What is Achilles BuildingConfidence? A guide for UK contractors

Achilles BuildingConfidence is a UK construction supplier pre-qualification and auditing programme that helps buyers assess contractors and suppliers. It incorporates SSIP and the Common Assessment Standard, while also assessing wider supplier risk and operating standards. Suppliers can demonstrate their credentials and become visible to major buyers using the BuildingConfidence network.

What is Achilles BuildingConfidence?

If your organisation works within construction or supplies businesses undertaking major construction projects, you may have been asked whether you hold Achilles BuildingConfidence accreditation.

BuildingConfidence is a supplier pre-qualification and auditing programme operated by Achilles. It brings together buyers with validated suppliers and subcontractors, allowing participating organisations to assess potential suppliers through a recognised framework rather than relying entirely on separate pre-qualification processes.

For suppliers, BuildingConfidence provides a way to demonstrate their management arrangements, compliance and capability to prospective buyers.

For buyers, it provides greater visibility of the organisations within their supply chains and helps them assess supplier risk.

Who uses Achilles BuildingConfidence?

BuildingConfidence is primarily associated with construction, but the organisations using it and the projects for which it may be required extend into areas including infrastructure, transport and energy.

Major organisations use the BuildingConfidence network as part of their supplier pre-qualification and supply chain management arrangements.

For contractors and suppliers, the practical reason for joining is therefore often straightforward: an existing or prospective customer requires BuildingConfidence, or membership is needed to pre-qualify for particular opportunities.

Holding BuildingConfidence accreditation does not guarantee that your organisation will win work. It provides a recognised way to demonstrate that you have satisfied the applicable assessment requirements and makes your organisation visible to buyers using the network.

What does BuildingConfidence assess?

BuildingConfidence is sometimes thought of primarily as a health and safety accreditation.

Health and safety is important, but the scope of BuildingConfidence is considerably broader.

Depending on the applicable membership and assessment requirements, areas considered can include:

• Health and safety
• Quality management
• Financial standing
• Environmental management
• Building safety
• Competence and training
• Information management and data protection
• Modern slavery and ethical employment
• Supporting policies, procedures and records

The purpose is to give buyers greater confidence in the organisations they may bring into their supply chains.

At higher levels of assessment, the focus goes beyond whether appropriate documents exist. Suppliers may also need to demonstrate that their management arrangements are operating effectively in practice.

How do SSIP and the Common Assessment Standard fit in?

BuildingConfidence incorporates both Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) and the Common Assessment Standard (CAS).

SSIP provides a recognised approach to assessing health and safety competence, helping reduce duplication across participating health and safety assessment schemes.

The Common Assessment Standard provides a standardised pre-qualification framework for the construction sector across a broader range of organisational requirements.

BuildingConfidence incorporates these standards while providing additional supplier verification and risk management through the wider Achilles network.

Exactly what a supplier needs to demonstrate depends on the BuildingConfidence membership level it requires.

What are the Achilles BuildingConfidence membership levels?

Achilles currently offers three principal BuildingConfidence supplier membership levels:

Silver+
Designed for suppliers where Common Assessment Standard accreditation is not required. It provides supplier pre-qualification and SSIP compliance through BuildingConfidence.

Gold CAS Desktop
Builds on Silver+ and includes Common Assessment Standard accreditation together with a desktop audit.

Gold CAS Site
Includes the Silver+ requirements and Common Assessment Standard accreditation, together with an on-site audit providing a higher level of assurance.
The appropriate membership level will depend on your organisation’s circumstances and, importantly, what the buyers you want to work with require.

Does every BuildingConfidence supplier have an on-site audit?

No.

BuildingConfidence has different membership and assessment options, so joining the scheme does not automatically mean your organisation will undergo an on-site audit.

Silver+ does not include Common Assessment Standard assessment, while Gold CAS Desktop includes desktop assessment and Gold CAS Site includes an on-site audit.

This is why it is useful to establish what level your organisation actually requires before preparing an application.

If you want to understand the audit process in more detail, read our guide to Achilles BuildingConfidence audits and how to prepare.

Is BuildingConfidence the same as ISO certification?

No.

Existing certifications such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 can provide an excellent foundation because organisations may already have established systems covering areas such as quality, environmental management and health and safety.

However, BuildingConfidence has its own requirements.

Holding ISO certification therefore does not automatically mean that an organisation will satisfy everything required for its chosen BuildingConfidence membership or assessment.

Businesses with mature ISO management systems may have much of what they need already in place, but should still check their existing arrangements and evidence against the specific BuildingConfidence requirements.

Why do buyers use BuildingConfidence?

Construction supply chains can involve large numbers of contractors, subcontractors and specialist suppliers.

Buyers need confidence that the businesses they appoint have appropriate systems and controls in place and that risks within their supply chains are understood.

BuildingConfidence helps provide this by giving buyers access to validated supplier information and, where applicable, independent assessment.

It can also reduce duplication. Instead of suppliers repeatedly providing similar pre-qualification information to individual organisations, participating buyers can use information made available through the BuildingConfidence network.

What are the benefits for suppliers?

For suppliers, the principal benefit is the ability to demonstrate compliance and capability through a recognised construction supplier assessment programme.

BuildingConfidence can help organisations:

• Pre-qualify for opportunities with participating buyers
• Demonstrate their management and compliance arrangements
• Increase visibility to organisations using the network
• Reduce duplication during supplier pre-qualification
• Identify opportunities to strengthen management systems
• Demonstrate SSIP and, where applicable, Common Assessment Standard compliance

However, BuildingConfidence should not be viewed as a guarantee of contracts or preferred-supplier status.

It is a supplier qualification and assurance mechanism. Commercial success still depends on factors such as capability, experience, capacity, pricing and the requirements of individual buyers.

Do you need Achilles BuildingConfidence?

Not every construction business needs BuildingConfidence.

Whether it is appropriate will usually depend on the clients, projects and supply chains your organisation wants to access.

For some businesses, a customer will explicitly require a particular level of BuildingConfidence membership. Others may consider joining because they want to pre-qualify for opportunities with buyers using the network.

Before applying, it is worth establishing what your target customers actually require. This can prevent your organisation undertaking unnecessary assessment or applying for a membership level that does not meet the buyer’s expectations.

What happens if you decide to apply?

The precise requirements depend on the membership level involved, but businesses should expect to provide information about their organisation, activities, policies and management arrangements, together with relevant supporting evidence.

Rather than creating everything from scratch, a sensible starting point is to establish what documentation and management systems your organisation already has and identify any genuine gaps.

Need help with Achilles BuildingConfidence?

JVR Consultancy supports contractors and suppliers seeking Achilles BuildingConfidence accreditation.

Whether you are considering BuildingConfidence for the first time, have already started an application or need support meeting the requirements of a particular membership level, we can review what you already have in place and identify what additional work is genuinely required.

Learn more about our Achilles BuildingConfidence accreditation support.