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CHAS Renewal: What Changes, What to Prepare, and How to Avoid Lapses

· Last reviewed: 23 February 2026

Getting CHAS accreditation took effort. Keeping it should not be an annual scramble — but for many construction SMEs, that is exactly what renewal becomes. Documents expire, personnel change, policies drift out of date, and renewal lands in your inbox when you are busy on site.

This guide covers what actually happens at CHAS renewal, what assessors look for that differs from your original application, what documents need updating before you resubmit, and the practical consequences of letting your accreditation lapse.

If you have not yet achieved CHAS accreditation, start with our step-by-step guide: How to Get CHAS Accreditation.

Renewal Is Not a Repeat Application

A common assumption: CHAS renewal is just doing the initial application again. It is not. At renewal, the assessor is not starting from scratch. They are looking at what has changed since your last successful assessment.

Specifically, assessors focus on:

  • Documents with review dates — Has your health and safety policy been reviewed within the last 12 months? Are your risk assessments current?
  • Insurance — Has your employers' liability and public liability insurance been renewed? Do the new certificates show continuous cover with no gaps?
  • Personnel changes — If you have changed your competent person, appointed a new director, or restructured responsibilities, have your documents been updated to reflect this?
  • Organisational changes — New activities, new site locations, changes in employee numbers, acquisitions, or changes to your legal entity.
  • Incident history — Any RIDDOR-reportable incidents, enforcement action, or HSE intervention since the last assessment. Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR), certain incidents must be reported to the HSE. CHAS assessors will ask about your reporting record and what corrective actions you took.
  • Training currency — Have any CSCS cards, SMSTS/SSSTS certificates, or trade qualifications expired since your last assessment?

The renewal assessment is typically faster than the original — provided your documentation is current and reflects what has actually changed in your business over the past 12 months.

The 12-Month Validity Period

CHAS accreditation runs for 12 months from the date of issue. There is no grace period. When your certificate expires, you are removed from the CHAS database. Clients searching for accredited contractors will no longer find you.

CHAS sends renewal reminders before your expiry date. Do not rely on these as your trigger to start preparing. By the time you receive a reminder, you should already have your updated documents in order.

What Documents Need Updating Before Renewal

Every document with a date, a named individual, or a reference to your current activities should be reviewed before renewal. Here is a practical checklist.

Health and Safety Policy

Your policy must show a review date within the last 12 months. If your policy was signed and dated at original assessment and has not been touched since, it will fail at renewal.

Review does not always mean rewrite. If nothing material has changed, update the review date and re-sign. But if you have added activities, changed personnel, or restructured responsibilities, the policy content needs updating too. Generic policies remain the most common reason for referral — at first application and at renewal.

For guidance on getting your policy right, see our Health and Safety Policy Template Guide.

Risk Assessments

Check that your risk assessments cover your current activities. If you have taken on new types of work since your last assessment — say, you have started doing demolition work where previously you only did groundworks — you need risk assessments for those new activities.

Existing risk assessments should show evidence of review. A risk assessment dated three years ago with no review record will be queried. The HSE's guidance on risk assessment (INDG163) recommends reviewing assessments when there is reason to believe they are no longer valid — a change in work practices, new equipment, or after an incident.

Insurance Certificates

Upload your current insurance certificates. This catches more people than it should. If your insurance renewed two months ago but you are still showing last year's certificate on your CHAS portal, the assessor will flag it immediately.

Check cover levels too. If a principal contractor increased their minimum requirement to £10 million employers' liability and your policy still shows £5 million, you may pass CHAS renewal but fail the client's own prequalification check.

For a detailed breakdown of what is required, see our Construction Accreditation Requirements guide.

Training Records

Update your training matrix. Check expiry dates on CSCS cards, SMSTS and SSSTS certificates, first aid qualifications, and trade-specific tickets (IPAF, PASMA, CPCS). If anything has expired, arrange renewal before submitting your CHAS application.

New employees since your last assessment should appear in your records with appropriate qualifications documented.

Competent Person Details

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (Regulation 7), you must have access to competent health and safety advice. If your competent person has changed — whether in-house or external — update this in your documentation and your CHAS application. If you use an external consultant, ensure their contract or retainer agreement is current.

Organisational Changes

If your business has changed — new directors, a change in legal entity, an increase or decrease in employee numbers, new work activities, or a move to new premises — reflect these changes in your documents and in the renewal application. Inconsistencies between what your policy says and what your application says remain a common trigger for assessor queries.

Common Renewal Pitfalls

Letting Documentation Drift

The biggest renewal problem is not preparing at all until the renewal reminder arrives. Over 12 months, documents go stale. Insurance renews but the certificate is not uploaded. A supervisor leaves but remains named in the policy. A new activity starts but no risk assessment is written for it.

The fix: set a calendar reminder at six months to review your documentation mid-cycle. A 30-minute check at the halfway point prevents a two-week scramble at renewal.

Expired Insurance Certificates

Your employers' liability insurance renews on a different date from your CHAS certificate. If your EL policy renewed in September but your CHAS renewal is in April, you should have uploaded the September certificate months ago. Many contractors wait until CHAS renewal to update their portal — then discover the upload process causes delays.

Not Updating After Personnel Changes

A director leaves. A new site manager starts. Your external H&S consultant changes. Each of these should trigger updates to your health and safety policy (which names responsible individuals), your training records, and your competent person evidence. Many businesses only notice these gaps when the assessor flags them.

Ignoring Incident History

If you have had a RIDDOR-reportable incident during the accreditation period, the assessor will want to see your investigation report, root cause analysis, and corrective actions. Not having this documented is a serious gap — it suggests you either did not report the incident (a legal requirement under RIDDOR 2013) or did not investigate it properly.

Changing Tier Without Preparation

Some contractors decide to upgrade from CHAS Standard to CHAS Premium Plus at renewal. This is possible, but it means preparing additional documentation — environmental policy, quality procedures, equality policy, modern slavery statement, anti-bribery policy — that was not required for your previous assessment. Allow extra time for this.

The Cost of Lapsing

Letting your CHAS accreditation lapse is not just an administrative inconvenience. The practical consequences are real.

You disappear from the CHAS database. Clients and principal contractors searching for accredited suppliers will no longer find your business. If you are on an approved supplier list that requires current CHAS accreditation, you may be suspended or removed.

Clients may be notified. Some principal contractors receive automated notifications when a supplier's accreditation expires. This can trigger a conversation you would rather not have — particularly mid-contract.

You may need a full re-application. If your accreditation lapses beyond a certain period, CHAS may require a full new application rather than a renewal. This means the full assessment fee, the full assessment timeline, and the full documentation review — as if you were applying for the first time.

Tender opportunities are missed. If a tender closes while your accreditation is lapsed, you cannot demonstrate current SSIP-recognised accreditation. The opportunity is gone.

The exact window before a lapsed accreditation requires a full re-application rather than a renewal may vary — check current policy with CHAS directly.

Renewal Timeline: When to Start

For a smooth renewal, work to this timeline:

10 weeks before expiry: Review all documentation. Identify anything that needs updating — policy review dates, insurance certificates, training records, personnel changes.

8 weeks before expiry: Complete all document updates. Upload current insurance certificates, updated policies, and refreshed training records to the CHAS portal.

6 weeks before expiry: Submit your renewal application. This gives enough buffer for the assessment review (typically one to four weeks) and for responding to any assessor queries without running up against your expiry date.

2 weeks before expiry: If you have not received your renewed certificate, chase CHAS directly. Do not assume everything is fine.

Starting earlier is better. Starting later is how lapses happen.

Renewal Costs

CHAS renewal fees are typically the same as the annual subscription fee for your tier and company size. Check current pricing on the CHAS website. Some contractors assume renewal is cheaper than the initial application — it is not, because the initial application fee and the annual fee are the same thing.

For a broader view of accreditation costs across multiple schemes, see our Construction Accreditation Costs guide.

Making Renewal Easier: Year-Round Maintenance

The contractors who find renewal painless are the ones who maintain their documentation throughout the year, not just at renewal time.

Practical steps:

  • Review your H&S policy every six months, not just annually. Update it whenever there is a material change.
  • Upload insurance certificates to your CHAS portal as soon as they renew. Do not wait for CHAS to ask.
  • Maintain a live training matrix. Update it when qualifications are achieved or expire.
  • Document incidents immediately. Investigation reports, root cause analysis, and corrective actions should be completed within weeks of an incident — not reconstructed months later for an assessor.
  • Brief your team. If someone other than you manages the CHAS renewal, make sure they have access to all current documentation and know the renewal timeline.

Use our Health & Safety Documentation Checklist to audit your documentation at the mid-cycle point, not just at renewal.

Summary

CHAS renewal is not a repeat of your original application — it is a check on what has changed. Assessors focus on currency: current policies, current insurance, current training records, current personnel. The businesses that pass renewal smoothly are the ones that maintain their systems throughout the year.

Start preparing 10 weeks before expiry. Update documents as they change, not in a batch at renewal time. And do not let your accreditation lapse — the consequences go beyond an expired certificate.

Disclaimer: This guide is based on publicly available information and common industry practice. TenderReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of CHAS or any other named accreditation body. Renewal processes, fees, and assessment criteria are subject to change — always verify current details with CHAS directly.