem quickly and minimise costly downtime.
With access to the intuitive CHAS Client online portal, you’ll also gain access to our supply chain management services. You can view your entire supply chain online and search for contractors by geographical location, skillset, and more.
Sign up as a CHAS Client for free and gain access to a range of services designed to improve your supply chain efficiency.
Your Support Package
If you require a fast-tracked application in as little as 2 working days or want additional support and guidance, CHAS Assist is the perfect option for you.
Upon purchasing CHAS Assist, you will receive a dedicated Health & Safety expert to support and guide your through the health and safety assessment process. Your assigned expert will be in contact over the phone within one working day to arrange a suitable time for assistance to be provided. If you are not available, they will leave a message and follow up with an email containing their contact details.
Your assigned expert can aid you with additional modules in the format of high-value templates, documents and advice which can be provided over the phone and/or email. Your initial assessment will be completed within two working days after submission.
The Importance of The Common Assessment Standard
Contractors looking to win work or keep existing contracts in the public sector should now have Common Assessment Standard (CHAS Elite) accreditation.
New Procurement Policy Note (PPN 03/24)
Contracting authorities in the public sector should now assess their supply chains using the Common Assessment Standard (CHAS Elite), following the release of PPN 03/24 which updates the existing statutory guidance.
Veriforce CHAS members wishing to work for public sector bodies or bid for new public sector contracts should hold Common Assessment Standard accreditation, which is achieved by completing the CHAS Elite assessment, to save time and money.
Public sector contracting authorities must implement the changes in PPN 03/23 by the end of June 2024.
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How Can CHAS Help?
CHAS is a recognised assessment body for the Common Assessment Standard. By becoming a CHAS Elite member, you’ll gain access not only to the Common Assessment Standard but also to expert advice and support while you prepare for the assessment.
Become a CHAS Elite Common Assessment member today, or call us on 0345 521 9222 and a member of the team will be happy to help.
Already Achieved The Common Assessment Standard?
That’s great to hear, congratulations on showing your dedication and commitment to Health & Safety, Compliancy and Risk Management. If you have achieved The Common Assessment Standard with another accreditation body, you can now register this with CHAS and benefit from a CHAS membership for free.