Taking the lead in procurement

Appointing competent suppliers

Clients have a key responsibility, which they share with their suppliers, for the health and safety of everyone who works at their premises. This means that Clients must make sure that any suppliers they appoint are competent to do their work.

For construction work Clients have legal duties to carry out health and safety competence assessments of contractors, designers and CDM co-ordinators (who must be appointed for larger projects). The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have set out how these assessments should be carried out in the core guidance on competence and training in the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. There are numerous companies and other organisations that operate pre-qualification schemes that can help Clients to carry out the first stage of a competence assessment.

It can be difficult for some Clients, especially small and medium sized enterprises, and those that do not regularly procure construction work, to decide which of these schemes meet their needs. The Safety Schemes in Procurement Forum (SSIP Forum) has been established to set a threshold for competence assessments. This threshold is based on the Core Criteria that the HSE have set out in the ACOP 'Managing health and safety in construction'. Pre-qualification schemes that are members of the SSIP Forum recognise Stage 1competence assessments that are carried out by other member schemes.

How SSIP Forum can help a client

Clients can be assured that suppliers who have been assessed and accredited by an SSIP Forum member have achieved the initial threshold of competence to provide specific services. Clients should note that using these schemes will not absolve them of any liability and that SSIP Forum accreditation fulfils only the first stage of any assessment of competence.

Using an SSIP Forum scheme for this initial assessment allows Clients to concentrate on Stage 2 of the procurement process. The Stage 2 assessment will ensure that suppliers have and maintain: appropriate experience to carry out specific work in specific locations; suitably trained staff, and; other resources all available to do the work to meet the Client's needs.

Many of the SSIP Forum schemes may be able to assist Clients with their wider duties, including monitoring performance and the continuing competence of suppliers, and auditing the Clients own health and safety arrangements.

Construction Clients' Group

Simple and detailed guidance, written by Clients for Clients, has been produced by the Construction Clients' Group (CCG). In addition CCG has also produced a free web based self assessment tool kit that helps Clients identify and put in place arrangements for managing construction work. All of the CCG guidance can be used by the public and private sector and for any size of business that procures construction work.

The principles of these arrangements can be applied to the appointment and management of all suppliers who work on Clients' premises.

To go to the self assessment toolkit, please click CCG Self Assessment Toolkit

To find out more about the CCG guidance that will help you procure construction work safely visit- Construction Clients' Group.