The 2024 update of the Common Assessment Standard to demonstrate organisational capability

[edit] A streamlined standard including building safety

An updated version of the Common Assessment Standard – the industry-agreed pre-qualification standard developed by Build UK – has been released in July 2024.

Version 4 has been streamlined following the withdrawal of PAS 91 and updated to include a new Building Safety section, ensuring the Common Assessment Standard can be used to demonstrate that companies have the ‘organisational capability’ to fulfil their roles under the Building Safety Act.

Under the Act, anyone appointing individuals or organisations to undertake design and construction work has a duty to ensure they are competent. Clients and contractors can demonstrate compliance with this duty by specifying that organisations in their supply chain are certified to the Common Assessment Standard, which requires the appropriate management policies, procedures and systems to be in place.

In recent months, the Common Assessment Standard, which is endorsed by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), has reached a critical mass of companies using it across the sector. A growing list of major contractors and clients are now specifying the Common Assessment Standard for their supply chains, and more than 22,500 suppliers have been certified against it by the five Recognised Assessment Bodies.

Its use for public sector work has been confirmed by Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 03/24 issued by the Cabinet Office, which specifies that the Common Assessment Standard should be used by contracting authorities when pre-qualifying suppliers for construction works contracts.

[edit] Comments on the new standard

Jo Fautley, Build UK Deputy Chief Executive, said:

“The Common Assessment Standard provides a consistent and robust pre-qualification standard, which can now be used to meet the requirement for organisational capability under the Building Safety Act. By establishing the Common Assessment Standard, we have brought the whole sector together to transform the construction pre-qualification process, and everyone can play their part in improving efficiency, reducing cost and raising standards by using it.”

John Simons, SCAPE Group Procurement Director, said:

“Now that the Cabinet Office has specified the Common Assessment Standard for use across the public sector, it is more important than ever for companies to be certified. It has standardised the selection process for the supply chain as only one annual assessment is required to gain access to valuable opportunities, and the new streamlined Version 4 makes that process even simpler for companies of all sizes.”

[edit] Further information

Build UK is the leading representative organisation for the UK construction industry. Bringing together Clients, Contractors, Trade Associations representing a wide range of Specialist Contractors, and other organisations committed to industry collaboration, Build UK represents in excess of 40% of UK construction.

This Version 4 of the Common Assessment Standard was published on 1 July 2024 and suppliers will now complete the updated question set when going through the certification process. Further information about the Common Assessment Standard, including the organisations using it, is available on the Build UK website.

The Building Safety Act, which became law in April 2022, is the foundation of a new building safety regime for the construction sector.

PPN 03/24: Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ), which states that “contracting authorities should use the Common Assessment Standard, in place of the standard SQ template in pre-qualification of bidders” for works contracts, was published in March 2024.

There are five Recognised Assessment Bodies which can certify companies to the Common Assessment Standard:

1. Achilles
2. Constructionline
3. CQMS
4. SCCS
5. Veriforce CHAS.

This article was issued via press release as 'Demonstrate Organisational Capability with the Latest Version of the Common Assessment Standard' by Build UK on Monday 15 July 2024.

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