CHAS Accreditation: Cost, Process and How Long It Takes
The short answer
CHAS accreditation starts at £429 a year (Standard), £659 (Advanced) or £949 (Elite), scaled by company size. Review takes up to 10 working days once your evidence is complete.
- Only when a tender asks for it. Sviat's rule from his own expensive mistake: get an accreditation when a specific tender requires that scheme.
- Published prices (October 2026): Standard from £429 a year, Advanced from £659, Elite from £949, scaled by company size.
- Review time is short; preparation is not. CHAS reviews a complete application within 10 working days (2 on fast track).
- Assessors want proof, not policies. The most common problem is failing to show how a policy works on site.
CHAS accreditation is the health and safety pre-qualification many main contractors, councils and housing clients check before they let you on site. It is not the law. It is the gate in front of the work. (The law that bites after an incident is RIDDOR: see accident on site: the first 24 hours.)
Three numbers decide your budget and timeline. The membership fee and the review time are published by CHAS. The time your team needs to pull together evidence is not. This guide covers all three, then shows why applications fail and how to avoid paying twice.
Need CHAS for a tender deadline? Book a free strategy call and we'll look at the fastest honest route.
I made this mistake myself. At Craftex I paid a lot for accreditations, and on their own they never paid off. Get an accreditation only when a specific tender for a specific project asks for that specific accreditation. Most schemes take 2–3 months, so you will have time once the request is real. Don't buy them hoping work will start pouring in. It won't.
Not sure what you need at all? Start with what accreditations you actually need for commercial work.
What CHAS costs in 2026
These are the starting prices on CHAS's own membership page in October 2026:
| Level | Published price | SSIP | Former PAS 91 | Common Assessment Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHAS Standard | From £429 a year | Yes | No | No |
| CHAS Advanced | From £659 a year | Yes | Yes | No |
| CHAS Elite | From £949 a year | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CHAS says costs "scale according to the size of your organisation". For CHAS, employee count includes direct employees and labour-only subcontractors, so count both before you ask for a price. Membership is an annual subscription.
The fee is the smallest cost. The bigger ones are the hours spent writing policies, chasing training certificates and fixing gaps after the first review.
Buying the cheapest level, then finding your target client wants the Common Assessment Standard. Ask the buyer first; upgrading later means another assessment.
Comparing CHAS with Constructionline and SafeContractor? Our CHAS vs Constructionline vs SafeContractor guide puts all three schemes' prices side by side.
An accreditation only pays when a specific tender asks for it. To see what is really holding back your growth, take the free 4-minute Construction Business Scorecard.
The CHAS level you need: Standard, Advanced or Elite
Choose by the work you want, not by price:
- CHAS Standard. Main contractors and private clients who ask for SSIP. The entry level: a health and safety assessment and self-certified insurance.
- CHAS Advanced. Clients who still ask for PAS 91 questions. Adds eight modules, including modern slavery, financial responsibility and environmental standards.
- CHAS Elite. Public sector and larger main contractors. Includes the Common Assessment Standard across 13 risk areas. Under procurement policy note PPN 03/24, public sector bodies are expected to assess their supply chains against it.
If you plan to bid for council, NHS, school or housing association work in the next year, start at Elite. Doing Standard now and Elite in six months means two rounds of evidence.
The CHAS process, step by step
CHAS sets out six steps. Here they are with what each one really asks of you:
- Register on VeriforceOne. This is CHAS's online portal.
- Add your business details. Company name and address, a main contact, a company email and phone, and your number of employees. Add your Companies House number first and many fields fill in automatically.
- Choose your package. Standard, Advanced or Elite.
- Complete the assessments. Depending on the level, up to 13. You upload policies, inspection records, insurance documents and proof of training. You can go at your own pace, but verification only starts once every assessment is completed and approved.
- Assessor review. By desktop assessment, an on-site or remote audit, or the SSIP "Deem to Satisfy" route if you already hold another SSIP certificate.
- Pass. You appear on the list of pre-qualified contractors seen by CHAS's 2,500+ client organisations.
Then it repeats. Membership is annual, and CHAS's own guidance warns that evidence which passed last year can go out of date as your work and team change. Put the renewal date and every training expiry date in the calendar on the day you pass.
How long CHAS takes
| Stage | Published time | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing and uploading evidence | Not published: depends on your records | You |
| Assessor review, standard | Within a maximum of 10 working days | CHAS |
| Assessor review, fast track | Within a maximum of 2 working days | CHAS (paid option) |
| Reopening a failed application | Possible once, within 14 days of closure, for a fee | CHAS |
The review is quick. What slows contractors down is step 4. Documents sit across emails, the policy template doesn't match how the company works, or training certificates expired last spring.
Need CHAS for a tender deadline?
On a free call we look at what you already have, which level your buyers need and the fastest honest route to it.
What CHAS assessors check
CHAS's own guidance lists the evidence assessors typically ask for. Treat it as your checklist:
- Policies and procedures. Your health and safety policy, signed and dated. HSE says that with five or more employees it must be written down. The same documents are what an inspector asks for: see what happens when HSE visits your site.
- Risk assessments and method statements. For the work you actually do, not a generic pack.
- Training and competency records. Cards, certificates and expiry dates for everyone on site.
- Site inspections. The records, the actions raised and proof those actions were closed.
- Toolbox talk registers. Who attended, what was covered, when.
- Incident investigations. What happened, the corrective action and how the lesson reached the workforce.
- Internal audits and management reviews. Evidence that someone checks the system and improves it.
- Insurance documents. Current and matching the work you declare.
The line that matters most, in CHAS's words: "A policy describes what an organisation intends to do. Evidence demonstrates what it is actually doing."
Why CHAS applications fail
CHAS and the SSIP Forum (the umbrella body for SSIP schemes) publish the same pattern of mistakes:
- Policy does not match practice. The documents say one thing, site records show another.
- Missing or out-of-date training records. One expired card can hold up the whole assessment.
- No clear incident reporting process. Or a process with no records behind it.
- Subcontractors ignored. You are asked how you check the people you bring on site.
- Generic, outdated templates. Downloaded policies that name the wrong roles or old legislation.
- Records scattered everywhere. Evidence gathered at the last minute, with gaps.
- Leaving it too late. Rushed applications for a tender deadline are the ones that bounce.
Every fix on this list is a system, not a document. Keep policies, training and inspection records in one place, owned by one person. Then each renewal starts from current evidence instead of a scramble.
DIY, a compliance consultant or a contractor-run team
| Option | Best when | What you pay | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | You already keep good records and have time before the deadline | The CHAS fee plus your own hours | Generic templates and gaps found only at review |
| Health and safety consultant | You need the documents written and checked | The CHAS fee plus the consultant's fee | Paperwork that passes but is not how you work on site |
| BizMentor (contractor-run) | You want CHAS, the next accreditation and the tenders it unlocks planned together | The CHAS fee (paid by you to CHAS) plus a fixed fee agreed in writing | Not for anyone who only wants a certificate and no system behind it |
Craftex, our London design and build company, holds CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. The policies and templates we set up for clients are the ones we run on live projects. That is the accreditation service: we build the system and the evidence and support the assessment; CHAS issues the certificate.
Want CHAS connected to the work you actually want to win? Book a free strategy call. We map your buyers, the accreditation they ask for and the order to do it in.
Still not sure which CHAS level you need?
Book a free call with our team. We'll look at what you already have, what your buyers ask for and the fastest honest route.
After you pass: make it win work
A certificate on its own does not bring enquiries. Use it:
- Add the CHAS logo and level to your website, tender pack and email signature.
- Tell the main contractors and buyers on your list that you are now CHAS approved, with your membership level.
- Search for opportunities that ask for SSIP or the Common Assessment Standard, and bid for the ones that fit your size. Our guide to winning construction tenders shows how to pick them.
Before you apply for CHAS
- Ask your target buyers which level they accept
- Count employees plus labour-only subcontractors for the price
- Put policies, RAMS, training and inspection records in one place
- Check every training card and insurance expiry date
- Close the actions on your last site inspections, with dates
