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

CHAS comes up constantly in tender conversations and almost never in domestic ones. If you have been told you need it, the useful question is not "what is it" but "will it actually win me work".

What is CHAS?

CHAS stands for the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme. It is one of several UK pre-qualification schemes that assess whether a contractor manages health and safety to a recognised standard, so that clients do not have to assess every contractor themselves.

It is a member of SSIP, the umbrella body that lets one assessment be recognised by other schemes. That mutual recognition matters, because it means a CHAS certificate is usually accepted where a client asks for Constructionline, SafeContractor or Acclaim instead.

What does the assessment involve?

You submit evidence, they assess it, you either pass or get told what to fix. Typically they want:

• A written health and safety policy, signed and dated
• Risk assessments and method statements for your typical work
• Evidence of competence: training records, cards, qualifications
• Accident and incident records, or a signed nil return
• Public and employers liability insurance certificates
• Details of how you monitor subcontractors
• Evidence of consultation with your workforce

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

What does CHAS cost?

Pricing depends on the membership level and how many people you employ. As a rough guide for a small firm, expect somewhere between £300 and £800 a year, with the higher levels covering environmental and quality modules as well as safety.

Check current pricing directly with CHAS before budgeting, because the tiers change. The bigger cost for most firms is the time spent assembling evidence the first time, which is usually a couple of days.

Is CHAS worth it?

It depends entirely on who you want to work for.

Worth it if

• You tender for public sector work, where SSIP membership is often mandatory
• You want places on main contractor supply chains
• You work for housing associations, councils, schools or the NHS
• You do commercial fit-out or industrial work
• Your competitors have it and you keep getting filtered out early

Probably not worth it if

• You work almost entirely for homeowners
• Your work comes from referrals and repeat clients
• Nobody has ever asked you for it

Domestic clients do not know what CHAS is and will not choose you because of it. TrustMark, FMB membership and Google reviews carry far more weight in that market.

What about the alternatives?

SSIP recognition means the schemes are broadly interchangeable. Constructionline is often preferred in public sector procurement and bundles financial and insurance checks alongside safety. SafeContractor and Acclaim cover similar ground. Some clients name one specifically, which settles the question for you.

Ask your two or three most important clients which scheme they actually accept before paying for one. It is a five-minute email that saves a wasted year.

Where should accreditations go on your website?

Getting accredited and then hiding it costs you the benefit. On a site aimed at commercial clients, credentials belong above the fold and on a dedicated page with certificate numbers and expiry dates.

Buyers and quantity surveyors check your website before they add you to a list. If they cannot confirm your accreditations in ten seconds, some of them will move on, and you will never know it happened.

The short answer

If you want commercial and public sector work, CHAS or an equivalent SSIP scheme is close to a cost of entry. If you build extensions for homeowners, spend the money on photography and reviews instead.