CHAS Accreditation Requirements: The Readiness Test Before You Start the Form

Most guides to CHAS accreditation requirements jump straight to the list of documents you upload. That's useful, but it skips the bit that trips people up first: are you even in a position to apply, and what has to be true about your business before you click 'start'. This article is the WHO and the WHEN — the eligibility and readiness test — not the WHAT. If you want the upload list, we cover that separately in the CHAS documents checklist; here we deal with what must already be in place before those documents mean anything.

TL;DR

There is no minimum turnover or trading-length rule to apply for CHAS, but to pass you need four things genuinely in place: an active, legally-trading business; the right insurance (usually employer's liability if you use any labour); a named person who is actually competent in health and safety; and written, dated health and safety policies and risk assessments that reflect how you really work. The single most common trip-up for small firms is the insurance trap — CHAS counts labour-only subcontractors as employees, so even a 'one-man band' who brings in a mate on day rate usually needs employer's liability cover. 'We follow the rules' does not satisfy the competent-person requirement; it has to be a real person with real training (IOSH, SMSTS, NEBOSH) or an external adviser you can name. Get these four right before you start the form and the assessment is a formality; get them wrong and you fail on a technicality.

Who can apply for CHAS accreditation?

Any UK business carrying out or supplying construction-related work can apply for CHAS — sole traders, partnerships and limited companies alike. There is no employee minimum and no 'you must have traded for X years' gate stated on the CHAS entry-level assessment. What CHAS actually assesses at the base level (CHAS Standard) is your health and safety competence against the recognised SSIP core criteria, so the real question is not 'am I allowed to apply' but 'can I evidence the things they check'. CHAS confirms that its Standard membership includes an award-winning health and safety assessment and demonstrates compliance with SSIP (CHAS health & safety assessment, checked 22/07/2026).

What must be true about your business before you apply?

Think of CHAS eligibility as four boxes that have to be genuinely ticked — not on the form, but in reality — before the paperwork will hold up. Here's the readiness test in one place.

Requirement	What it actually means	Where it bites for small firms
Active, legal business	Registered/trading, VAT number if applicable, correct legal entity	Getting the trading name to match Companies House / your insurance
Insurance in force	Public liability, and employer's liability if you use any labour	Sole traders who use labour-only subbies but hold no EL
Named competent person	A real person or adviser competent in H&S for your work	'We just follow the rules' — no named person, no training evidence
Written H&S policies	Dated, signed, work-specific policy and risk assessments	Generic downloaded templates that don't match what you do

Each of these is checked, not assumed. CHAS's own guidance notes state that training and competency evidence an assessor looks for depends on the accreditation level, the type of work, your CDM duties and the size of your company (CHAS assessment standards, checked 22/07/2026). In plain terms: a 12-engineer M&E firm will be asked to show more than a solo tiler, and both will be asked to show something real.

Do you need employer's liability insurance for CHAS?

For most applicants, yes. Under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, employers must insure against injury or disease to employees, and the Health and Safety Executive explains this is compulsory cover (HSE guide, checked 22/07/2026). GOV.UK sets the legal minimum at £5 million and warns you can be fined £2,500 for every day you are not properly insured; the only real exemptions are if you only employ close family or workers based outside England, Scotland and Wales (GOV.UK employers' liability insurance, checked 22/07/2026).

(Employers' liability minimum cover £5m and £2,500/day fine, GOV.UK, checked 22/07/2026.)

What does CHAS mean by a 'competent person'?

This is the requirement small firms most often misread. The SSIP core criteria that CHAS Standard assesses expect you to have access to competent health and safety advice — a genuine capability, not a good intention. Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, the HSE's whole framing is about having "the right people for the right job at the right time" and duty holders being competent for their role (HSE CDM 2015 overview, checked 22/07/2026).

For a firm like Mick's — 12 engineers, no compliance officer — the competent person is usually the owner or a senior lead who's done SMSTS, backed up by an external adviser for the trickier written work. That's a perfectly acceptable answer. 'The lads know what they're doing' is not, because there's nothing to assess.

What written policies do you need in place before you apply?

CHAS reviews your health and safety policy and the associated procedures, arrangements and records behind it (CHAS health & safety assessment, checked 22/07/2026). Before you apply you should have a written, dated and signed health and safety policy that reflects your actual work, plus risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) for the jobs you really do. The failure mode here isn't 'no policy' — it's a generic template downloaded off the internet that mentions hazards you never encounter and omits the ones you do. The exact upload list lives in our CHAS documents checklist; the readiness point is that these documents must exist and be genuinely yours before you start, because the assessor is checking substance, not that a box has a file attached.

A worked example: the 12-engineer M&E firm

Say Mick runs a 12-strong electrical and mechanical firm and a main contractor has just asked for CHAS before a ~£5k commercial maintenance contract. His readiness test looks like this: (1) Active business — limited company, trading three years, name matches Companies House and his insurance. Tick. (2) Insurance — public liability in force, and because he has PAYE staff he holds employer's liability at £5m. Tick. (3) Competent person — Mick did SMSTS four years ago and uses a freelance H&S adviser for policy wording; he can name both. Tick. (4) Written policies — he has a health and safety policy, but it's a five-year-old template that still references work at height he no longer does. That's the one to fix before applying, not after a rejection.

Mick's route through the gate is straightforward once box four is sorted. If he'd already passed another SSIP scheme, he could also look at CHAS's Deemed to Satisfy route to avoid a second full health and safety assessment (CHAS health & safety assessment, checked 22/07/2026) — see our guide to SSIP mutual recognition for how that saves you re-doing the H&S core criteria. For the full fee picture across employee bands, see how much CHAS costs, and for how CHAS fits the wider scheme landscape, CHAS accreditation explained.

Requirements (WHO/WHEN) vs the documents checklist (WHAT)

Keep the two things separate in your head. The requirements on this page are about whether your business is in a fit state to be assessed: trading legally, insured correctly, with a named competent person and real policies. The documents checklist is the pile you upload to prove it. Sorting the requirements first is what turns the checklist from a source of rejections into a filing exercise. Once you've submitted, CHAS states it reviews assessments within a maximum of 10 working days, with a faster fast-track option (CHAS FAQ, checked 22/07/2026) — so getting it right first time is the difference between winning the job this month or next.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a minimum trading period to apply for CHAS?

CHAS does not publish a fixed minimum trading length for its entry-level health and safety assessment, so new businesses can apply. The practical catch is evidence: if you have little or no job history, the assessor leans more heavily on your written policies, arrangements and named competent person, so have those genuinely in place before you start.

Do sole traders with no employees need CHAS insurance?

A true solo trader with no staff and no labour may not legally need employer's liability insurance, but CHAS treats labour-only subcontractors as employees. If you ever bring in labour-only help, you likely need employer's liability cover of at least £5 million under GOV.UK rules, plus public liability. Check your exact position with your insurer before applying.

Can I be my own competent person for CHAS?

Yes, if you can evidence it. If you hold a recognised qualification such as IOSH Managing Safely, SMSTS or NEBOSH and can show you manage health and safety for your type of work, you can be the named competent person. If not, you can name an external health and safety consultant. What is not accepted is a statement that you simply 'follow the rules' with no named person or evidence.

What is the difference between CHAS requirements and the CHAS documents checklist?

The requirements are the conditions that must be true about your business before you apply — legal trading status, correct insurance, a competent person and real written policies. The documents checklist is the set of files you upload to prove those conditions. Fixing the requirements first is what stops the document upload turning into a string of technical rejections.

How long does CHAS take to assess my application?

CHAS states it reviews a submitted assessment within a maximum of 10 working days, and offers a fast-track service with a shorter turnaround. If the assessor needs more information, you are typically given a set period to respond, so having your evidence ready up front avoids delays.

(CHAS assessment review timescales and employee-count definition, CHAS FAQ, checked 22/07/2026.)