ECA has welcomed the new Common Prequalification Assessment Standard (CAS), created by industry representatives brought together by Build UK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA).
The CAS contains a raft of agreed pre-qualification questions (PQQs) that include financial, health and safety, environmental, quality and other topics.
During 2019, assessment bodies such as CHAS, Constructionline and Achilles, along with others, who may include trade associations, will be using the CAS to assess contractorsβ general capabilities.
Once assessed, suppliers should increasingly find that the CAS is recognised as the industry PQQ standard for construction, and related activity such as maintenance.
Furthermore, when data sharing arrangements are in place, suppliers should not need CAS certification from more than one assessment body.
ECAβs Director of CSR Paul Reeve, Deputy Chairman of the steering group that drew up the CAS, commented: βThe CAS aims to standardise PQQs, cutting out the wasted time and cost of multiple prequalification questionnaires.
βItβs the answer to a very long-standing and expensive problem in construction and beyond, so we actively support the CAS and encourage buyers and suppliers to engage with it.β
He added: βWe expect the CAS to be of increasing benefit to both buyers and suppliers, and notably members of trade associations, where suppliers may find it easier to complete the CAS question set.β
Currently, industry pre-qualification is dominated by health and safety-related questions, and many buyers and suppliers engage with commercial assessment schemes which operate under the umbrella of Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP).
Usefully, the health and safety questions in the CAS are closely aligned with the questions asked by SSIP assessment schemes, which will also help to reduce suppliersβ and buyersβ costs, with less duplication and wasted effort.
This is one of the many ways the ECA tries to support its members; ECA has produced a video review outlining just how far itβs gone to help its members in 2018. You can watch the video below:
For more information, visit: www.eca.co.uk.
