Industries · Construction · UK
Subcontractor compliance,
before they set foot on site.
Prequalification isn't a one-off gate. It's ongoing document control.
A single project can pull together dozens of subcontractors, each bringing their own workforce, plant and risk onto a site where the health and safety duties are explicit and enforceable. Before a subcontractor starts, a main contractor is expected to have satisfied itself that the firm is competent, adequately insured and legally entitled to deploy the people it sends. Getting this wrong exposes the principal contractor to HSE enforcement, uninsured liability and civil penalties for illegal working.
Most of this evidence expires. An insurance certificate valid at tender can lapse mid-project; an SSIP assessment must be renewed annually. Compliance is therefore not a one-off gate but an ongoing document-control discipline, which is exactly where spreadsheets and email threads fail.
Collect, verify, track and chase.
Supplio does not issue SSIP, CHAS or Common Assessment Standard accreditations, and it does not run tenders or e-auctions. It gives you one controlled place to collect, verify, track and chase the compliance evidence those frameworks demand.
Branded supplier portal
A self-service portal your suppliers log into, carrying your logo, accent colour and welcome message.
Supplier onboarding
Invite a supplier, send them onboarding forms, and review submissions in a queue where you approve or request changes.
Document store with expiry tracking
Store the documents suppliers upload, with expiry dates and automatic reminders as they approach.
Insurance & certificate expiry chasing
Track insurance policies and certificates by expiry, and chase suppliers automatically before they lapse.
Certification tracking
Record each supplier certification with its issuing body, issue and expiry dates, and live status.
Risk register with a 5x5 heatmap
Log supplier risks by likelihood and impact and see them on a clickable 5x5 heatmap.
CAPA with a supplier response loop
Raise a corrective action, assign it, let the supplier respond through the portal, then accept it or send it back.
Contract repository
Store supplier contracts with start, end, notice period and renewal, and get alerted before they expire.
Immutable audit log
Every change is recorded in an immutable, filterable audit log you can export to CSV.
CDM duties, accreditation and insurance.
CDM 2015: appoint competent, resourced contractors
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 are the backbone of UK construction health and safety, enforced by the HSE and applying to every project. A recurring theme is competence: duty holders must only appoint contractors with the skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capability to work safely.
- Clients must satisfy themselves that appointees are competent before work begins
- Principal contractors plan, manage, monitor and coordinate site health and safety
- Projects over 30 working days with 20+ workers, or 500+ person-days, are notifiable (F10)
- A construction phase plan is required for every project
Sources: HSE CDM 2015, SI 2015/51. Checked 2 July 2026.
SSIP, CHAS and the Common Assessment Standard
Rather than assess every subcontractor from scratch, the industry relies on third-party accreditation. SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is an umbrella body whose member schemes assess suppliers against a core standard, with mutual recognition. Prequalification increasingly runs through the Common Assessment Standard, which replaced PAS 91.
- SSIP members include CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS, Constructionline and Exor
- PAS 91 was withdrawn by BSI in 2023; the Common Assessment Standard is the successor
- The Common Assessment Standard covers finance, insurance, H&S, environment, quality and modern slavery
- Accreditation is frequently a contractual prerequisite to winning work
Sources: SSIP, Common Assessment Standard. Checked 2 July 2026.
Insurance, right to work and modern slavery
Beyond safety accreditation, contractors must verify a stack of legal and contractual documents for every subcontractor, and keep them current. This is where the silent expiries bite.
- Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement, minimum £5m cover
- Public liability cover is almost always a contractual condition
- Right-to-work checks before employment; illegal-working penalties rose in Feb 2024
- Modern Slavery Act s.54 statement required at £36m+ turnover
Sources: GOV.UK right-to-work checks. Checked 2 July 2026.
Construction compliance, answered.
What is SSIP and how does it relate to CDM 2015?+
What replaced PAS 91 for construction prequalification?+
How do I track subcontractor insurance expiry?+
Do I need to keep evidence of right-to-work and modern slavery checks?+
Can Supplio run our tenders or issue accreditations?+
See it against your own suppliers. Prices are on the website, in GBP.
Q1 evidence pack
Suppliers · Compliance · Scope 3
Two weeks from now you could be exporting a board-ready evidence pack instead of patching a v17 spreadsheet. Transparent UK pricing, Stripe-secured, cancel any time.
- UK-built · GDPR & UK DPA 2018
- Transparent GBP pricing · no hidden seats
- Founder-led UK support
