Keeping suppliers compliant: insurance, certifications, audits and continuous monitoring.
The Common Assessment Standard is changing again. Version 6 will be published on 1 November 2026, bringing changes to areas including competence, Building Safety, fraud prevention and information security. With CAS increasingly used across construction supply chains, what do contractors and suppliers need to know and how can they prepare?
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Getting onto an approved supplier list is only the beginning. Insurance expires, certifications lapse, businesses change and supplier performance evolves. If a supplier was approved one, two or even five years ago, how confident are you that they still meet your requirements today? We explore why supplier approval should be an ongoing process rather than a one time exercise.
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2027 might still feel some way off, but effective compliance management starts long before January. Supplier insurances expire, accreditations need renewing, PQQ information becomes outdated and regulatory requirements continue to evolve. Planning your compliance calendar now can help your business stay ahead of deadlines, reduce supplier risk and avoid the last-minute rush.
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Construction tender prices could climb by more than a fifth between now and 2029, and crucially much of that cost risk is expected to be retained by the supply chain rather than passed up the chain. That's the headline from analysis by consultancy Arcadis, reported by Construction News. With steel tariffs, geopolitical instability and a new carbon border measure all adding pressure and the cost of tendering itself rising, margins are getting squeezed from both directions. This article breaks down what the forecasts say, why suppliers are most exposed, and the practical steps, including supply chain management technology, that reduce the operational and risk costs inflation brings.
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Many organisations use the terms supplier compliance and supplier performance interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. A supplier may be fully compliant yet consistently underperform. Likewise, a supplier may deliver excellent work but fail to maintain the required certifications, insurance or compliance documentation. Understanding the difference is critical for organisations looking to reduce risk, improve project outcomes and build stronger supply chains. The most successful supply chain management strategies focus on both compliance and performance because one without the other can still expose a business to significant risk.
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For buyers and main contractors, the Common Assessment Standard (CAS) is a tool for de-risking your supply chain: one industry-agreed pre-qualification standard that lets you assess every supplier on a consistent basis, refreshed annually and shared across assessment bodies. This guide covers how to mandate CAS across your supply chain, what level to require, how to handle building safety obligations, and how to monitor compliance at scale without drowning your team in admin.
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The Common Assessment Standard (CAS) and SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) are often confused, but they cover very different ground. SSIP deals only with health and safety competence and provides mutual recognition between H&S assessment schemes. CAS is far broader - a full pre-qualification framework covering 10 areas, of which health and safety is just one. CHAS and Constructionline are not standards at all; they are assessment bodies that can certify you against both SSIP and CAS. This guide explains how they relate, where they overlap, and which your business actually needs.
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The Common Assessment Standard (CAS) question set is divided into 10 sections, each covering a different area of compliance and risk management. To pass your audit, you need the right evidence ready for each one - not just a yes/no answer. This checklist explains all 10 CAS sections, what each looks for, and the documents you should have to hand before you start. Use it to gap-check your own readiness, then download our free CAS checklist to track your progress section by section.
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The Common Assessment Standard (CAS) is the UK construction industry's standardised pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), developed by Build UK. It replaced PAS 91 - which was withdrawn by BSI in April 2023 and is now the preferred pre-qualification method for public sector construction procurement under Procurement Policy Note PPN 03/24. CAS uses a single industry-agreed question set, divided into 10 sections, that lets a supplier prove their capability and compliance once and share it with multiple buyers. The current Version 5 (published 1 July 2025) made the Building Safety section mandatory. Around 21,000 suppliers now hold CAS certification through one of seven Recognised Assessment Bodies.
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To get Common Assessment Standard (CAS) certified, you apply to one of the seven Build UK Recognised Assessment Bodies - such as Constructionline, CHAS or Compliance Chain - complete the industry-agreed question set, submit supporting evidence and pass either a desktop or site-based audit. Certification lasts one year. Because of CAS data sharing, you only need to be certified once and can then share the result with other bodies and clients. This guide walks through the process step by step, explains the two audit levels, and shows how to prepare so you pass first time.
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