CHAS Accreditation Checker: How to Verify a Contractor's Status (and Your Own Listing)

Last reviewed: 28/07/2026

If you've searched for a CHAS accreditation checker, you're doing one of two jobs: you're a main contractor or facilities manager about to appoint a subbie and you want proof they're actually accredited, or you're the subbie and you want to know your listing went live after you paid. Both jobs are doable in about five minutes. Neither works quite the way people assume.

Is there a public CHAS accreditation checker?

Not in the form most people picture. CHAS describes its Contractor Search Tool as a free service, but it is delivered through the VeriforceONE Client Portal — a dashboard for buyers rather than an open web page. According to CHAS, client access is free of charge and gives buyers a database of over 32,500 prequalified contractors (CHAS client services, checked 28/07/2026). Free, yes; anonymous, no.

The closest thing to an open register is the SSIP Portal, run by Safety Schemes in Procurement. SSIP says the portal is freely available and lets buyers confirm a supplier's certification by searching the company name, covering suppliers registered across all its member schemes (SSIP clients page, checked 28/07/2026). CHAS is one of those member schemes — the SSIP Portal FAQ says so directly, and also explains why the portal won't name the originating scheme: every member assesses against the same SSIP Core Criteria, so all entries are treated as equivalent (SSIP Portal FAQs, checked 28/07/2026).

That's the trap for a main contractor who has been told "they must be CHAS". The public check proves SSIP-level health and safety certification. It does not prove CHAS specifically, and it does not prove which CHAS tier.

How do you check if a contractor is CHAS accredited?

1. 1
   Get the registered company name, not the trading name. Ask for it in writing, or pull it off the invoice or Companies House. Portal entries are held against the legal entity that was assessed, so "Mick's Electrical" may return nothing while "M J Electrical Services Ltd" returns a clean hit.
2. 2
   Search the SSIP Portal first. It's free and takes seconds. The portal's own search box is organisation-name based, so you're matching on words, not on a company registration number — expect near-misses and try a shortened form of the name before concluding they aren't listed.
3. 3
   Read the entry, don't just clock the green tick. You are looking for a current, in-date certification against the SSIP Core Criteria for the right duty-holder role (contractor, designer, principal designer). SSIP's own guidance for suppliers is explicit that assessment via a member scheme is limited to the prequalification stage.
4. 4
   If you need CHAS specifically, or the tier, use the CHAS Contractor Search Tool. Register as a CHAS client (free) and search the VeriforceONE database, which CHAS says can be filtered by work category and geographic area. CHAS lists 124 work categories in its database, so filter hard rather than eyeballing a long list.
5. 5
   Ask for the certificate as a cross-check, never as the only check. A PDF is a snapshot of the day it was issued. The register is the live record. If the two disagree, the register wins — and CHAS's membership team number is published on the CHAS FAQ page if you need it settled.

A worked example

Say you're letting a commercial maintenance round worth roughly £5,000 a year and the incumbent has put forward a 12-engineer mechanical and electrical firm. They email you a CHAS certificate PDF dated 14 months ago. You search the SSIP Portal under the trading name on the letterhead — nothing. You search again under the registered name from the bottom of their invoice — a hit, current certification showing.

What have you actually learned? That the legal entity has a live SSIP-recognised health and safety assessment. What you still don't know: whether that assessment was done by CHAS or by another SSIP member under SSIP mutual recognition; whether they hold CHAS Elite (which carries the Common Assessment Standard) or just CHAS Standard; whether their employers' liability cover meets your £10m contract requirement; and whether they've ever worked in a live retail environment out of hours. Those last three are your job, not the register's.

What does a CHAS listing prove — and what doesn't it?

This is the part the search box won't tell you, and it comes straight from CHAS. In its own FAQs, CHAS says a CHAS assessment determines competence only to the first stage described in PAS 91, that health and safety legislation requires the client to undertake a second, job- or project-specific assessment, and that CHAS cannot do that second stage for you (CHAS FAQs, checked 28/07/2026). SSIP says the same thing in its supplier guidance: buyers still need to satisfy themselves the supplier can meet project-specific site requirements.

Three things a register hit specifically doesn't settle for a buyer. First, tier: CHAS runs Standard, Advanced and Elite badges, and only Elite includes the Common Assessment Standard assessment across 13 risk areas. Second, insurance detail: CHAS describes its entry-level Standard package as including a self-certified insurance module, so if you need sight of a current schedule with your required limits, ask for the certificate of insurance. Third, financial standing: financial checks sit in the higher-tier modules, not in a name-search result.

How do I check my own CHAS listing is live and correct?

For subcontractors, the anxious moment is the fortnight after you submit. Two useful timings, both from the schemes themselves. CHAS says a submitted assessment is reviewed within a maximum of 10 working days, with a fast-track option reducing that to a maximum of 2 working days. The SSIP Portal FAQ says most member schemes upload to the portal within 24 hours, though it can take up to 72 hours for an entry to become visible.

1. 1
   Log in to your contractor portal and check your compliance status. CHAS members manage their account through VeriforceONE; note that the CHAS FAQ page still points renewals at the older MyCHAS portal, so if a link bounces you, use the login route from the main CHAS site or phone the team rather than assuming your account has vanished.
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   Separate your two expiry dates. CHAS draws a distinction that catches people out every year: membership expiry is your annual payment date, while compliance expiry is your annual assessment renewal date. They are not always the same day. The one your client's buyer sees is the compliance date.
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   Search yourself on the SSIP Portal exactly as a buyer would. Type your registered name. If nothing shows more than 72 hours after certification, that's a real problem, not a lag.
4. 4
   Check your work categories and region. With 124 categories in the CHAS database, a buyer filtering for the wrong one won't see you. If you've added a trade since you joined, update it — being invisible in a filtered search costs you tenders silently.
5. 5
   Fix errors at the scheme that assessed you, not at SSIP. The SSIP Portal FAQ is explicit: SSIP does not upload assessment data itself, so if your portal entry is wrong you contact the member scheme that carried out the assessment.

Why checking is the easy bit

The checker isn't the pain. The pain is that a listing is only ever a snapshot of an annual cycle, and every scheme you hold runs its own cycle with its own evidence set. A live SSIP-recognised entry today says nothing about whether your CHAS compliance date, your Constructionline renewal and your client-specific PQQ all land in the same month — or whether you'll be re-uploading the same insurance certificate three times before Christmas. Mutual recognition helps with the assessment, not with the diary; we've written separately about what SSIP mutual recognition does not cover and about tracking accreditation renewal deadlines.

TradeComply is building a tracker for exactly that residual admin — renewal dates, per-scheme evidence, the non-mutually-recognised tiers. It isn't live yet. Until it is, a calendar reminder set 60 days before your compliance expiry does most of the job for free.

For the wider picture on how the schemes fit together, start with our guide to SSIP accreditation, and if you've just passed and want to put the badge on your van, check the CHAS logo usage rules before you print anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free CHAS accreditation checker?

Yes, in effect two. The SSIP Portal at ssipportal.org.uk is free and needs no login to search a company name, and CHAS's own Contractor Search Tool is free but requires a CHAS client account in the VeriforceONE portal. CHAS states there is no charge for being a CHAS client.

Does the SSIP Portal tell me if a contractor is CHAS accredited specifically?

No. The SSIP Portal FAQ explains that all member schemes assess against the same SSIP Core Criteria and are treated as equivalent, so the portal does not name the scheme that carried out the assessment. If a buyer insists on CHAS by name, you'll need the CHAS search tool or the contractor's certificate.

How long after joining CHAS does my listing appear?

CHAS says a submitted assessment is reviewed within a maximum of 10 working days, or 2 working days on its fast-track service. Once certified, the SSIP Portal FAQ says most member schemes upload within 24 hours, with up to 72 hours before the entry is visible.

My CHAS entry shows the wrong details — who do I contact?

Contact CHAS directly for your CHAS record. For an SSIP Portal entry, SSIP says it does not upload the data itself, so you must contact the member scheme that carried out your assessment. Neither fix is instant, so check well before a tender deadline.

Does a CHAS listing mean a contractor is approved for my project?

No. CHAS states in its own FAQs that its assessment covers only the first stage described in PAS 91 and that health and safety law requires the client to carry out a second, project-specific assessment, which CHAS cannot do for you. Client-specific PQQs, insurance limits and RAMS reviews still apply.

This guide is general information, not legal or compliance advice. For anything fact-specific about your own certification, speak to the scheme that assessed you.