APPROVED LIST APPLICATIONS
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 require Clients to ensure that all contactors they employ are competent.
Equally the regulations require that Principal Contractors ensure their subcontractors are competent.
These are legal requirements that require clients and principal contractors to make judgements which not only require knowledge of the process and relevant parameters but the accurate gathering of data and time are also required.
Historically public sector bodies and large organisations all had their own “questionnaire” and vetting procedure resulting in varying standards of acceptability and an enormous consumption of time. Some specialist contractors could need to be on over 100 approved lists, requiring the completion of the same number of applications, a full time job.
The government identified this waste of resource and introduced Construction Line as a “standard” measure and thus an application and entry on the Construction Line register was made a requirement for most public sector projects. This approach has now been developed and a number of “National” approval schemes are in place, in particular:-
• Construction Line
• CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme)
• Safe Contractor (National Britannia)
In addition there are numerous organisation specific schemes.
Assessment schemes (National or company specific) are essential to ensure competence of contractors and thus achieve legal compliance with the Construction Design Management Regulations. CDM Regulations.
IHS assist in gaining approved list status including production of any safety procedures required and provision of training.
