Pre-Qualification and Common Assessment Standard

Managing the pre-qualification process efficiently and encouraging the use of the Common Assessment Standard.

This new approach was launched in 2019 by Build UK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association following concerns that the proliferation of suppliers and duplication of effort and support associated with pre-qualification schemes. Through it’s introduction, the claim was that this approach will help the industry to £1bn by eradicating duplicate fees and inefficiencies.

What is pre-qualification and where does the Common Assessment Standard fit in?

Pre-qualification in construction refers to the process of evaluating and selecting qualified bidders before the bidding process begins. The process involves reviewing the qualifications of potential bidders, such as their financial stability, experience, skills, and resources, to determine whether they meet the minimum requirements to bid on a particular project.

The Common Assessment Standard, is the industry-recognised standard for the pre-qualification of suppliers in the construction sector. It comprises a question set – which includes all the key questions from the standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ) and the now withdrawn PAS 91 – and corresponding assessment standards.

The Common Assessment Standard provides a consistent, fit-for-purpose assurance of the quality and organisational capability of businesses in the construction supply chain. Suppliers are certified to the Common Assessment Standard once a year by a Recognised Assessment Body, and this is accepted by a growing list of Contractors and Clients who should longer specify a particular assessment body. Over 22,000 companies now hold accreditation to the Common Assessment Standard.

How do businesses get the Common Assessment Standard?

Businesses can obtain certification to the Common Assessment Standard by successfully completing an audit with one of the Recognised Assessment Bodies. There are two levels of certification – desktop and site-based – and suppliers choose the level that is most appropriate for their business based on a range of factors, including trade, size and the requirements of their clients. To ensure that the Common Assessment Standard is accessible to all companies regardless of size, the assessment standards are applied in a proportionate way for those that employ fewer than 10 employees and have a turnover below £1.8 million or a balance sheet total less than £1.8 million.

Certification is valid for one year from the date of issue, provided that any ‘time-critical’ documents are updated when they expire. There are already over 21,000 suppliers certified to the standard.

Download a copy of the Common Assessment Standard Question Set Here

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Recognised Assessment Bodies

Companies can choose either the desktop or the site-based level of certification based on what is most appropriate for their business. This will depend on a range of factors including trade, size and the requirements of the main contractors/clients that they work for.

Achilles	BuildingConfidence Gold CAS Desktop Assessment	BuildingConfidence Gold CAS Day Audit
Constructionline	Constructionline Gold	Constructionline Platinum
CQMS	Safety-Scheme Premium	Safety-Scheme Elite
SCCS	SCCS Build Assured CAS Lite	SCCS Build Assured CAS Elite
Compliance Chain	Compliance Chain Gold Supplier Membership	Not Applicable
Smas Worksafe	Worksafe Pro	Not Applicable
Veriforce CHAS	CHAS Elite (CAS)	CHAS Elite (CAS) Assured

All Recognised Assessment Bodies have demonstrated their capability to audit companies against the Common Assessment Standard.

Data Sharing

Companies that have been certified against the Common Assessment Standard by a Recognised Assessment Body can share their key PQ data with other Recognised Assessment Bodies to increase their visibility amongst more Contractors and Clients. For each Recognised Assessment Body that a supplier wishes to share its data with, it will need to complete the relevant form as follows:

Achilles – Complete the Data Request form.
Constructionline – Complete the Data Portability Request form.
CQMS – Complete the Data Request form.
SCCS – Complete the Data Request form.
Veriforce CHAS – Create or log into your ‘My CHAS’ account, select ‘CHAS Foundation’ if you don’t have an account already, then click ‘Register my accreditation’ in the ‘Common Assessment Standard Third Party’ section, and complete the Data Request form.

Empowering the Responsible No

FIS is encouraging members to advertise their support for the Common Assessment Standard and adopt a Responsible No when they are confronted with behaviours and processes that undermine productivity, safety or responsible commercial practice. To this end we are encouraging members to use a Responsible No when asked to complete multiple PQQs. We accept that this is difficult in a commercial tender situation and time is often too tight, but we have prepared a short email that we suggest our members send to their client to help raise awareness of the efficiencies that the Common Assessment Standard brings. This email template is available here Common Assessment Standard Template Email.

Encouraging the Responsible Ask

If companies are failing to adopt the Common Assessment Standard, please email info@thefis.org and we will follow-up independently (all information will be treated in the strictest confidence ensuring no member is named or disadvantaged in any way by our follow-up).

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Additional Information

Article – Bureaucratic Procurement Has Been the Norm, Until Now…
Data Sharing – An Overview
FAQs – Common Assessment Standard

The Common Assessment Standard is regularly reviewed, and to submit any suggested changes, please complete this form.