Pre-Qualification and Common Assessment Standard
Working together to reduce £1 billion of duplicate fees and wasted effort
What is the Common Assessment Standard?
The Common Assessment Standard was launched in 2019 through Build UK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) to address concerns that a growing number of schemes was leading to duplicated effort and cost – it was estimated that these inefficiencies were costing construction £1bn per year.
For the Common Assessment Standard to work, we need to work together
FIS is encouraging members to advertise their support for the Common Assessment Standard and adopt a Responsible No when they are asked to complete specific PQQs that they may not hold. We accept that this can be 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. If this does not work, see our support via the CAS Whistleblowing service at the bottom of this page.
The Common Assessment Standard (CAS) is the industry-recognised standard designed to bring consistency and reduce waste in completing Pre-qualification Questionnaires (PQQ) in the construction sector. It was developed to with the express purpose of reducing the need for companies to hold multiple accreditations and is based on an industry agreed Standard Selection Questionnaire. It is gainning momentum – over 22,000 companies now hold accreditation to the Common Assessment Standard. This common approach is accepted by a growing list of Contractors and Clients who no longer see the need to specify a particular assessment body.
What is pre-qualification and how are pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ) used?
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 process is based on completion of a PQQ.
Response to the PQQ is audited and suppliers are certified. This can help evidence organisational capability against the new requirements for principal contractors and contractors now enshrined in the Building Regulations.
How does the Common Assessment Standard Work?
The Common Assessment Standard works in the same way as the PQQ process has traditionally operated, but is built on an agreed and common data set. The information supplied is audited once a year by a Recognised Assessment Body.
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.
The growth of the Common Assessment Standard means clients should no longer be specifying particular PQQ providers.
For each Recognised Assessment Body that a supplier wishes to share its data with, it will simply 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.
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, with requirements for a specific 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 the Common Assessment Standard Question Set Here
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. The table below lists providers and the products they provide that align to the CAS.
| Desktop | Site Based | |
| 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.
Support available from FIS in completing the Common Assessment Standard
FIS has recently joined the Common Assessment Standard Working Group to help review and develop the question set. To support this work FIS has a mirror group that is supporting the review and looking at how we help all members in achieving and mantaining their certified status.
If you are struggling to complete the CAS contact the FIS team on 0121 707 0077 or email info@thefis.org.
Template documents
The FIS Product Process People Quality Framework and supporting Integrated Management Standard (IMS) – available here has been developed to help companies control risk and implement tried and proven streamlining methods to benefit their businesses and stakeholders. It sets the parameters for members to manage their internal controls to ensure that all reasonably foreseeable business risks are effectively managed and addressed. It provides a framework for implementing risk management systems that will help organisations to meet statutory and legislative requirements as a minimum.
The FIS Building Safety Policy – available here has been developed to support members in completing the Building Safety Section.
Additional Policy Template documents are available via the FIS H&S Toolkit, the FIS Employment & Workforce Management Toolkit and the FIS Business and Tax Management Toolkit. If you can’t find the policy you need or need help creating or implementing one, contact the FIS team on 0121 707 0077 or email info@thefis.org .
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Confidentiality in the Pre-Qualification Process
In our work in this area FIS has been made aware of a number of concerns related to the protection of information through the PQQ process (not specifically CAS) and who potentially may have access uploaded information via the platforms. Members are encouraged to review the privacy and data policies of pre-qualification assessment bodies to ensure sensitive information isn’t shared unintentionally. Some assessment portals may allow buyers access to uploaded documents containing sensitive commercial or personal information. Contractors should check what they upload, redact sensitive details, and understand how their information is shared. Further guidance on this is available here.
Whistleblowing: Encouraging the Responsible Ask
If companies are failing to adopt the Common Assessment Standard, please complete the information via this link. FIS will follow-up independently with the client and attempt to explain the benefits and encourage them to use CAS for future works (all information will be treated in the strictest confidence ensuring no member is named or disadvantaged in any way by our follow-up).
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.