COMMON ASSESSMENT STANDARD AND PAS 91 BECOME BEST PRACTICE FOR PUBLIC SECTOR PROCUREMENT

[CONTRACTING AUTHORITIES in the public sector must prepare to assess their supply chains using the Common Assessment Standard (CHAS Elite) or PAS 91 (CHAS Advanced) following the release of Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 03/23 which updates the Selection Questionnaire and replaces PPN 08/16.

The change, which came into effect on 1 April 2023, means that contractors looking to win public sector contracts will need to show compliance not only with SSIP and health and safety requirements but with a broader range of standards as covered in the Common Assessment Standard (CHAS Elite) and PAS 91 (CHAS Advanced) accreditations.

The Common Assessment Standard (CHAS Elite), launched in 2019, is a comprehensive industry-approved questionnaire that has quickly become the elite standard for prequalification in construction procurement. Specifying the Common Assessment Standards means, via a single assessment, organisations can assess the capability of their suppliers across 13 pertinent compliance topics, including Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Data Protection, Equality & Diversity, Financial Information, Modern Slavery and Quality, Corporate Social Responsibility, Information Management and Information Security.

Meanwhile, PAS 91 (CHAS Advanced) is a standardised prequalification questionnaire (PQQ) developed by the British Standards Institute (BSI), that goes beyond SSIP to cover some of the topics included in the Common Assessment Standard.

The changes are good news for the huge number of CHAS contractors already qualified to CHAS Elite and CHAS Advanced who will now have access to an even wider range of work. It also gives those who still need to pass these assessments an even greater incentive to raise their compliance standards. Whether it’s via CHAS’s expert team, or through the 100s of free resources and templates available to support contractors in upgrading to new levels of accreditation, CHAS is committed to helping contractors work towards greater levels of accreditation.

Contracting authorities and private sector companies alike who are looking to source responsible contractors can do so via the CHAS jobs board, a free resource that allows clients to quickly and easily find accredited contractors and includes the facility to search by specific or multiple trades, desired assessment level, location and radius.

CHAS managing director Ian McKinnon (pictured) commented: “The updates to PPN 08/16 are a clear signal of the government’s commitment to responsible public procurement and a further incentive for contractors to strive for greater levels of compliance.

“We are proud of the huge number of CHAS contractors already accredited to the Common Assessment Standard (CHAS Elite) and PAS 91 (CHAS Advanced) and of the many more who are currently working with CHAS towards reaching these standards.

“At CHAS, we believe the industry must work together to raise levels of supply chain risk management and, as ever, we are ready to support organisations looking to source responsible suppliers via our free CHAS client portal.” q

• To find out more about qualifying for, or specifying, the Common Assessment Standard or PAS 91 visit www.chas.co.uk or call 0345 521 9111