Build UK will publish an updated version of the Common Assessment Standard on 1 November 2026. Version 6 includes significant changes to the Building Safety section to reflect that scaffolding and temporary works are not in scope of the Building Regulations which regulate ‘building work’, unless they form part of the structure once complete.
Companies will now have to ‘opt out’ of completing the Building Safety section and provide a statement confirming that they do not carry out work under the Building Regulations. The competence‐based questions have been moved to the Quality section so that they are completed by all companies, and other key questions such as having a Drugs and Alcohol policy and fraud prevention procedures in place are also now mandatory for all companies.
Commenting on the release of V6, James Parlour FIS Technical Director shared his views:
We welcome the streamlining changes that we are seeing in CAS v6 that should begin to help the specialist subcontractor navigate the process quicker. FIS continues to advocate for for the principal of “specify the standard, not the scheme”, and encourages members to point out where principal contractors and clients who have adopted the CAS are still specifying the scheme and putting up barriers to mutual recognition.
There is a growing list of organisations using the Common Assessment Standard to demonstrate the organisational capability of their supply chains, and companies will have to complete the updated question set when they next go through the certification process after 1 November. Once certified by a Recognised Assessment Body, a company can share its data at no cost with the other Recognised Assessment Bodies, so it is visible to more Contractors and Clients.