SafeContractor: What It Is, What It Costs and Whether You Need It

SafeContractor is a health & safety accreditation for contractors: you're assessed once a year, and a pass gives you a certificate main contractors and clients accept at the tender gate. It's an SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) member scheme — listed by SSIP as Alcumus Safecontractor — costing from £540/year depending on headcount, with an assessment review published at 2 to 20 working days depending on the plan (SafeContractor's plans). Like CHAS, it checks that your health & safety is in order and issues a certificate a main contractor can accept — and because it's SSIP-registered, that certificate is recognised by other SSIP schemes under Deem to Satisfy. In practice: if a client hasn't named SafeContractor specifically, and you already hold a valid SSIP certificate from another member scheme (CHAS, SMAS, Constructionline's SSIP tier), you very likely don't need to buy SafeContractor as well — check Deem to Satisfy first. If a client does name SafeContractor by name, or you have no SSIP certificate at all, this is the scheme to get. Last reviewed 30/10/2026.

Which SafeContractor plan do you need?

SafeContractor is priced by headcount across four plans that differ mainly on turnaround speed and support, not on what's assessed. Plans start from £540/year for the smallest headcount band; every plan's fee is in our SafeContractor cost guide. Renewal is annual, at broadly the same fee band as the initial application, since it's the same assessment repeated each year.

	Typical turnaround	Best for
Standard	Review within 20 working days	No urgency, lowest cost
Assisted	Review within 5 working days	Want help completing the application
Express	Review within 2 working days	Need the certificate sooner
Premier	Review within 2 working days	Urgent PQQ deadline

What does the SafeContractor audit ask for?

The assessment reviews your health & safety against the shared SSIP Core Criteria, plus category-specific questions for the type of work you do, and it verifies your insurance. Most SafeContractor assessments are desktop-based — reviewed from the documents and answers you upload — rather than an on-site audit, though evidence may be checked or followed up by phone. Pass, and you get a certificate valid for 12 months.

What evidence do you need to apply?

Beyond the categories in the table below, most applicants are asked to provide: a signed and dated health & safety policy appropriate to company size, RAMS for your actual work types (not generic templates), current employers' and public liability insurance certificates, training records for anyone on site (CSCS cards, toolbox talks), and either your RIDDOR-reportable accident history or a nil return. If you use your own subcontractors, you'll also need to show how you vet and manage them. Gathering this before you start the online application is what mostly determines whether you land in the fast or slow end of the turnaround range.

	Category	Evidence typically requested
Health & safety policy	Written policy, signed and dated, appropriate to company size
Risk assessments & RAMS	Sample RAMS for the work types you carry out
Insurance	Employers' liability and public liability certificates
Competence & training	CSCS/trade cards, training certificates, toolbox talk records
Accident/incident history	RIDDOR records or a nil return
Sub-contracted labour	How you vet and manage your own subcontractors, if applicable

Is SafeContractor accepted instead of CHAS?

Both CHAS and SafeContractor are SSIP-registered assessment schemes, so the underlying health & safety standard is the same, and one is generally accepted in place of the other under Deem to Satisfy — unless a client names a specific scheme by name.

If a client does name SafeContractor and you already hold another SSIP certificate, you don't start from scratch. SSIP lists Alcumus Safecontractor among the Registered Member schemes that recognise each other's approvals both ways, and SSIP's Deem to Satisfy page says applicants coming to it with an existing certificate won't have to complete the SSIP Core Criteria health & safety element again, though they will answer a set of risk profile questions. Watch the dates: SafeContractor says a certificate gained this way is suspended if your original SSIP certificate expires, until you renew that one or complete the full SafeContractor assessment.

The practical differences between the schemes are about speed, support and price:

If a client accepts either, how do you choose?

If a client will accept either, go on price and speed for your headcount — there's no health & safety advantage to one over the other since both assess against the same SSIP Core Criteria. SafeContractor's plan structure gives you a published fast-track option (Express or Premier, review within 2 working days); CHAS's speed boost comes via its Assist add-on. Full side-by-side detail: SafeContractor vs CHAS, or CHAS vs SafeContractor vs Constructionline if Constructionline is also in the running.

	SafeContractorAlcumus	CHASVeriforce CHAS
SSIP approved	✓ Yes	✓ Yes
Priced by	Headcount	Headcount
Entry cost / yr	from £540	from £429
Published speed tiers	✓ Yes	Assist add-on
Deem to Satisfy	✓ Yes	✓ Yes

SafeContractor publishes four plans (Standard, Assisted, Express, Premier) that differ mainly on turnaround speed and how much help you get with the application, not on what's assessed. The full breakdown is in SafeContractor cost; for CHAS, see CHAS cost.

Major SSIP schemes comparison (2026)

SafeContractor is one of several SSIP-approved health & safety schemes contractors can choose from. Here's how the major schemes stack up:

	SafeContractorAlcumus	CHASVeriforce	ConstructionlineCIPS	AcclaimSMAS
SSIP approved	✓ Yes	✓ Yes	✓ Yes	✓ Yes
Pricing model	Headcount	Headcount	Turnover tiers	Headcount
Entry cost / yr	from £540	from £429	from £74 (Bronze)	from £310
Turnaround time	2–20 working days (plan-dependent)	Usually within 10 days (fast-track 48 hours)	Not published	1–10 days (as published)
Deem to Satisfy	✓ Yes	✓ Yes	✓ Yes	✓ Yes
Typical use case	Trade contractors needing fast approval	Most widely named on-site	Public sector PQQs + H&S	Regional contractors, facilities management

Turnaround times as each scheme publishes them, checked 27/10/2026: SafeContractor's plans, CHAS's health & safety assessment page ("usually approved within 10 days"; fast-track "within 48 hours"), and SMAS's SSIP page ("in as little as 1-10 days"). Constructionline's sub-contractor memberships page doesn't publish one.

SafeContractor vs SMAS Acclaim: what's the difference?

Acclaim (run by SMAS) is another SSIP-approved scheme popular with regional contractors and facilities management clients, priced from around £310/year by headcount, with certification in as little as 1–10 days as SMAS publishes it. Against SafeContractor, the assessment content is equivalent — both check the same SSIP Core Criteria — so the decision again comes down to which scheme your client names, or which is cheaper for your headcount if they'll accept either. Neither one needs to be held alongside the other under Deem to Satisfy.

Who asks for SafeContractor, and is it worth paying for?

Plenty of main contractors and clients accept "any SSIP scheme", in which case SafeContractor is interchangeable with CHAS — pick whichever is cheaper for your size or faster to turn around. Some clients name SafeContractor specifically; if so, you need it by name. Either way, you rarely need it and another SSIP scheme: under Deem to Satisfy one valid SSIP certificate is recognised across members.

What mutual recognition doesn't solve is the admin that follows: tracking each scheme's separate 12-month renewal date, re-submitting evidence you've already supplied elsewhere, and any client-specific PQQ or non-mutually-recognised tier (like Constructionline Gold or the Common Assessment Standard) that sits outside Deem to Satisfy entirely. TradeComply is a tracker for exactly that renewal and evidence problem, at £9.90 a month — or see the renewals guide for how to do it by hand.

Frequently asked questions

Is SafeContractor SSIP approved?

Yes. SafeContractor is an SSIP-approved scheme, so its health & safety certificate is recognised by other SSIP member schemes under Deem to Satisfy.

Who runs SafeContractor?

SafeContractor is operated by Alcumus, a UK compliance and risk-management group. You'll sometimes see it branded "Alcumus SafeContractor".

Is it SafeContractor or Safe Contractor?

The same scheme. Its own name is one word, SafeContractor; "Safe Contractor" and "Alcumus SafeContractor" are how people often search for it.

Is SafeContractor the same as CHAS?

For the core health & safety assessment, effectively yes — both are SSIP-approved and assess against the same SSIP Core Criteria. They differ on price, turnaround speed and which one a given client names. You don't normally need both.

How long does SafeContractor last?

A SafeContractor certificate is valid for 12 months, then you renew with a fresh annual assessment.

How much does SafeContractor cost to renew?

Renewal is charged at the same headcount-based plan fee as the initial application — there isn't a separate, lower renewal rate published. Budget for it as a recurring annual cost and diarise the renewal date, since certificates lapse if not renewed on time.

Is SafeContractor worth it if I already hold CHAS?

Usually not, unless a specific client names SafeContractor. Both are SSIP-approved, so one certificate is normally accepted in place of the other under Deem to Satisfy — check with the client before paying for a second scheme.