What is SSIP and how does mutual recognition work?

Safety Schemes in Procurement, or SSIP, is a forum of health and safety assessment schemes used in contractor procurement. A supplier assessed by one member scheme may be able to use that certification to satisfy another member's shared core criteria through a process called Deem to Satisfy. SSIP aims to reduce duplicate assessments. It is a procurement framework and scheme arrangement, not a statute that requires every contractor to buy a particular certificate.

The primary source is SSIP's own guidance for suppliers and its Deem to Satisfy explanation. Membership, fees and scheme rules can change. Verify the current scheme and category before telling a buyer that a particular approval will be recognized for its project.

What does an SSIP assessment show?

Member schemes assess suppliers against shared health and safety core criteria, taking account of the relevant category or duty-holder role. An approval can help a buyer with prequalification. It does not prove that an individual worker is competent for a particular task, that a method statement is suitable for a site, or that the contractor will comply with every legal duty during a project. Buyers still need to assess the actual work and supplier where appropriate.

Common member scheme names include CHAS, SMAS and SafeContractor, but the current member list and categories should be checked directly with SSIP. The existing scheme comparison blog owns the question of which named scheme differs from another. The contractor competence guide explains the distinction between certification and competence. This page owns what SSIP itself is.

How Deem to Satisfy works

Where a buyer prefers a different SSIP member scheme, a supplier with an existing qualifying member certification may apply for recognition instead of repeating a full core assessment. SSIP says the receiving scheme can check the certificate on its portal and may request some additional information. Recognition is subject to the relevant membership category and scheme process. It is not an automatic right to use every logo or claim every specialist category. A contractor should ask the buyer and receiving scheme what evidence they need.

SSIP distinguishes different kinds of members, and recognition may not work symmetrically for every membership type. Avoid assuming that an ISO 45001 certificate alone is automatically an SSIP approval. Use the current SSIP portal and member information to verify an approval and its scope.

SSIP versus the Common Assessment Standard

The Common Assessment Standard, or CAS, is a broader prequalification framework used in construction procurement. SSIP's explanation of procurement practices distinguishes it from the SSIP health and safety focus. A buyer may ask for CAS or additional financial, quality, environmental, social value or project-specific information even if the supplier already holds SSIP certification. Conversely, SSIP certification is not a legal requirement just because a particular client uses it in a tender. Distinguish a procurement condition from a statutory duty.

Preparing evidence without overclaiming

Gather current policies, arrangements, training and competence records, incident information, insurance where requested, and examples relevant to the scheme's criteria. Check the requested category and duty-holder role. Review evidence for accuracy and expiry rather than uploading a generic folder and assuming it satisfies the assessment. The CHAS readiness checker can help organize a preparation conversation, but it does not guarantee a scheme pass. The contractor compliance software page is the commercial route for evaluating evidence organization. No accreditation guarantee or automatic SSIP decision is claimed for Complys.

General information, not legal advice. Verify current requirements against the primary sources linked above.