Constructionline Cost for Subcontractors: Real 2026 Fees by Tier and Turnover

Constructionline annual membership for subcontractors starts from £219 per year for Bronze tier on the lowest turnover band, but your actual cost depends on which of 15 turnover bands you fall into and which tier your buyer requires. New members pay a one-off joining fee on top of the year-one annual fee, calculated from the same turnover band. SSIP via Once For All Health & Safety is now bundled into every paid tier at no extra charge, which means you don't need a separate SSIP scheme. Gold is the tier that includes Common Assessment Standard (CAS) desktop certification, which most main contractors and public-sector buyers now require following PPN 03/24.

If a main contractor has told you to "get on Constructionline" and you're trying to work out what it will actually cost your business, this guide breaks down the real Constructionline cost for subcontractors in 2026 — by tier (Bronze, Silver, Gold) and by turnover band — and explains why the headline annual fee isn't the whole story.

Constructionline doesn't publish a full price grid on its website. The fee depends on three things: which tier you pick, which turnover band you fall into, and whether it's your first year (a one-off joining fee applies). Below we explain how those three levers combine, what the published starting price covers, and where to get your specific quote.

How much does Constructionline cost for subcontractors?

Constructionline pricing for subcontractors is built around three variables stacked together. Understanding the structure matters more than chasing a single headline number, because the same tier costs different firms different amounts.

The first variable is your annual turnover band. Constructionline's sign-up wizard asks you to pick from 15 bands, starting at £0–£74,999 and stepping up through £75k–£99,999, £100k–£199,999, and so on to £50 million and above (Constructionline sub-contractor memberships page). Your band determines where your fee sits inside each tier's range. A sole trader on £60,000 turnover and a £4m M&E contractor pay very different amounts for the same Bronze badge.

The second variable is your membership tier — Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. Each tier adds an assessment layer on top of the one below it, so the price rises with the depth of the check. Bronze is a simplified question set covering insurance and SSIP. Silver adds corporate and professional standing checks. Gold adds the Common Assessment Standard (desktop). Platinum adds site-based CAS verification.

The third variable is whether you're a new member. Constructionline's own supplier FAQs confirm that "there is a one-off joining fee for new members based on your turnover band. From the second year of membership onwards, suppliers will only pay the annual membership fee" (Constructionline supplier FAQs, checked 08/06/2026). In other words, year one is structurally more expensive than year two.

What is the cheapest Constructionline membership?

The cheapest paid Constructionline membership is Bronze, on the lowest turnover band. Constructionline's published floor is "annual membership starts from as little as £219 a year" (Constructionline supplier FAQs, checked 08/06/2026, excluding VAT and excluding any first-year joining fee). That £219 figure assumes you fall in the smallest turnover band and you only need the Bronze tier.

Bronze is the entry-level paid tier and is designed for subcontractors whose main contractor or buyer just wants confirmation that your insurance is current and you hold an SSIP. According to the Constructionline sub-contractor memberships page, Bronze includes secure data storage, a searchable supplier profile, verified membership status, the Once For All Health & Safety SSIP, and Marketplace access (Constructionline sub-contractor memberships, checked 08/06/2026).

The headline figure does not include VAT and does not include the new-member joining fee, both of which add to your actual year-one outlay. The published prices on the sub-contractor page also carry the standard footnote "Prices do not include VAT."

What does Constructionline Bronze cost in 2026?

Constructionline Bronze starts at £219 per year on the lowest turnover band (£0–£74,999), excluding VAT and excluding the year-one joining fee (Constructionline supplier FAQs, checked 08/06/2026). That £219 figure is the published floor — your actual Bronze cost depends on which of the 15 turnover bands you fall into when you sign up.

Bronze is the entry-level paid tier. It covers insurance verification, the Once For All Health & Safety SSIP, secure data storage, a searchable supplier profile, verified membership status, and Marketplace access (Constructionline sub-contractor memberships, checked 08/06/2026). Bronze is the right tier if your buyer just needs to see proof of insurance and an SSIP, but it does not include the Common Assessment Standard — for that, you need Gold or Platinum.

Remember: the £219 headline excludes VAT (add 20%) and excludes the one-off joining fee charged in year one. Your year-one all-in cost will be higher than the annual renewal fee from year two onwards.

What does Constructionline Silver cost in 2026?

Constructionline does not publish a separate Silver price line, because Silver — like Bronze and Gold — is quoted against your turnover band when you sign up. What Silver adds for the extra fee is the Corporate & Professional Standing assessment, on top of everything in Bronze. That includes things like financial standing checks, anti-bribery, modern slavery, environmental management and equal opportunities (Constructionline sub-contractor memberships, checked 08/06/2026).

In practice, Silver is the tier you pay for when a buyer needs more than just a health-and-safety tick but doesn't yet require the full Common Assessment Standard. If your buyer is asking for evidence of insurance, SSIP and financial / governance information, Silver is usually the right tier to quote against — but it is not the tier that gets you into Build UK's CAS-aligned procurement lists.

For a feature-by-feature view of what Silver includes versus the tiers either side of it, see our Constructionline Gold vs Silver vs Bronze guide.

Is Silver enough for my main contractor?

Whether Silver is enough depends entirely on what your buyer's PQQ actually asks for — not on which tier "sounds" more thorough. A quick way to check:

If you're not sure which of these your main contractor needs, ask them directly which tier they specify — many PQQs simply say "Constructionline Gold or equivalent," which settles the question for you without guesswork.

What does Constructionline Gold cost in 2026?

Constructionline does not publish a single Gold price, and that is the honest answer rather than an evasion. The fee is generated by a wizard that asks you two things: your annual turnover band, and whether you already hold a valid SSIP certificate. Those two answers are the quote. Prices exclude VAT and are taken annually by card or direct debit.

Gold is the tier that carries a Common Assessment Standard (desktop) certification. Build UK lists Constructionline Gold as the CAS desktop assessment and Platinum as the site-based one (Build UK, Recognised Assessment Bodies, checked 21/08/2026). That is what most main contractors and public-sector buyers now ask for, since PPN 03/24 directs central government and the wider public sector to use CAS to pre-qualify suppliers.

The 15 turnover bands Gold is priced on

We deliberately don't quote a £ figure per band: those come only from Constructionline's own calculator, and a stale number here would cost you more than a missing one. Select your band on the official page — and note that answering yes to holding a valid SSIP is what stops you paying for a health and safety assessment you already own.

A worked example: a 12-engineer M&E firm on £1.4m

You run a mechanical and electrical firm, 12 engineers, £1.4m turnover, and you already hold a CHAS SSIP certificate running to next March. You sit in band 7 (£1,000,000 – £1,499,999). Select that band, answer yes to holding a valid SSIP, and you present the CHAS certificate as Deemed to Satisfy rather than buying Constructionline's own Once For All Health & Safety assessment. The Gold price quoted is annual and excludes VAT.

The part that catches people out is timing, not price. Your CHAS SSIP expires in March, your Gold membership renews on its own anniversary, and your CAS certificate runs a year from issue. Three dates, three clocks — and if the SSIP lapses, Gold is the thing that breaks.

Does an SSIP certificate get you out of Constructionline Gold?

No, and this is the single most misunderstood thing about Gold. SSIP mutual recognition (Deem to Satisfy) means one member scheme should accept another's certificate for the health and safety part of pre-qualification. Constructionline's Gold and Platinum supplier checklist (February 2026) states that to achieve Gold you must hold a valid SSIP certificate, and that you can take Once For All Health & Safety at no additional cost — with ISO 45001 satisfying the requirement only if SSIP is inside the certification scope.

SSIP is the entry ticket to Gold, not an alternative to it. Gold assesses financial standing, insurances, corporate and professional standing, environmental and quality management, equal opportunities, modern slavery and anti-bribery — none of which any SSIP certificate covers. That gap is the subject of what SSIP mutual recognition does not cover.

What are the Constructionline Gold requirements?

Gold is the Common Assessment Standard question set with Constructionline's verification wrapped round it. Build UK's infographic (July 2025) puts CAS at 176 questions across 10 key areas, with around 22,500 supply chain companies certified. You won't answer all 176 — relevance filters and advisory questions cut it down — but plan for a proper sit-down, not a lunchbreak.

1. 1
   Identity and company details. Legal entity name exactly as it appears at Companies House, incorporation date, VAT number, areas of operation and work categories. Documents must clearly show the company name or logo — a lot of first-time rejections come from exactly this.
2. 2
   Financials. Full and final accounts, not the abbreviated version typically filed at Companies House. Small companies below the audit threshold may supply unaudited full accounts.
3. 3
   Insurances. Current certificates — employers' liability, public liability, and professional indemnity where your scope requires it.
4. 4
   Health and safety via SSIP. Either your existing SSIP certificate as Deemed to Satisfy, or Constructionline's Once For All Health & Safety assessment included in the membership.
5. 5
   The management systems sections. Environmental, quality, equal opportunities and diversity, corporate and social responsibility, modern slavery and anti-bribery. Policies plus evidence they're actually in use. Any ISO certificates you cite must come from a UKAS-accredited body.
6. 6
   Building Safety. CAS carries a Building Safety section evidencing organisational capability under the Building Safety Act. If you don't do the work it covers, you answer 'no' and move on.

Our Common Assessment Standard question set guide walks the sections in order if you want to gather evidence before paying anything.

What does Gold cost you beyond the annual fee?

The annual fee buys the assessment slot, not the work of passing it. Budget time and, sometimes, third-party cost for:

• Financial evidence. Gold typically wants more detailed financial standing documentation than Bronze or Silver — recent accounts, credit reference reports, or an accountant's letter depending on your band.
• Insurance limits. CAS-aligned buyers often specify higher minimum limits of indemnity than the SSIP baseline, so you may need to increase cover before you can pass — a premium cost outside the Constructionline fee.
• Policy gaps SSIP doesn't check. Environmental management, modern slavery, anti-bribery and equal opportunities are assessed separately at Silver and Gold. Passing SSIP shortcuts none of it.
• Building Safety Act evidence. If the module applies to your work, gathering the evidence is additional admin on top of the fee.

Is Constructionline Gold worth it, or is there a cheaper route to CAS?

This is where being neutral earns its keep. If the buyer's requirement is genuinely "the Common Assessment Standard", Constructionline Gold is one of seven Build UK Recognised Assessment Bodies that can certify you — and a growing list of contractors no longer specify a particular body:

So the decision is narrower than "is Gold worth it". Ask the buyer one question: do you need the Common Assessment Standard, or do you need us on Constructionline specifically? If it's CAS, price up two or three Recognised Assessment Bodies — CHAS pricing is headcount-linked where Constructionline is turnover-linked, so compare on your own numbers. If the buyer names Constructionline — and plenty do; Build UK's list of organisations using CAS includes Kier, Wates, Skanska, Mace and HS2 — Gold is the route, and exposure to buyers searching that platform is a genuine extra.

Where Gold clearly earns its fee is public sector work. Under PPN 03/24, central government and the wider public sector should use CAS to pre-qualify suppliers, so if you chase council, NHS or framework work, a CAS certificate stops being optional.

What about Platinum?

Platinum is Constructionline's top tier. Build UK records it as the site-based Common Assessment Standard certification through Constructionline — the same CAS framework as Gold, but with a physical site verification element on top (Build UK CAS recognised bodies, checked 08/06/2026). Platinum is typically only required where a specific buyer asks for site-based CAS, and it carries a higher fee than Gold. Most small subcontractors don't need Platinum and shouldn't pay for it unless a contract specifically calls for it.

What is the Constructionline joining fee?

Constructionline's own supplier FAQs are explicit: "There is a one-off joining fee for new members based on your turnover band. From the second year of membership onwards, suppliers will only pay the annual membership fee" (Constructionline supplier FAQs, checked 08/06/2026).

That means your year-one cost is structurally higher than your renewal cost, and the gap is bigger the higher your turnover band. When you compare Constructionline against CHAS or SafeContractor on a like-for-like basis, you should compare year-two annual fees if you're modelling steady-state cost, but year-one all-in if you're modelling the cash you have to find this quarter. Renewal-deadline planning matters here — see our guide to accreditation renewal deadlines for how to avoid paying for two overlapping schemes by accident.

SSIP is now bundled at every tier

One genuinely useful change worth flagging: SSIP through Once For All Health & Safety is now bundled into every paid Constructionline tier as standard. The Constructionline SSIP page states that "All Constructionline's paid memberships come with SSIP through Once For All Health & Safety" (Constructionline — SSIP, checked 08/06/2026). The sub-contractor memberships page repeats the same point: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum all carry the SSIP badge in their feature lists.

In practical terms, if your buyer just needs to see an SSIP, you don't need to buy a separate SSIP scheme on top of Constructionline. The bundled assessment is already SSIP-recognised, which means it benefits from SSIP Deem to Satisfy mutual recognition across the other SSIP-member schemes — explained in more depth in our SSIP mutual recognition guide.

How does Constructionline cost compare to CHAS and SafeContractor?

The three big subcontractor accreditations are priced on different bases, which makes a clean comparison hard. The table below summarises what you're being charged for in each case — not a single £ figure, because all three vendors quote against turnover band.

For the full cost breakdown on the other two schemes, see our matching pages on CHAS cost and SafeContractor cost. For a feature-by-feature comparison rather than a price comparison, see CHAS vs SafeContractor vs Constructionline. For the wider picture of how all the major UK schemes stack up on price and coverage, see our accreditation scheme comparison hub.

What's not included in your Constructionline fee?

A few costs sit outside the headline annual fee and are worth budgeting for separately.

VAT. Constructionline's sub-contractor memberships page states clearly that prices do not include VAT (Constructionline sub-contractor memberships, checked 08/06/2026). Add 20% to whatever the wizard quotes you if you're not VAT-registered or can't reclaim.

Your own time preparing evidence. The annual fee buys the assessment slot, not the documents. For the documents you'll need to upload — insurance certificates, RAMS examples, policies, training matrix and so on — see our CHAS documents checklist, which covers the same evidence types used across the major schemes.

Other accreditations your buyers may still ask for. Constructionline Gold meets the Common Assessment Standard, but some main contractors still maintain their own bespoke pre-qualification questionnaires, and some public-sector buyers require additional information beyond CAS. The accreditation scheme you pay for does not always close the gate on every buyer's request.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Constructionline Gold cost per year?

Gold has no flat price. It's quoted annually, ex VAT, from your turnover band (one of 15) and whether you already hold a valid SSIP certificate. A £900k firm and a £1.6m firm in the same trade pay materially different fees. Get the figure from Constructionline's own calculator — anything quoted elsewhere is a guess or out of date.

Does Constructionline Gold include SSIP?

Gold requires SSIP rather than including it as an extra. You either bring an existing SSIP certificate (CHAS, SMAS and the rest) in as Deemed to Satisfy, or take Constructionline's Once For All Health & Safety assessment, which is covered by the membership at no additional cost.

Is Constructionline Gold the same as the Common Assessment Standard?

Gold is one route to it. Build UK recognises seven assessment bodies for the Common Assessment Standard; Constructionline Gold is the desktop version and Platinum the site-based one. If your buyer asks for CAS rather than for Constructionline specifically, you can satisfy them through any of the seven.

What's the difference between Constructionline Silver and Gold?

Silver covers financial, insurance and corporate standing checks. Gold adds the full Common Assessment Standard question set — environmental and quality management, equal opportunities, modern slavery, anti-bribery and Building Safety. If a main contractor names CAS or PPN 03/24, Silver won't satisfy it.

Can I upgrade from Silver to Gold part way through the year?

Yes, and you pay the difference rather than starting again — but check what it does to your renewal date at the time you upgrade, because it can move.

How much is Constructionline per year for a small subcontractor?

Constructionline's published floor price is "from as little as £219 a year" for the lowest tier on the lowest turnover band (Constructionline supplier FAQs, checked 08/06/2026), excluding VAT and excluding any year-one joining fee. Your actual price depends on which of the 15 turnover bands you fall into and which tier (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) your buyer requires.

Is Constructionline Bronze SSIP-approved?

Yes. Constructionline now bundles Once For All Health & Safety SSIP into every paid tier, including Bronze (Constructionline SSIP page, checked 08/06/2026). The older claim that Bronze isn't SSIP-recognised is out of date — re-check before assuming you need a separate SSIP scheme on top.

Why does Constructionline Gold cost more than Bronze?

Gold includes everything in Bronze and Silver, plus the Common Assessment Standard (desktop) certification and the Building Safety Act Assessments module (Constructionline sub-contractor memberships page, checked 08/06/2026). The CAS assessment is a deeper, audited pre-qualification, which is why Gold sits on a higher fee curve than Bronze across every turnover band.

Is there a joining fee for Constructionline?

Yes, but only in year one. Constructionline's supplier FAQs state that new members pay a one-off joining fee based on their turnover band, and from year two onwards only the annual fee applies (Constructionline supplier FAQs, checked 08/06/2026). Budget the joining fee on top of your year-one annual fee.

Where can I see the full Constructionline price list?

Constructionline does not publish a full Bronze/Silver/Gold price-by-band grid on its public website. The exact fee for your business is generated by entering your turnover band into the sign-up wizard on the Constructionline sub-contractor memberships page. We've deliberately not invented per-band figures here — if you see them quoted elsewhere without a source, treat them with caution.

When does my Constructionline membership renew, and does the fee change?

Constructionline membership renews annually from your original join date. The joining fee only applies in year one — from year two onwards you pay the annual fee for your tier and turnover band, with no repeat joining fee (Constructionline supplier FAQs, checked 08/06/2026). If your turnover band changes at renewal, your annual fee will be recalculated against the new band, so it's worth checking your figures before you renew rather than after.

Does having SSIP membership already reduce my Constructionline fee?

No. SSIP through Once For All Health & Safety is bundled free into every paid Constructionline tier, so holding a separate SSIP accreditation elsewhere (such as SMAS or Acclaim) doesn't earn you a discount on the Constructionline fee — you'd simply be paying for SSIP twice. It's worth checking whether you still need the standalone SSIP scheme once you're on Constructionline, particularly at your next renewal.