SSIP Accreditation Requirements and the Policies You Need

SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is the UK umbrella body for health and safety pre-qualification schemes. When a buyer asks for "SSIP accreditation", they mean a current assessment from one of its member schemes, such as CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS Worksafe or the scheme bundled with Constructionline membership.

SSIP does not assess businesses itself. Its member schemes assess suppliers against a common set of Core Criteria approved by the Health and Safety Executive, and a binding Deem to Satisfy agreement means each scheme recognises a current, valid assessment from any other.

The practical consequence is that the documentation core is the same whichever scheme you choose. You will need a signed health and safety policy reviewed within the last 12 months, current risk assessments and method statements, training and competence records, accident statistics, evidence of competent advice and, usually, insurance documents.

HSE confirms that SSIP member schemes assess against core criteria it has approved, and that buyers should not ask suppliers for evidence of more than one member scheme. The detail is on the HSE health and safety conformity assessment schemes page.

What SSIP Is and How It Fits Into Procurement

SSIP was founded in May 2009 with the support of the Health and Safety Executive to cut duplication in health and safety pre-qualification. According to SSIP, over 90,860 suppliers were registered with a member scheme as at 12 January 2026, and buyers and suppliers saved over £68 million in 2023 by reducing duplicate assessments.

The legal backdrop is regulation 8 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. It requires designers and contractors to have the skills, knowledge, experience and, for organisations, the organisational capability to carry out their work safely, and requires those appointing them to take reasonable steps to check this. The duty is set out in CDM 2015 regulation 8.

HSE's CDM guidance, L153, names SSIP member schemes as a recognised third-party route for demonstrating organisational capability. Buyers can also verify any supplier's current assessment free of charge through the SSIP Portal.

The Documents Every SSIP Scheme Expects

All member schemes assess against the same SSIP Core Criteria, a set of 16 criteria covering how you manage health and safety in practice. The groups below are the documentation most assessments turn on.

Health and safety policy and organisation. Assessors expect a policy signed and dated within the last 12 months, setting out roles, responsibilities and the chain of command, and naming the director or senior person responsible. Under section 2(3) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the 1975 Exception Regulations, only employers with five or more employees must put the policy in writing.

Smaller firms still have to show how they manage health and safety. The Core Criteria allow a supplier employing four or fewer people without written arrangements to describe verbally how they identify hazards, although a short written policy makes the assessment far easier. HSE's guidance on preparing a health and safety policy explains the under-five rule.

Health and safety arrangements and competent advice. You need documented procedures showing how the policy works in practice, proportionate to your size and the nature of the work. You also need proof that a competent person is appointed, in-house or an external consultant, with evidence of their training, experience and knowledge.

Training and competence records. Schemes look for a system that ensures employees and labour-only subcontractors receive appropriate training, backed by sample records and qualifications matched to the activities being assessed. Skills cards, toolbox talks and refresher training all form part of the picture.

Risk assessments, method statements and COSHH. Assessors want documented hazard identification procedures plus site or project-specific risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) produced within the last 12 months. COSHH assessments are needed where hazardous substances are used, and construction phase plans where you act as principal or sole contractor.

Accident reporting and enforcement history. Expect to provide three years of RIDDOR statistics, investigation summaries for your last two incidents, and a five-year enforcement history, which schemes cross-check against the HSE register of convictions and notices.

Monitoring, consultation, subcontractors and welfare. You will need evidence of proactive checks such as site inspections, audits and management reviews, evidence that you consult the workforce on health and safety, criteria for vetting subcontractors with controls over further sub-letting, and proof of suitable welfare facilities.

Insurance. Insurance is not one of the health and safety Core Criteria, but schemes commonly request employers' liability and public liability documentation as supplementary information, including during Deem to Satisfy applications.

How to Prepare for an SSIP Assessment

Most failed first submissions come down to preparation rather than poor health and safety management. Working through the steps below before you apply saves resubmission rounds and assessor queries.

1. Choose Your Scheme and Assessment Scope

SSIP assessments are issued per CDM 2015 dutyholder role: contractor, principal contractor, designer or principal designer, with non-construction variants. Apply for the role you actually perform, because the scope appears on your certificate and on the SSIP Portal.

If a client names a particular scheme, check whether Deem to Satisfy would be accepted before paying for a second full assessment.

2. Review and Sign Your Health and Safety Policy

Make sure the policy is signed by the responsible director and dated within the last 12 months. Check that the organisation section reflects your current structure and that the named responsibilities are up to date.

3. Gather RAMS, Training and Accident Records

Pull together recent site-specific RAMS, COSHH assessments where relevant, sample training records and three years of accident statistics. Generic template RAMS with no project detail are a frequent cause of failed first submissions.

4. Check Competent Advice and Subcontractor Controls

Confirm your competent person arrangement is documented, whether in-house or a retained consultant, with evidence of their qualifications. Document how you vet and monitor subcontractors, including how you control further sub-letting down the chain.

How Deem to Satisfy Works

Deem to Satisfy is the mutual recognition agreement at the heart of SSIP. A supplier with a current, valid assessment from one member scheme can obtain recognition from another without a full reassessment. The mechanics are explained on the SSIP Deem to Satisfy page.

Recognition depends on membership category. The 24 Registered Members, including CHAS 2013 Ltd, SafeContractor Ltd and Safety Management Advisory Services Ltd (SMAS), recognise each other both ways. Certification Body Members, ISO 45001-aligned bodies such as BSI and LRQA, provide one-way recognition into Registered Member schemes.

Deem to Satisfy covers the health and safety assessment, not everything a scheme sells. The receiving scheme may still ask for supplementary information such as insurance documents, and recognition only lasts while the original assessment remains valid.

HSE is clear that buyers should not ask for evidence of more than one SSIP member scheme, because mutual recognition applies. If a client insists on a specific badge, Deem to Satisfy is usually the cheapest way to obtain it.

How the Main Schemes Differ

The Core Criteria assessment is the same standard everywhere, and SSIP itself has no tiers. You either meet the HSE-approved criteria or you do not. The differences lie in each scheme's own products, extras and buyer networks.

CHAS rebranded as Veriforce CHAS after its acquisition by Veriforce and sells three tiers: Standard (the SSIP health and safety assessment), Advanced (adding PAS 91 pre-qualification) and Elite (meeting SSIP, PAS 91 and the Common Assessment Standard, which much public sector work now requires). Our CHAS accreditation documents guide lists what each tier asks for.

SafeContractor, part of the Alcumus group, describes itself as the largest SSIP provider to hold UKAS accreditation. It offers Contractor Certification for onsite contractors alongside SafeSupplier Verification for offsite suppliers; our SafeContractor accreditation documents guide sets out the evidence list.

Constructionline is an SSIP Supporter Member rather than an assessment scheme in its own right. Its tiered memberships, such as Gold, include the Once For All Health and Safety SSIP certificate (formerly Acclaim SSIP, renamed from 28 April 2025) at no extra cost. Our Constructionline Gold requirements guide explains the membership levels.

SMAS Worksafe, run by Safety Management Advisory Services Ltd, is a Registered Member popular with smaller contractors. Our SMAS Worksafe documents guide covers its application process in detail.

Quick Reference

Document	What assessors expect
Health and safety policy	Signed and dated within the last 12 months, naming the person responsible; written if you employ five or more.
Arrangements	Documented procedures showing how the policy works in practice, proportionate to your size and work.
Competent advice	Evidence of an appointed competent person, in-house or external, with their qualifications and experience.
Training records	A training system plus sample records and qualifications matched to the activities being assessed.
RAMS and COSHH	Site or project-specific risk assessments and method statements within 12 months; COSHH assessments where relevant.
Accident records	Three years of RIDDOR statistics, the last two investigation summaries and a five-year enforcement history.
Monitoring and consultation	Evidence of inspections, audits and management reviews, plus workforce consultation on health and safety.
Subcontractor vetting	Criteria for assessing subcontractors, performance monitoring and controls on further sub-letting.
Welfare	Evidence of suitable facilities; CDM 2015 Schedule 2 compliance for principal contractors.
Insurance	Employers' liability and public liability documents, requested as supplementary information.

Common Reasons SSIP Assessments Fail

• Submitting a health and safety policy that is unsigned, undated or more than 12 months old.
• Sending generic template RAMS with no site or project detail.
• Training records that do not match the trades and activities declared in the application.
• No documented competent person arrangement, or a consultant named without evidence of their qualifications.
• Missing or incomplete RIDDOR statistics and incident investigation records.
• No evidence of subcontractor vetting where subcontractors are clearly used.
• Applying for the wrong dutyholder scope, such as principal contractor when the firm only ever works as a contractor.
• Paying for two full assessments with different schemes instead of using Deem to Satisfy.

How Policy Pros Can Help

We write the documents SSIP assessors actually read: a health and safety policy structured around the Core Criteria, the arrangements that sit behind it, RAMS templates and the supporting procedures. Our health and safety policies service covers the policy and arrangements at the centre of every SSIP assessment, and our construction policies and procedures service covers CDM dutyholder documents such as construction phase plans.

If you already know which badge your clients want, start with the guide for that scheme. We cover CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline Gold and SMAS Worksafe, and each guide maps that scheme's evidence list against the documents described above.

If you hold one certificate and a client asks for another, check Deem to Satisfy before paying for a fresh assessment. The underlying documents are the same across every scheme, so getting them right once is the most efficient route to any SSIP badge.