Best Subcontractor Compliance Software for UK Contractors (2026)

For most UK main contractors, Constructionline is the register to ask subcontractors for first, because its Gold and Platinum levels carry the Build UK Common Assessment Standard and its Bronze level includes SSIP. ExpiryEdge is the tool to pair with it: the registers vouch for a company in general, while ExpiryEdge collects and tracks what you need for this job, on this site, before the sub starts.

Veriforce CHAS, Alcumus SafeContractor, Achilles BuildingConfidence and Compliance Chain are the other names you'll see in tender documents. They overlap a lot, and a sub that holds one SSIP certificate can often get another scheme to accept it.

We make ExpiryEdge. All other facts come from the providers' own pages, Build UK and GOV.UK, checked on 30 October 2026. Prices are the "from" figures each provider publishes, paid by the subcontractor unless noted.

Prequalification and pre-start are different jobs

Most UK confusion about "subcontractor compliance software" comes from mixing two things.

Prequalification asks whether a company is competent in general: its health and safety policy, insurance, finances, quality and, since version 5, its Building Safety Act capability. That's what SSIP schemes and the Common Assessment Standard cover. A CAS certificate lasts a year, provided the company keeps its time-critical documents up to date.

Pre-start asks whether this sub is ready for this job. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 put that duty on you. Regulation 8 requires anyone appointing a contractor to take reasonable steps to check they have the skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capability. A Gold certificate helps with that, but it won't hold the method statement for Tuesday's lift, the CSCS card of the operative arriving Monday or the HMRC verification your payroll lead needs before the first payment.

The registers cover step 1. Steps 2 to 6 are yours on every job

1. Constructionline: best register to require from subs

Constructionline runs tiered memberships. Its subcontractor membership page shows Bronze with Once For All SSIP and insurance storage, Silver adding corporate and professional standing, Gold adding the Common Assessment Standard desktop assessment and Building Safety Act questions, and Platinum adding a one-day site audit.

Build UK's prequalification page lists Constructionline Gold as a desktop route and Platinum as the site-based route. Subcontractors pay an annual fee set by turnover, plus a joining fee in year one. Prices aren't shown until you pick a band, and they exclude VAT.

Watch out for: a register entry is company-level. The pages we read say nothing about collecting job-specific RAMS, induction records or CSCS checks, so treat those as your job.

2. ExpiryEdge: best for the job-level documents the registers don't hold

ExpiryEdge sends each subcontractor one request link before they start. It can ask for the employers' liability and public liability certificates, the RAMS for this package, a list of operatives with CSCS card numbers and expiry dates, the SSIP or CAS certificate and its expiry, and a signed acknowledgement of your site rules. The sub fills it in on a phone with no account. The link chases them automatically until it's complete.

Your site manager approves or rejects each item with a comment. A rejected RAMS reopens the same link, so the sub sends a revised version without starting again. Every dated item, from insurance to card expiries, becomes a reminder by email, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack or Teams, with escalation if it's overdue. That matters once the job runs past the date a certificate lapses.

Pricing: on the pricing page, in US dollars: $29, $49, $99 or $199 a month by number of tracked records, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. Subs pay nothing.

Watch out for: ExpiryEdge isn't an SSIP scheme or a CAS body, and it doesn't verify subs with HMRC for you. Use it alongside a register, not instead of one.

3. Veriforce CHAS: best known SSIP scheme for smaller trades

CHAS offers three packages, per its accreditation page: Standard (SSIP) from £429 a year, Advanced (SSIP plus the former PAS 91 questions) from £659, and Elite (Common Assessment Standard) from £949. Build UK lists CHAS Elite as a desktop CAS route and Elite Assured as the site-based one.

CHAS joined Veriforce in 2023, and private equity firm Apax completed its acquisition of Veriforce in December 2024. Apax also owns Alcumus, which runs SafeContractor.

Watch out for: like every register, CHAS proves general competence, not job readiness.

4. Alcumus SafeContractor: best for facilities and maintenance supply chains

SafeContractor describes itself as the largest UKAS-accredited SSIP provider and serves hiring clients across facilities, retail and maintenance as well as construction. Its contractor plans start at £419 a year for Standard and £549 for Premier, scaling with employee numbers, plus a joining fee.

Watch out for: SafeContractor isn't on Build UK's list of Common Assessment Standard bodies, so it won't satisfy a main contractor that requires CAS.

5. Achilles BuildingConfidence: best for larger buyers who want audits

Achilles BuildingConfidence is a buyer-led network. Its community page lists Silver+ from £450 with SSIP deemed-to-satisfy, Gold CAS Desktop from £695 and Gold CAS Site from £3,095.

Watch out for: the site audit tier costs a small subcontractor several times the desktop option. Check which one your client actually requires before asking subs for it.

6. Compliance Chain: best if your clients already use it

Compliance Chain is a supply-chain management platform covering compliance, financial checks, project reporting and social value, and it's a Build UK recognised body for the Common Assessment Standard at desktop level. When it relaunched in 2023, it named Morgan Sindall, Kier, Willmott Dixon and BAM as users and offered a free Bronze tier for suppliers.

Watch out for: contractor pricing isn't published, and its pages don't describe expiry reminders for individual documents.

Two things that changed in 2026

PAS 91 is gone. The Cabinet Office's PPN 03/24 says BSI has withdrawn it, so a "PAS 91 compliant" badge tells you little. Ask for SSIP or the Common Assessment Standard instead.

Right to work checks now reach individual subcontractors. The Home Office's code of practice brings people engaged as individual sub-contractors into the scheme for engagements starting on or after 1 October 2026. GOV.UK puts the maximum civil penalty at £60,000 per illegal worker. None of the registers above check that for you.

How to set this up

Ask every subcontractor for one register certificate: Constructionline Gold or Platinum, CHAS Elite, Achilles Gold or Compliance Chain Gold if you need the Common Assessment Standard, or any SSIP certificate for lower-risk packages. Record its expiry date.

Then run your own pre-start pack for each job and keep its dates alive until the sub leaves site. Our guide on collecting and tracking subcontractor compliance documents before site start lists every document, with the rule behind it.