Guides
Contractor assurance guides
Plain-English guides for UK principal contractors, site owners and their contractors: SSIP and accreditation, prequalification, competency cards, permits to work, visitor sign-in and emergency muster. Each one cites HSE guidance, legislation or the scheme's own pages, and shows when it was last checked.
Accreditation
Do I still need SSIP? SSIP, PAS 91 and the Common Assessment Standard explained
No law requires a contractor to hold SSIP: CDM 2015 requires whoever appoints a contractor to take reasonable steps to check its competence, and HSE guidance calls SSIP "one way" to show it, "but not the only way". You still need SSIP, or the Common Assessment Standard, when a client or tender asks for it. PAS 91 has been withdrawn by BSI, and Build UK's Common Assessment Standard is now the industry-agreed prequalification question set.
Read the guidePrequalification
Contractor prequalification checklist: what to ask for and how to review it
Before you appoint a contractor, CDM 2015 expects you to take reasonable steps to check they have the skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capability for the work. In practice that means asking for company details, insurance, a health and safety policy, risk assessments, any accreditation, evidence of their people's competence and their track record. HSE's guidance is clear that the checks should be proportionate to the risk, and that excessive or duplicated paperwork should be avoided.
Read the guideCompetence
How to check CSCS and other construction competency cards
A competency card shows that a worker passed a health and safety test and holds, or is working towards, a recognised qualification. Looking at the card is not enough: check it in the issuing scheme's own system (CSCS Smart Check for any card with the CSCS logo, or the scheme's card checker), confirm it covers the work they will do, and treat it as one piece of evidence of competence, not the whole of it.
Read the guidePermits to work
Permit to work: a practical guide for UK sites
A permit to work is a formal, recorded process for controlling work that has been identified as potentially hazardous, such as hot work, confined space entry or work on isolated plant. It sets out who may do the job, where, when, and the precautions that must be in place. HSE's guidance (HSG250) is clear that a permit supports a safe system of work and a risk assessment; it never replaces them.
Read the guideEmergency muster
Emergency muster and roll call on construction sites
Under CDM 2015 regulation 30, a construction site must have suitable arrangements for any foreseeable emergency, including evacuation procedures, and those arrangements must be tested at suitable intervals. In practice that means alarms everyone recognises, clear escape routes, an assembly point, and a reliable way to check that everyone who was on site has reached it. The roll call is only as good as the record of who is on site.
Read the guideSite access
Visitor sign-in on construction sites: what to record and why
Under CDM 2015 the principal contractor must take the necessary steps to keep unauthorised people off a construction site and must give everyone a suitable induction. HSE guidance says to keep a record of who is on site and when they arrive and leave, so people can be accounted for in a fire or other emergency. Record only what you need for that purpose, tell visitors why, and delete the record when you no longer need it.
Read the guideAccreditation
UK contractor accreditation costs in 2026
Published entry prices for the main UK contractor accreditation schemes start between £345 and £450 a year, rising to £659–£949 for broader or Common Assessment Standard levels and £3,095 for an Achilles CAS site audit. Every figure is a "from" price: schemes scale fees by headcount or turnover, and some add a one-off joining fee. All prices below come from the schemes' own websites, checked November 2026.
Read the guideAlso useful
Comparing providers?
How Assured Contractors compares with the accreditation schemes and site platforms, from each vendor's own published pages.
How Assured Contractors compares
Capabilities and published prices across SafeContractor, CHAS, Constructionline, Achilles, HammerTech and MSite.
Contractor prequalification
Documents, insurance, Companies House status and a live status with reasons, free for contractors to connect.
Site access and muster
A readiness check at the gate, live attendance and an emergency roll call that includes visitors.
Get every contractor site-ready.
Start a 14-day free trial — no card. Send your contractors your company code: they join free and keep one profile for every client they work for.