The benefits of CHAS accreditation explained

If you run a business in the construction industry, you’ll know that health and safety permeates into every aspect of how you carry out your operations. Being able to demonstrate that you’re compliant with the relevant health and safety regulations applicable to your industry is, therefore, incredibly valuable as a business owner. In our previous blog, we looked into what CHAS accreditation actually is, and why your business needs it. Today, we will look into how you’re able to demonstrate your health and safety compliance with a CHAS accreditation, and the benefits of CHAS accreditation.

CHAS Accreditation: more than just a certificate

If you’ve followed a contractors’ work van down the road, or passed one in the street, you may well have noticed the CHAS logo printed among their signwriting.

This is for good reason, as achieving CHAS accreditation is something to shout about. Let’s explore this in detail now.

Tender for the jobs you want

In days gone by, the factors that influenced whether a contractor was engaged came primarily down to two things: how cheap they were, and how quickly they could get the job done. These days, alongside elements such as carbon footprints and employer’s ethical standards, health and safety is a major factor that influences decisions throughout all industries.

With legislation such as the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 placing responsibilities on everyone involved in a project (for example, the client through to designers and contractors), choosing businesses who take their responsibilities as seriously as yours is becoming more and more crucial to avoid falling foul of the law.

In fact, the HSE guidelines refer to something called ‘SKATE criteria’ for helping to decide whether someone, or a business, is competent to do a job. This stands for skills, knowledge, attitude, training, and experience. Being able to prove that you have all these boxes ticked is one of the many benefits of CHAS accreditation.

Some organisations even place accreditations to recognised safety standards as a mandatory requirement of prospective contractors.  Therefore, having the CHAS accreditation enables you to tender for more jobs; not only this but one of the benefits of CHAS accreditation is that it often avoids the need to fill out prequalification questionnaires, saving you time and getting you to the top of the tendering list.

Peace of mind for homeowners

At the moment, times are hard within the UK. The cost of living has skyrocketed while workers’ pay has remained stagnant or moved only very fractionally. Therefore, when homeowners are looking for a contractor to work on their house, they don’t want to waste their money paying for a cowboy to come round, complete half the work, or do a shoddy job- then ask for payment.

Having the seal of approval that comes with a CHAS accreditation puts your prospective clients’ minds at rest and puts you at the top of the list of potential contractors over any that have failed to gain this professional accolade.

Indirect Benefits of CHAS Accreditation

There are indirect, almost immeasurable benefits of CHAS accreditation. One of these is the impact on your workforce. You see, when you strive for the CHAS certification, and work in a responsible way, your employees and sub-contractors will notice that this also means that you take their safety and wellbeing seriously. They will appreciate the efforts you’re going to in order to ensure their welfare needs are being met and they’re not being put at risk when they come to work.

The output of this is a happier workforce who work more diligently and are more likely to go the extra mile. They will often suggest ways to work more efficiently or safely and ensure the company reputation is maintained. Workmanship standards and site housekeeping will also see improvements as well as care and attention towards work equipment and property.

What this means for you as an employer is an ever improving reputation for quality work and employees who are a pleasure to have around the project site. You’re likely to see work being completed on time and to higher standards.

Of course, the other side of this is avoidance of the costs associated with poor health and safety practices, for example the fees for intervention by the HSE should you be caught failing within your employers’ duties, or fines imposed through court as a penalty for these failures (these are technically ‘direct’ costs of health and safety breaches but fit in nicely in this section!).

Other costs include a loss of company reputation (suddenly you’re the cowboy builder in the local and national press), any downtime associated with downing tools while an investigation is underway or throughout court proceedings, any losses of earnings throughout these as well as employee pay during these periods of unproductivity, losses of product, or property (should the accident or incident be destructive in nature, for example a fire), and the costs of remedial work should the accident or incident require it.

Working in accordance with a recognised health and safety certification helps to avoid these costs which can spiral into the hundreds of thousands of pounds and is one of the many benefits of CHAS accreditation.

Membership Benefits

There are many members’ benefits of CHAS accreditation for both contractors and suppliers in the form of discounted (and sometimes FREE!) products and services which can help you as well as grow your business.

These benefits are extensive and include:

• 20% discount on equipment and tool rental from Speedy
• 10% discount on nearly everything at B&Q
• 10% off cyber security solutions from Norm
• Free expert legal advice from Irwin Mitchell, 24/7, 365 days a year, covering personal and business law

This list is not even half of the benefits for CHAS members, yet it’s easy to see why over 32,000 businesses in the UK carry the CHAS accreditation.

CHAS Accreditation: Well Worth Having

Like having letters after your name, or an extensive portfolio on your website, having the CHAS accreditation speaks volumes about your business, your quality of work, how you treat your employees, and how you deal with your customers.

No wonder then that achieving the CHAS accreditation is a journey, which requires help from experts to navigate it quickly and efficiently. If you want to take the stress out of this process, check out our free guide to CHAS applications here. You’ll be reaping the benefits of CHAS accreditation in no time.