CHAS Compliance Checklist for Subcontractors (2026)

What is CHAS?

The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS) is one of the most widely recognised health and safety pre-qualification schemes in the UK construction industry. It's part of the SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) family, meaning a CHAS certificate is accepted across dozens of buyer organisations.

For subcontractors, CHAS accreditation is often a prerequisite for winning work. If a main contractor or client requires SSIP-compliant health and safety verification, CHAS is typically the fastest and most cost-effective route.

Documents You'll Need

Here's the core checklist of documents most CHAS applications require:

• Health & Safety Policy — must be current, signed, and dated within the last 12 months
• Employer's Liability Insurance — minimum £5 million cover, certificate must be current
• Public Liability Insurance — minimum £1 million (many clients require £5 million)
• Risk Assessments — relevant to your specific trade and scope of work
• Method Statements — for any high-risk activities you carry out
• Training Certificates — CSCS cards, SMSTS/SSSTS, asbestos awareness, working at heights, etc.
• COSHH Assessments — if you work with hazardous substances
• Accident/Incident Records — RIDDOR reports and investigation records

Common Pitfalls

1. Expired documents

The single most common reason for CHAS application delays is submitting expired documents. Insurance certificates, training records, and policies all have expiry dates — and assessors check every one.

Tip: Set up automatic reminders at 30, 14, and 7 days before each document expires. Tools like ComplianceVault do this automatically.

2. Generic risk assessments

Assessors want to see risk assessments that are specific to your trade. A generic "construction risk assessment" downloaded from the internet won't pass. Your risk assessments should reference your actual activities, tools, and work environments.

3. Missing signatures and dates

Every policy document needs a clear signature and date. Unsigned or undated documents will be rejected, even if the content is excellent.

How to Stay Audit-Ready Year-Round

Rather than scrambling before each renewal, adopt a continuous compliance approach:

• Centralise your documents — keep everything in one place, digitally, with clear version control
• Track expiry dates proactively — know what's expiring in the next 30/60/90 days
• Generate compliance packs on demand — when a client asks for your documents, you should be able to share them within minutes, not days
• Keep an evidence trail — record when documents were uploaded, reviewed, and shared

Summary

CHAS accreditation is straightforward if you stay organised. The key is maintaining current documents, keeping them specific to your trade, and having a system that alerts you before anything expires.