August 14 2019 General
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PREQUALIFICATION – NEW MILESTONES ACHIEVED!
14/08/2019
PREQUALIFICATION – NEW MILESTONES ACHIEVED!
Ministerial Support for PQ Common Assessment Standard
At the Build UK Summer Social last month, Construction Minister Andrew Stephenson MP highlighted the Common Assessment Standard as an example of how collaboration between Government and industry through the Construction Sector Deal can help construction and its clients to become more efficient by reducing time spent devising and completing different PQQs.
Source: Build UK
Build UK PQ Member Briefing: Thanks for Coming!
We were delighted to be joined by over 50 members and stakeholders at the Build UK PQ Member Briefing this month, where we introduced the new construction PQ system and set out our plans for rolling it out over the coming months. Once the system is fully up and running, companies will be audited once a year against the Common Assessment Standard by a recognised assessment body. This should be accepted by Contractors and Clients who will no longer need to specify a particular assessment body, improving efficiency and reducing cost throughout the supply chain.
You can view the presentations from the Member Briefing, and we will be publishing the next phase of our communications plan in due course
PQ Standard – Government Endorsement
David Hancock from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, Cabinet Office addressed the Member Briefing to confirm Government’s support for the new PQ system. The Construction Leadership Council has welcomed the new system and we are now working with Government to update its procurement standard, with Crown Commercial Service (CCS) already confirming that contractors appointed to its new seven-year framework will be expected to assess their supply chains using the Common Assessment StandardNew
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PQ – New Data Sharing Solution
The next phase of the new PQ system to be delivered will be the data sharing solution. This will enable Contractors and Clients to obtain key PQ data from any recognised assessment body regardless of which one carried out the certification to the Common Assessment Standard, provided the certified company has given permission for its data to be shared. Initial data sharing will be available from August, and we are expecting Contractors and Clients to transition to the new system over the coming months
The PQ Common Assessment Standard and Micro-Businesses
The Common Assessment Standard comprises an industry-agreed question set based on existing PQ questionnaires, including PAS 91, and desktop and site-based assessment standards. To ensure that the Common Assessment Standard is accessible to all companies regardless of size, we are currently finalising minor revisions to the assessment standards for a number of questions for use with companies who employ less than 5 people and have a turnover below £500,000
Common Assessment Standard – Recognised Assessment Bodies
The following assessment bodies have been recognised to certify companies against the Common Assessment Standard after meeting the agreed criteria and have aligned existing or new products accordingly.
Common Assessment Standard |
Achilles |
CHAS |
Constructionline |
Desktop |
Achilles Member – BuildingConfidence |
CHAS CAS |
Constructionline Gold |
Site-Based |
Achilles Gold B1 |
CHAS CAS Assured |
Constructionline Platinum |
Where a recognised assessment body has aligned existing products to the Common Assessment Standard, companies that hold an existing product will be able to upgrade to the Common Assessment Standard by completing a number of additional questions at no extra cost
PQ Standard – First Certifications
The first companies have now received their certification against the Common Assessment Standard. Congratulations to MSAFE and Cuttings (Achilles) and P & W Site Fixing Ltd and Kier Group (CHAS) who were the first past the post.
Common Assessment Standard aligned to SSIP
The Common Assessment Standard is aligned to SSIP and any company that holds a current SSIP certificate will be exempt from answering the majority of questions within the Health & Safety section
New Branding for Common Assessment Standard
We are currently in the process of developing a logo for the Common Assessment Standard which will be available for use by recognised assessment bodies and certified companies in the autumn
Help promote the new PQ Common Assessment Standard
Please help us to promote the new PQ system using our Communications Toolkit. You can keep up to date with the latest news by following @BuildUK on Twitter and using the hashtag #PQSystem
