CHAS vs SMAS vs Constructionline UK 2026: which accreditation do contractors need?

If you run a trade or construction business, sooner or later a client asks for CHAS, SMAS or Constructionline. They are not interchangeable, and you rarely need all three. This is a plain comparison of what each one actually is and how to work out which you need, written from the point of view of a firm that has been through it.

The distinction that saves you money

The most useful thing to understand up front is that these three are not the same kind of thing. CHAS and SMAS Worksafe are health-and-safety prequalification schemes under the SSIP umbrella. Constructionline is a wider procurement register that also checks your finances, insurances, equal-opportunities and environmental policies, and delivers the health-and-safety part through its own SSIP-recognised assessment, Acclaim. So CHAS and SMAS answer “can this contractor work safely?” Constructionline answers a broader “is this a supplier we can put on our approved list?”

SSIP mutual recognition: why one scheme usually covers you

CHAS, SMAS, SafeContractor, Acclaim and the other SSIP members operate a mutual-recognition arrangement called Deem to Satisfy. In practice, if a buyer asks for “SSIP” or “an SSIP-equivalent scheme”, holding any one member scheme normally satisfies them, you should not have to pay for and complete several near-identical health-and-safety assessments. That is why we would not advise most trades to hold two SSIP schemes at once. The exception is when a specific client names a specific scheme in their tender, which does happen. For the health-and-safety schemes side by side, see our CHAS vs SafeContractor vs SMAS comparison.

CHAS

CHAS (the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) is one of the most widely recognised SSIP members, and the one many public-sector bodies, housing associations and large main contractors ask for by name. It runs in tiers: a foundation health-and-safety assessment for lower-risk work, and higher tiers that add environmental, quality and other checks for firms bidding for larger or public contracts. If you are unsure which tier, start with what your actual clients ask for rather than the highest tier available. The scheme details are on the CHAS website.

SMAS Worksafe

SMAS Worksafe is another SSIP health-and-safety scheme, popular with housebuilders and their supply chains. The assessment covers the same core ground as CHAS, your health-and-safety policy, risk assessments, insurances, training and incident records, and because it is SSIP-recognised it carries the same Deem to Satisfy benefit. Which of CHAS or SMAS you pick usually comes down to which one your biggest clients specify. Details are on the SMAS website.

Constructionline

Constructionline is a procurement register rather than a pure health-and-safety scheme. Buyers, especially public-sector clients and Tier 1 contractors, use it to shortlist suppliers, so being on it can open doors an SSIP scheme alone will not. It has membership levels (commonly Bronze, Silver and Gold). Gold includes the Acclaim health-and-safety assessment (SSIP-recognised) plus wider checks on finances, insurances, equality and environmental management. If a client says “you need to be Constructionline Gold”, no other SSIP scheme substitutes for it, you need Constructionline specifically. See the Constructionline website.

Which should you choose?

Work backwards from your clients, not from the marketing:

• Mostly private domestic or small commercial work: you may not need any of these yet. When you do, one SSIP scheme (CHAS or SMAS) is usually enough.
• You subcontract to main contractors or housebuilders: hold the one SSIP scheme they ask for, often CHAS or SMAS. Don’t collect several.
• You bid for public-sector or large framework work: you will likely need Constructionline (frequently Gold), which bundles the health-and-safety accreditation with the wider supplier checks.

The honest rule of thumb: get the scheme a real, named client is asking for. Accreditations held “just in case” cost money every year and win no work on their own.

What they cost

All three charge an annual fee banded by company size or turnover, so a sole trader pays far less than a large contractor. Fees change each year, so check the current figures on each scheme’s own site rather than relying on a number in a blog. For indicative CHAS tier prices and how the fee scales, see our guide to how much CHAS accreditation costs. As a rule the pure SSIP health-and-safety schemes sit at the cheaper end, and a full Constructionline Gold membership costs more because it assesses more. Budget for renewal every year, not just the first application.

Getting through the assessment first time

Whichever you choose, the assessment checks the same foundations, and firms fail for the same avoidable reasons: an out-of-date or generic health-and-safety policy, risk assessments copied off the internet rather than written for your actual work, and missing or expired insurance and training records. On insurance, employers’ liability cover is a legal requirement with a statutory minimum of £5 million under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969; in practice many clients ask for £5, 10 million public liability, so check what your contracts specify. Get those basics current and specific to your business and most applications go through cleanly. For a step-by-step run through the CHAS assessment, see our guide on how to get CHAS approved.

Keeping it, not just getting it

All three renew annually and expect your documents to stay current, insurances in date, policy reviewed, training up to date. The pain is rarely the assessment itself; it is finding the right, in-date document on the day a buyer asks. Keeping your policy, risk assessments, insurance certificates and worker records in one place, so renewal is a review, not a scramble, is exactly what turns accreditation from an annual headache into a same-day answer.

Related: check your CHAS readiness and CHAS vs SafeContractor vs SMAS