Accreditation Renewal & Expiry: Don't Let Your Certificate Lapse

Almost every UK accreditation runs on a 12-month clock — CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS Worksafe and SSIP certificates are all annual. Wondering if you need more than one accreditation? The answer often hinges on which clients' directories you need to appear in — and on what SSIP mutual recognition doesn't cover, since Deem to Satisfy only carries you so far between schemes. Let one lapse and you can drop off the directory a client is searching, lose your SSIP Deem to Satisfy recognition, and miss a tender overnight. There's no published grace period, so the renewal date is the date that matters.

How long does each accreditation last?

Every major scheme renews annually — here's when each accreditation expires and what triggers the renewal.

One nuance worth knowing: CHAS separates your membership date (when you pay) from your compliance date (when the assessment is renewed) — so check both. For the full picture of what CHAS accreditation involves, see our pillar guide; or see the CHAS documents checklist for what you'll need.

Renewal fees are usually close to (sometimes slightly below) the original joining fee, since you're paying for a fresh annual assessment rather than a one-off setup. TODO(verify): confirm 2026 renewal fee figures for CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS Worksafe and Constructionline directly against each scheme's current pricing page before quoting a specific number — fees change and vary by tier/turnover band, and we won't publish a figure we can't verify against a primary source.

90/60/30-day renewal checklist

Most accreditation renewal deadlines fail not because someone forgets the date, but because the evidence behind the certificate has quietly gone stale — an insurance certificate expired three months ago, a training record wasn't updated, nobody logged this year's accidents. Working backwards from your expiry date avoids that:

1. 1
   90 days out: audit what's expiring. Pull your current certificate's expiry date and check it against your insurance renewal dates, training certificates and RAMS review dates. Anything expiring before or shortly after your accreditation renewal needs sorting first.
2. 2
   60 days out: refresh the evidence. Update your accident/incident log, confirm public and employers' liability insurance certificates are current (or due to renew in time), and check method statements and risk assessments still reflect what you actually do on site.
3. 3
   30 days out: submit. Most schemes let the renewal window open around 4–6 weeks before expiry. Submit then rather than at the deadline — a query or missing document with a week to go is a much smaller problem than one with a day to go.

The 'same evidence, five portals' problem

If you're accredited with more than one scheme, renewal season means uploading largely the same insurance certificates, RAMS and policies to each portal separately — SSIP mutual recognition doesn't fix this. Deem to Satisfy lets a second scheme accept your base SSIP certificate as proof you meet the core health & safety requirement, but it doesn't mean one upload feeds every scheme's system. In practice:

• CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS Worksafe and other SSIP members will accept another member's current SSIP certificate as evidence for the base requirement — that's what Deem to Satisfy is for.
• Constructionline Gold, the Common Assessment Standard and client-specific PQQs sit outside Deem to Satisfy, so you'll still submit evidence directly into each of those, even with a live SSIP certificate elsewhere. See what SSIP mutual recognition doesn't cover in full detail for the complete list of gaps.
• Renewal is where this bites hardest, because you're doing it annually, on a deadline, per scheme — not once.

This is the exact gap TradeComply's renewal tracker closes: one calendar for every scheme's deadline, and a single place to hold the evidence you re-use across portals — not a replacement for any scheme's own assessment.

When does CHAS accreditation renew?

CHAS certificates run 12 months from your compliance date (not your payment date). You can start the renewal 4–6 weeks before expiry, and CHAS will usually let you reuse documents that haven't changed. The full CHAS documents checklist shows what you'll need to upload. If you're accredited with SafeContractor instead, it's worth understanding SafeContractor's application requirements and what they actually check, since the evidence categories and renewal triggers aren't identical to Chas's.

How often do I need to renew my SSIP certificate?

Every SSIP member scheme — including CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS Worksafe and Constructionline — requires annual renewal. Your certificate expires 12 months from issue, and there's no published grace period. Once it lapses, you drop off the SSIP Portal and lose Deem to Satisfy recognition with other schemes.

Re-application versus renewal: what a lapse actually costs

Renewing on time and re-applying after a lapse are not the same process, and treating them as interchangeable is the costly mistake. A renewal submitted before expiry is typically a lighter-touch annual re-assessment — some schemes let you carry forward evidence that hasn't changed. Once a certificate lapses, most schemes treat the next submission as a new application, not a renewal: a fuller assessment, a fresh fee at the joining rate rather than the renewal rate, and no continuity of your SSIP Portal listing or Deem to Satisfy recognition in the meantime. TODO(verify): confirm whether each scheme (CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS Worksafe, Constructionline) formally distinguishes a lapsed re-application fee from its standard renewal fee before quoting the difference in £.

What happens if my accreditation certificate lapses?

Recognition under SSIP mutual recognition only holds while your details show correctly on the SSIP Portal (as explained in our SSIP mutual recognition guide). Once your entry expires, that Deem to Satisfy recognition stops — so other schemes can no longer "deem" you to satisfy their requirement off your certificate. It's also worth knowing what SSIP mutual recognition doesn't cover even before a lapse — tiers like Constructionline Gold or client-specific PQQs sit outside Deem to Satisfy entirely. In practice a lapse means:

1. 1
   You fall off the directory a client searches for approved contractors — they may simply not find you.
2. 2
   Deem to Satisfy breaks — any certificate you hold with another scheme on the back of this one expires with it.
3. 3
   You can't evidence the requirement mid-tender, which can stall a bid or an active contract.

When should I start my accreditation renewal?

A sensible rule of thumb is to start your renewal 4–6 weeks before expiry — you can usually begin before the current certificate runs out, so there's no gap. Renewing online is generally less work than the first assessment (some schemes let you reuse much of last year's submission), though that's a time saving rather than a guaranteed price discount. Many schemes follow a common assessment standard question set, which can streamline the process across multiple certifications — though if you're still working out whether you need more than one accreditation in the first place, that's worth settling before you build a renewal calendar around all of them.

If you're deciding between two schemes rather than juggling both long-term, it's worth comparing CHAS versus SMAS Worksafe on cost and assessment approach before you commit to a renewal cycle with either.

What happens to my Deem to Satisfy certificates when I renew?

If you hold a "deemed" certificate with a second scheme, its expiry mirrors your original SSIP certificate. So when you renew your base scheme, you then need to refresh the deemed certificates you hold elsewhere too — renewing the base keeps you eligible, but each deemed certificate has to be re-issued. Keeping the underlying evidence documents current — and having the CHAS documents checklist ready — makes each renewal far quicker.

How do you track accreditation renewals?

Every version of this problem ends the same way: a spreadsheet nobody updates, or a calendar reminder set once and never re-set after the date moved. A tracker that survives contact with a real year needs six fields per entry, not one date.

Building an accreditation renewal tracker without any software

You do not need a product to start. An hour with your certificates and a spreadsheet gets you most of the way:

1. 1
   Gather every certificate you hold — scheme certificates, insurance, trade registrations. Put the PDF somewhere shared, not in one person's inbox.
2. 2
   Write down two dates per scheme, not one: membership expiry and compliance expiry. If you can only find one, ring the scheme and ask for the other.
3. 3
   Add the evidence dates — every insurance and trade certificate that any portal has ever asked you to upload.
4. 4
   Set three reminders per date: 90, 60 and 30 days out. Ninety days is when a re-assessment can still be done calmly; thirty is when it becomes a scramble.
5. 5
   Put one name against each row. Not "the office" — a person.

Frequently asked questions

How long does CHAS last?

A CHAS certificate is valid for 12 months and renews via an annual assessment. Note that CHAS separates your membership payment date from your compliance (assessment) date, so check both when planning a renewal. See the CHAS documents checklist for what you'll need.

Is there a grace period if my accreditation expires?

No scheme we checked publishes a formal grace period. Once a certificate expires your SSIP Portal entry lapses and Deem to Satisfy recognition stops, so aim to renew before the expiry date rather than after.

Does renewing one SSIP scheme keep my Deem to Satisfy valid?

Renewing your base SSIP scheme keeps you eligible for Deem to Satisfy, but any deemed certificate you hold with another scheme expires in step with the original — so you'll need to re-issue those after you renew. See SSIP mutual recognition explained.

How early can I renew my accreditation?

You can usually start before the current certificate expires; 4–6 weeks ahead is a common rule of thumb, which avoids any gap in cover.

What happens if my accreditation lapses mid-contract?

If your certificate expires while you're on a live contract, you immediately fail to meet the accreditation requirement the client specified. That can trigger contract compliance reviews, stop future payments, or in strict cases halt your work on site until you renew. Most clients won't catch it instantly, but formal audits or directory checks will expose the lapse.

Do I need to resubmit all my documents when I renew?

Most schemes let you reuse documents from the previous year if nothing has changed — policies, insurance certificates, risk assessments. You'll still need to confirm details and upload any updated evidence (new insurance dates, revised method statements), but it's typically faster than the initial application. Because many schemes now use the common assessment standard question set, uploading the same evidence to multiple portals is still a reality — which is exactly the residual pain TradeComply will solve. Check your scheme's renewal portal for which documents carry forward.

Is a lapsed accreditation more expensive to fix than renewing on time?

Usually, in effort if not always in headline fee — a lapse commonly resets you to a full new application rather than a lighter annual renewal, and you lose your SSIP Portal listing and Deem to Satisfy recognition in the gap. TODO(verify): confirm exact renewal versus new-application fee differences per scheme before citing a figure.

What renewal fee should I budget for in 2026?

Renewal fees vary by scheme and, for some, by company turnover band. TODO(verify): we haven't published specific 2026 renewal fee figures here because they need checking directly against each scheme's current pricing page — see CHAS accreditation cost and the CHAS documents checklist for what's involved, and check the scheme's own site for the current fee before budgeting.