Sooner or later a client, main contractor or council framework will ask: "Are you CHAS registered?" or "Do you have SSIP?" For many small firms that question is the gateway to better work — and the reason they finally get their paperwork in order.
This guide explains what these schemes are, how they differ, and exactly what an assessor will ask a firm with 1–15 employees to produce.
What is SSIP?
SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is the umbrella body. CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline (SHE assessment), Acclaim, SMAS Worksafe and others are all member schemes. An SSIP-badged assessment from any member scheme demonstrates the same core thing: your health and safety arrangements meet the standard set out in the government's Common Assessment Standard themes.
Crucially, SSIP schemes recognise each other through "deem to satisfy" — if you hold CHAS, another SSIP scheme should accept it rather than making you pay for a second full assessment.
Which scheme should you choose?
Pick the one your target clients ask for:
- CHAS — the most commonly requested by local authorities and housing associations
- SafeContractor — common in facilities management and retail/commercial clients
- Constructionline — often required for main-contractor supply chains and public frameworks, combines financial and H&S vetting
- SMAS Worksafe — popular with house-builders' supply chains
If several clients ask for different schemes, get one and cite SSIP mutual recognition for the rest.
What the assessor will ask for
For a small firm, the evidence list is remarkably consistent across schemes:
- Health & safety policy — legally required in writing once you have five or more employees (how to write one)
- Risk assessments and method statements — recent, site-specific examples of your RAMS, not blank templates
- COSHH assessments — for the substances and dusts your work creates (COSHH explained)
- Training records — CSCS cards, first aid, asbestos awareness, work-at-height training, with expiry dates in date
- Accident records and RIDDOR procedure — an accident book and evidence you know how to handle a site accident
- Toolbox talk / briefing records — signed and dated evidence you communicate with your workforce
- Equipment inspection records — PAT, ladders, harnesses, lifting gear
- Insurance — employers' liability and public liability certificates
- Subcontractor controls — if you use subbies: how you check their competence, insurance and RAMS
How small firms fail — and how to pass first time
Assessments rarely fail because the firm works unsafely. They fail because the evidence is missing, expired or generic:
- A risk assessment dated three years ago
- Training matrix with lapsed cards
- A policy downloaded from the internet with another company's name still in paragraph four
- No records of briefings, inspections or accident procedures
The fix is unglamorous: a single organised system where every document lives, with expiry dates tracked. That's precisely what Site Safety UK does for small firms — branded policies, RAMS, COSHH, toolbox talk records, training expiry tracking and equipment inspections in one place, so when the assessor asks, the answer is an export rather than an excavation.
Is accreditation worth it?
For most trades firms, yes — not because the badge itself wins work, but because it's a hard prerequisite for councils, housing associations, framework operators and tier-one supply chains. It typically costs a few hundred pounds a year; a single framework place repays that many times over.
Get your evidence in order before you apply and the assessment is straightforward. Start a free trial and have your document pack ready within the week.
