Guide

How to get CHAS accreditation

The process is straightforward when your paperwork is ready and painful when it is not. Here is the whole route, in order.

Step 1: confirm what your buyer needs

Before spending anything, ask the client requiring accreditation exactly what they accept. Often the answer is "CHAS or any SSIP equivalent", which gives you options. Sometimes a specific package level is named. Getting this in writing stops you buying the wrong assessment.

Step 2: choose your package

CHAS offers tiered packages: the core tier covers health and safety assessment, and higher tiers align to the Common Assessment Standard, covering wider areas such as environmental, quality and financial standing that some larger buyers ask for. Buy what your clients require, not the biggest tier by default.

Step 3: prepare every document first

This is the step that decides how the rest goes. Work through the document checklist: signed policy, trade-specific RAMS, COSHH assessments, training matrix, accident records, insurance. Do not start the online application until the folder is complete. The application is a series of questions with document uploads, and half-finished submissions are where the weeks disappear.

Step 4: register and submit

Create your account on the scheme portal, pay the fee for your employee band and package, answer the questions honestly and upload the evidence. Answer questions about your actual business: assessors judge proportionately by size and trade, and claiming systems you do not have creates referrals when the evidence does not match.

Step 5: assessment and any referrals

An assessor reviews your submission, typically within days. If everything is in order you pass. If something is missing or inadequate you are referred: told what needs fixing, with the chance to resubmit. Respond quickly and completely. One thorough response beats three rushed ones.

Step 6: certificate, logo and renewal

On passing you receive your certificate, a listing on the scheme database that buyers search, and the right to use the scheme logo on your van and paperwork. The certificate lasts 12 months. Diary the renewal two months early: an expired certificate mid-contract is an avoidable emergency.

The one thing that changes the whole experience

Every painful CHAS story is a documentation story. Walk in with a complete, personalised, trade-specific document set and the process is administrative. The electrician CHAS pack is that document set, ready to personalise in an evening.

Common questions

How long does CHAS accreditation take?

Allow two to four weeks from starting to certificate. The assessment itself is usually quick once submitted; most of the elapsed time is applicants gathering documents and responding to referrals.

What happens if my application is referred?

A referral means the assessor needs more or better evidence in a specific area. You are told what is missing, you fix it and resubmit. Referrals add days or weeks, which is why preparing complete documents first matters.