15th May 2019

Are PQQs About To Get Easier?

What’s Happening?

Many of our clients get tired of completing the same questions on client Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ’s) s over and over again. Well – the end maybe in sight as a Common Assessment Standard (CAS) has recently been developed by a group of construction sector giants in the hopes of finally putting an end to the drawn out bureaucracy faced by many sub-contractors.

If you’ve had to answer the same health and safety-related questions time and again to satisfy your client’s pre-qualification processes, then anything that promises to make the ordeal simpler should be good news. This new CAS promises just that. Apparently, this will be the only pre-qualification process that you will need to complete!

The Current Problem with PQQs…

Recent facts from Build UK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association suggest that the current multitude of pre-qualification schemes causes contractors to produce over two million pieces of paper every year! All this red tape is very costly for those trying to get through the assessment process, and many of our customers find themselves having to sign up to multiple schemes over the course of each year to fulfil their clients requirements.

There were efforts from the HSE to attempt to address this issue when the 2015 Construction (Design & Management) Regulations were introduced with the HSe endorsement of the Safety Scheme in Procurement (SSIP) However this seems to have fallen on deaf ears – especially where the larger contractors are concerned, as sub-contractors find themselves having to still apply to multiple accreditation schemes to enable them to be accepted onto tender lists.

How does the new PPQ scheme work?

Fortunately, there’s not much that’s new, and it’s even administered by organisations that are already assessing companies against the Safety Schemes In Procurement (SSIP) standards (i.e. CHAS, SMAS, Construction line & Achilles etc.).

The main change from the usual SSIP accreditation questions which are based on the PAS91 standard is that this scheme goes beyond a simple assessment on compliance with health and safety legislation. The CAS will instead ten key areas including safety and environment, financial, quality; equality, information security and site-based assessments.

Will this new scheme work?

Industry groups have recognised that the current system is ineffective and costly to businesses. So this new standard could actually achieve what the HSE set out to do when it backed the SSIP system in 2015.

However, be warned that even from the limited information currently available, it’s clear that getting through this assessment won’t be easy! This is a more involved assessment that goes beyond safely and checks, quality, financial, equality and might even involve site-based audits.

If you require assistance in achieving SSIP/CAS accreditation don’t hesitate to call Lighthouse today on 0845 459 1724 or email us at info@lighthouseriskservices.co.uk