CHAS vs Constructionline vs SafeContractor: Which Do You Need?
Three schemes dominate UK construction prequalification: CHAS, Constructionline, and SafeContractor. All three sit under the SSIP umbrella, all three put your health and safety competence through an SSIP assessment (Constructionline as a Supporter Member, via Once For All Health & Safety), and all three are widely recognised across the industry. So which one should your business pursue — and do you need more than one?
This comparison breaks down what each scheme covers, where it is strongest, what it costs, and which makes sense for different types of construction SME.
The Three Schemes at a Glance
| CHAS | Constructionline | SafeContractor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Established | 1997 | 1998 | 2002 |
| Primary focus | Health & safety assessment | Multi-criteria prequalification register | Health & safety assessment |
| SSIP member | Yes — Registered Member (assesses) | Yes — Supporter Member; the SSIP is delivered by Once For All Health & Safety | Yes — Registered Member (assesses) |
| Tiers | Standard, Advanced, Elite | Associate, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum | Standard, Assisted, Express, Premier |
| Assessment scope | H&S (Standard); + former PAS 91 scope (Advanced); + Common Assessment Standard — environmental, quality, financial, equality, modern slavery (Elite) | Company verification, financial standing, H&S; Common Assessment Standard from Gold upwards | H&S core SSIP assessment; plans differ on support and turnaround, not on the certificate |
| Pricing (published starting prices) | Standard from £429/yr; Advanced from £659; Elite from £949 | Priced by turnover band — at the lowest band Bronze £399/yr and Gold £749 (£349 and £699 with a valid SSIP), ex VAT, plus joining fee, rising with turnover | Standard from £419/yr; Assisted and Express from £499; Premier from £549 |
| Renewal | Annual | Annual | Annual |
| Published review time | Reviewed within a maximum of 10 working days (2 with Fast Track), plus any query time | Up to 10 working days for each submission to be assessed (Constructionline's membership guides), plus any query time | Assessment review within 20 working days on Standard; 5 or 2 on faster plans |
Prices are each scheme's own published "from" figures, all verified October 2026. They are floors, not quotes — every scheme prices by company size, and Constructionline sets its price by turnover band in its online price calculator. Always check current fees directly with each scheme.
CHAS: What It Covers and Who Recognises It
CHAS began as a local authority initiative to standardise health and safety vetting of contractors. Its roots in public-sector procurement remain strong — if you work for councils, housing associations, or public-sector facilities teams, CHAS is very likely to be requested. For a step-by-step walkthrough of the application process, see our guide to getting CHAS accreditation.
CHAS Standard focuses squarely on health and safety: policy, risk assessments, safe systems of work, training, incident reporting, insurance, and subcontractor management. It is a focused, health-and-safety-specific assessment that satisfies the core SSIP requirements.
CHAS Advanced widens the question set to cover "the former PAS 91 standard" on top of SSIP. CHAS Elite goes further, meeting "Common Assessment Standard requirements" — environmental management, quality management, financial standing, anti-bribery and corruption, modern slavery, and equal opportunities. That broader Elite scope brings it closer to what Constructionline Gold covers, and is increasingly requested by clients who want a single assessment covering multiple compliance areas.
Strongest in: Local authority work, housing associations, public-sector maintenance, and smaller principal contractor supply chains. CHAS is often the first accreditation that SME subcontractors are asked to hold.
Constructionline: What It Covers and Who Recognises It
Constructionline operates differently from CHAS and SafeContractor. Rather than being purely an assessment scheme, it functions as a national register of prequalified contractors and consultants. Buyers — particularly in the public sector and Tier 1 contractor supply chains — use Constructionline as a database to find and verify prequalified suppliers.
Silver covers basic company verification, financial assessment, insurance verification, and a core SSIP health and safety assessment. It does not include the Common Assessment Standard — Constructionline defines Gold as "all the benefits of Silver membership and also meet the Common Assessment Standard".
Gold adds the equal opportunity and diversity, environmental management, quality management, BIM, corporate and social responsibility, and Building Safety Act assessment modules, and meets the Common Assessment Standard. Anti-bribery and modern slavery are not separate modules on Constructionline's plan comparison, but they are asked for before Gold: Constructionline's Silver Membership Guide says its Corporate and Professional Standing module (Silver and above) will ask for your policies for "Modern Slavery" and "Bribery and Corruption". The Common Assessment Standard that Gold meets asks again, for an Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy (question 50, Version 5) and an Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement or Policy (question 63). Gold is the first Constructionline level that meets the Common Assessment Standard, so it is the level to look at when a client asks for CAS through Constructionline.
Platinum is, in Constructionline's words, "all the benefits of Gold Membership plus a one day premises audit" — relevant where a client wants site-verified assurance.
Where it is asked for: Constructionline says its verified levels let you "pre-qualify and promote your business to the largest network of public and private sector construction clients in the UK", and it names some of the organisations that use it — for example Wates, BAM, Kier, Balfour Beatty, the Ministry of Justice and Lancashire County Council — but not which of them require membership or at what level, so check your target clients' requirements. If a contractor tells you to "get on Constructionline," ask which level they mean — our guide to the five Constructionline membership levels shows what each one adds. For a deep dive into the Gold tier, see our Constructionline Gold guide.
SafeContractor: What It Covers and Who Recognises It
SafeContractor is a health and safety prequalification scheme. It does not publish a full breakdown of its clients by sector; the sectors it says it covers are construction, manufacturing, facilities management, property, retail, hospitality, leisure, transport, utilities, banking and insurance, and public services. For the full application process, see our SafeContractor guide.
The core assessment covers health and safety competence, risk assessments, method statements, training records, and insurance — very similar in scope to CHAS Standard. Extended options allow you to add environmental management and quality management modules.
Where it is asked for: SafeContractor publishes no client breakdown, so check whether your target clients name it. Its listed sectors include facilities management, property and retail alongside construction.
SSIP Mutual Recognition: Does One Cover All Three?
All three sit under the SSIP umbrella, and the health and safety assessment behind them is made against the SSIP Core Criteria — not the Common Assessment Standard, which is Build UK's broader question set and is only included at the higher tiers (CHAS Elite, Constructionline Gold and above). Two of the three assess in their own right: SSIP lists CHAS 2013 Ltd and SafeContractor Ltd as Registered Members, while Constructionline is a Supporter Member, so the SSIP inside a Constructionline membership is delivered by Once For All Health & Safety (itself a Registered Member). In theory, achieving one SSIP assessment means the others should recognise it through mutual recognition (the "deem to satisfy" mechanism).
In practice, mutual recognition works for the core health and safety component. However:
- Constructionline is a register, not just an assessment. Buyers searching Constructionline for suppliers will not find you unless you are registered with Constructionline specifically — having CHAS or SafeContractor does not add you to the Constructionline database.
- Extended modules (environmental, quality, financial) are scheme-specific and fall outside SSIP mutual recognition. Having CHAS Elite does not automatically satisfy Constructionline Gold requirements.
- Client specifications often name a specific scheme. If a tender document says "Constructionline Gold required," holding CHAS Elite may not be accepted — even if the assessment scope is comparable.
The bottom line: SSIP mutual recognition reduces duplication for the health and safety element, but it does not make the schemes fully interchangeable in practice.
See also: What Is SSIP and Which Scheme Should You Choose? for a full breakdown of all SSIP member schemes and how mutual recognition works.
Detailed Comparison: Assessment Areas
| Assessment area | CHAS Standard | CHAS Elite | Constructionline Silver | Constructionline Gold | SafeContractor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health & safety policy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Risk assessments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Method statements / RAMS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Insurance verification | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Training records | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Financial standing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Listed as assessed ("Financial stability") — check your plan |
| Environmental management | No | Yes | No | Yes | Extended option |
| Quality management | No | Yes | No | Yes | Extended option |
| Equal opportunities | No | Yes | No | Yes | Listed as assessed ("Equality and diversity") — check your plan |
| Modern slavery | No | Yes (via CAS) | Yes (policy, Corporate & Professional Standing) | Yes (Corporate & Professional Standing + CAS) | Listed as assessed ("Modern slavery") — check your plan |
| Anti-bribery | No | Yes (via CAS) | Yes (policy, Corporate & Professional Standing) | Yes (Corporate & Professional Standing + CAS) | Listed as assessed ("Anti-corruption") — check your plan |
Which Should You Get First?
The right choice depends on where your work comes from and where you want it to come from. Here are the most common scenarios:
Scenario 1: You primarily work for local authorities and housing associations
Recommendation: Start with CHAS Standard.
CHAS has the deepest roots in local authority procurement. It is widely specified in council tender documents and housing association prequalification requirements. CHAS Standard provides the core health and safety assessment at a relatively accessible price point (from £429 a year). If your clients begin asking for broader compliance coverage, you can upgrade to Advanced or Elite later.
Scenario 2: You are targeting Tier 1 contractor supply chains
Recommendation: Start with Constructionline Gold.
Most major Tier 1 contractors — Balfour Beatty, Kier, Morgan Sindall, Willmott Dixon, and others — use Constructionline as their primary or secondary supply chain register. Being on the register at Gold level is often a hard requirement for inclusion in their supply chain. Without it, your business may simply not appear in their procurement searches.
Scenario 3: You work in facilities management, maintenance, or commercial fit-out
Recommendation: Check whether your clients name SafeContractor before you default to it.
SafeContractor publishes no breakdown of which clients name it, but facilities management, property and retail are among the sectors it says it covers. If your property-manager, retail or occupier clients name SafeContractor in their supplier requirements, start there; if they only ask for SSIP, any SSIP Registered Member scheme will satisfy them.
Scenario 4: You work across multiple sectors
Recommendation: Start with whichever scheme your largest or most frequent clients require, then add a second based on your growth pipeline. Many established SMEs hold two or all three.
Scenario 5: You are just starting out
Recommendation: Start with CHAS Standard. It is widely recognised, relatively accessible on cost, and through SSIP mutual recognition gives you visibility across the broader scheme network.
Do You Need All Three?
Not necessarily. The decision should be driven by client requirements, not by a desire to collect certificates. Check your current and target clients' tender documents and supply chain portals, and ensure the annual fees are justified by the work each scheme opens up. For a side-by-side cost breakdown, see How Much Does Construction Accreditation Cost?. Beyond these three, other SSIP schemes are covered in our guide to SMAS, Once For All Health & Safety and Achilles. If budget is the priority, see our cheapest SSIP routes guide for schemes starting from £99 + VAT.
Regardless of which scheme you choose, the underlying documentation requirements are substantially the same. Use our Construction Accreditation Readiness Scorer to benchmark your position and identify gaps before you apply. Not sure which you need? Try our Accreditation Scheme Selector.
Summary
CHAS, Constructionline, and SafeContractor each serve the same fundamental purpose — prequalifying contractors — but they serve different parts of the market and assess at different levels of depth. Choose based on where your work comes from, not on which scheme seems easiest. Prepare your documentation thoroughly before applying (our pillar guide to prequalification covers the full documentation requirements), and treat the assessment process as an opportunity to strengthen your management systems, not just a box-ticking exercise.
Sources and References
- SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) — ssip.org.uk
- SSIP member register — the categories are given as "Registered Members: SSIP Assessments", "Certification Body Members: ISO45001 Certification" and "Supporter Members: Recognise SSIP in their Supply Chain"; Constructionline is listed as a Supporter Member — ssip.org.uk/members
- SSIP Core Criteria — the threshold standard SSIP member schemes assess against — ssip.org.uk
- Common Assessment Standard (CAS) — owned and maintained by Build UK, not by SSIP — builduk.org
- Constructionline subcontractor memberships — Full Plan Comparison (Gold modules: Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Environmental Management, Quality Management, BIM, Corporate and Social Responsibility, Building Safety Act Assessments; Corporate & Professional Standing from Silver; no separate anti-bribery module) — constructionline.co.uk
- Constructionline Silver Membership Guide v7 — Corporate and Professional Standing module (p.14): "You will also be asked to provide your policies for: Modern Slavery · Bribery and Corruption · Whistleblowing …" — constructionline.co.uk (PDF)
- Build UK — Common Assessment Standard Question Set, Version 5 (Section 3: anti-bribery questions 48-51; Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement, question 63) — builduk.org (PDF)
- CHAS contractor products and packages (published prices and tier scope) — chas.co.uk
- CHAS FAQ ("reviewed within a maximum of 10 working days"; Fast Track "a maximum of 2 working days") — chas.co.uk
- SafeContractor contractor pricing plans (Standard "Assessment review within 20 working days"; Assisted 5; Express and Premier 2) — safecontractor.com
- SafeContractor homepage ("Sectors we cover") — safecontractor.com
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 — legislation.gov.uk
- Constructionline Silver Membership Guide v7 — "It can take up to 10 working days for a submission assessment to be completed" (p.5) — constructionline.co.uk (PDF)
- Constructionline — tenders and supplier sourcing FAQ ("Which organisations use Constructionline's procurement and supply chain solutions?") — constructionline.co.uk
- SafeContractor — hiring client solutions ("Our in-house auditors assess each of your contractors and suppliers, covering areas such as: … Financial stability … Equality and diversity … Modern slavery · Anti-corruption") — safecontractor.com
Disclaimer: This comparison is based on publicly available information and common industry practice. TenderReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of CHAS, Constructionline, SafeContractor, SSIP, or any other named accreditation body or scheme. Assessment criteria, pricing, and processes are subject to change — always verify current details with the relevant scheme directly.