Name: SafeContractor
Address: Axys House Heol Crochendy, Nantgarw, Cardiff, Wales
Rating: 4.27

“We subscribe to the 20 business days service whereby our accreditation should be completed in this time. Last year we had some issues with submission, so I kept on top of it this year, with documents ready to submit online months in advance, only holding off submitting them because the system would not allow it so early. As soon as the option should have been available to submit, I tried to. It didn't work. I tried again over the course of the next couple days, and it still didn't work. So I had to get in touch with you directly. You fixed it and submitted it for me. (So it was submitted a day or so late due to problems in YOUR system.) I then checked in with you to make sure it would still move along at the same timescale considering the outbreak of the Coronavirus. You assured me it would and that there would be no difference in service. Just under a week before the 20 business days were due up (and when our current Safe Contractor cert was due to expire), I grew concerned as I had not heard anything from you. I contacted you to ask for an update. You didn't get back to me until a week later, when you told me not to worry, it would be completed within the 20 business days time limit. I informed you that it had now been 22 business days, 23 if you included the day I submitted it. I didn't hear back from that person, but the next day, someone reached out to me for a PRE-audit check. How on earth are you just getting to the PRE-AUDIT when the regular audit should have been completed 4 days earlier at the latest?? They also made contact asking for some things missing, but addressed us as an entirely different company. I assured them I would be happy to help, but wanted to make sure they were actually looking for these things from us and that they hadn't just reached out to the wrong company. They said they got the name wrong on the email they sent me, but they did mean it for me. I sorted the info for them, and they sent back confirmation of accreditation within a couple days. I just don't understand how they can work so fast when they want to, but completely drop the ball so many times leading up to that. We go for this accreditation because the name brings a certain level of value, but the level of customer service has not matched that level. We hope you will do better in the future!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review and congratulations on your accreditation. Our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted is 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment, and your online submission is available 30 days prior to your current expiry date. Please accept our apologies for issues experienced with the submission portal when attempting to submit on this occasion - we have fed this back to our technology team for investigation and apologies for any inconvenience caused by this delay. Our team endeavour to assess the thousands of questionnaires we receive each month as quickly as possible and to provide as much assistance as possible. However if you would like to upgrade your package to have an express audit included or to include assistance from our team of expert IOSH and NEBOSH qualified auditors then this option is available to you also. Your feedback has been passed to our technical team to ensure that the issues experienced by you during this audit are not repeated - please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for bringing to our attention.

Posted 5 years ago

“The added cost for a quick turnaround in the assessment process is disappointing. It is perceived as a wheeze by many as a money making exercise and little else. The basic cost of getting accredited is high enough without all these cheesy packages”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted is 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment. Our team endeavour to assess all questionnaires as quickly as possible and to provide as much assistance as possible. However if you would like to upgrade your package to have an express audit included or to include assistance from our team of expert IOSH and NEBOSH qualified auditors then this option is available to you also. To make the process faster next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Submitted the application for the certificate renewal 20 days before the due date. And I have to chase to get feedback about my application. The time proposed by SafeContractor has not been respected and we had to work with an expiry certificate for a while.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Congratulations on your accreditation and thank you for your feedback. Please be advised that our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted is 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment. Our team endeavour to assess all questionnaires as quickly as possible and to provide as much assistance as possible. However if you would like to upgrade your package to have an express audit included or to include assistance from our team of expert IOSH and NEBOSH qualified auditors then this option is available to you also. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience the wait has caused you on this occasion. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“I'm personally not a fan of the industry pressure to maintain multiple SSiP's and welcome the day when there is just one industry acceptable standard. The cost involved in doing business is escalating continually, and the SSiP/PAS91 process is just one of the areas that seems like a money making racket, and a very time consuming exercise. Furthermore, when Safe Contractor announced their purchase of EXOR, literally 2 weeks after our company had paid our annual subscription, we were refused any kind or compensation or refund. The only response I got after questioning this was, "well it will be cheaper for you next year" Then, after completing our annual questionnaire update, we were called with an "up-sell offer" to pay even more to get our information reviewed quicker that the estimated 20 days! So, my experience with SafeContractor in particular is not a positive one”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review and congratulations on achieving your accreditation. We appreciate your frustration about the cost and burden of holding multiple SSIP accreditations, which is why you can get a 20% SafeContractor membership discount if you already hold a SSIP accreditation. Alternatively, you can use your full SafeContractor accreditation to passport to other SSIP accreditation bodies with up to a 77% discount: https://ssip.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Deem-to-Satisfy-Chart-15.08.19.pdf Please also be advised that we have always operated Exor, which is aligned to PAS91, and dissolved Exor and replaced it with SafePQQ in April last year. Following this, you are instead sent SafeContractor accreditation and SafePQQ verification audits and certificates, replacing the the Exor versions you previously held, and this incurs less in membership fees than maintaining your Exor and SafeContractor accreditations separately. Regarding the SafeContractor and SafePQQ audits, our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted is 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment. Our team endeavour to assess all questionnaires as quickly as possible and to provide as much assistance as possible. However if you would like to upgrade your package to have an express audit included or to include assistance from our team of expert IOSH and NEBOSH qualified auditors then this option is available to you also. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience the wait has caused you on this occasion. To make the process faster next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries regarding any of the above then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“You are usually very good but this time took for ever even though I had already uploaded my new insurance it delayed the process.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted is 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment. Our team endeavour to assess all questionnaires as quickly as possible and to provide as much assistance as possible. However if you would like to upgrade your package to have an express audit included or to include assistance from our team of expert IOSH and NEBOSH qualified auditors then this option is available to you also. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience the wait has caused you on this occasion. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Not happy about having to pay upfront and then have to wait 3 months for accreditation.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted is 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment. I have checked your account notes and can see that our technical team required additional information from you before your questionnaire could be considered completed, which was requested on February 17th. Please note that we are only able to complete the audit and award accreditation once all information has been submitted. To make the process faster next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Unclear instruction on what needs completing. Very slow turnaround times and a 2 tiered customer support service. Our company gives the same level of service to it's clients, despite their spend level. Not sure why Alcumus/Safecontractor can't do the same!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. As part of awarding our UK-leading accreditation annually, our team of expert auditors need to ensure that all contractors have the relevant documentation in place to comply with health and safety legislation. This does involve submitting documentation within specific formats and templates and subsequent re-submission of documentation each time accreditation is awarded, to ensure that all evidence provided adheres to these standards. If you require any guidance on what needs to be submitted, then our audit team are only a phone call away and happy to provide you with guidance notes and advice. However if you would like to upgrade your package to include dedicated assistance from our team of expert IOSH and NEBOSH qualified auditors then this option is available to you also. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Poor communication regarding certification. Perhaps existing and loyal Alcunus customers should not have to pay £149 for a fast track Safecontractor audit!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted is 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment. Our team endeavour to assess all questionnaires as quickly as possible and to provide as much assistance as possible. However if you would like to upgrade your package to have an express audit included or to include assistance from our team of expert IOSH and NEBOSH qualified auditors then this option is available to you also. To make the process easier next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“The process of submitting evidence towards gaining or renewing the accreditation is straightforward. However, during my recertification, I first submitted the required evidence and after a couple of days, I received an email with a list of questions and request for further evidence to be provided. Again, this was fine. I then proceeded to answer the questions and provided the requested info. I then received another email asking for more evidence and to answer more questions. I basically submitted more evidence around 7 times - the issue with this is that I was being asked for different evidence that was not asked for the previous time etc. This process took a fair amount of time in between receiving the email and then re-submitting after gathering the requested evidence. This resulted in our renewal not being granted until around 10 days after our current one had expired. I would like a response to this review/complaint please.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for leaving us your feedback and congratulations on your accreditation. I have passed your feedback onto our technical team managers who have investigated your case. Your renewal questionnaire was released on the 29th December, and your submission was received on the 13th January. Our Technical Support Officer, Ailsa, began conducting pre-audit on the 15th January, where she needed to confirm company details, work activities etc. Before she could pass your submission on to audit, Ailsa required additional documentation regarding staff training and qualification documentation. This was received 7th February which then meant that your submission was passed through to the audit queue, where auditor Vivian Lott picked up the assessment on the 11th February. Viv required one last item of information and then awarded your accreditation on the 12th February. Please be advised that our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted is 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment. To make the process faster next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Seems to have got a lot slower to be assessed if you are capable of doing it all yourself. However, I see you can pay to have your submission assessed quicker. You can pay for someone to help with it too. Amazing what money can buy.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time taken from all documents being submitted it 4 weeks for an auditor to complete your h&s assessment. To make the process faster next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. Our team endeavour to assess all questionnaires as quickly as possible and to provide as much assistance as possible. However if you would like to upgrade your package to have an express audit included or to include assistance from our team of expert IOSH and NEBOSH qualified auditors then this option is available to you also. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Very disappointing, despite clearly demonstrating our ability to act as a Principal Contractor we could not achieve accreditation in this discipline due to the rules set by yourselves, which are absurd. The first lady, Alisa, we dealt with had a degree but absolutely no idea or experience of the contracting world within the Construction industry. There was a clear assumption that every company was the size of Taylor Woodrow and had a fully staffed H&S dept., and that when you act as a PC you must have carried out a CPH&SP in the last 12 months, and to be dismissed in this discipline just because we hadn't secured any work of this nature is unfair and unreasonable. The second lady, Rebecca, despite having an IOSH qualification, was only able to spout legislation, clearly she was good at passing exams but did not appear to understand the industry and no consideration or empathy whatsoever was given to the size of the company. In fact both ladies seemed keener NOT to get our business accredited for certain disciplines than they were to see us achieve accreditation so in the end we gave up, clearly they have a check list that they either will not or cannot deviate from. Safe Contractor is rapidly becoming an anachronism with businesses only going through the tortuous process because some customers make accreditation a requirement. As it was we found that we were in fact accredited elsewhere as a PC so none of it was necessary. We have to get an outside consultant in to do this work and we have to pay you over £500 and we can see no pecuniary advantage to our company and therefore we will be taking a very close look at whether we bother next year. SMEs in the Construction industry outnumber the big boys by 9 to 1 so it may serve you well to remember that we are paying you for this service i.e. we are customers as well not whipping boys for your over educated staff.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your feedback following the Safecontractor assessment process. Our audit team leader has confirmed that for us to be able to assess a company for the work activity Principal Contractor, then we need to see that you comply with the standards expected of a Principal contractor within the last 12 months. Having read the notes on our system from the auditor, it appears that initially a construction phase plan wasn’t provided, then following a request for a phase plan, a copy was provided with references to the CDM Regulations 2007 i.e the role of a CDM Co-ordinator. I can see from the notes that Rebecca requested a copy of a phase plan that referenced current legislation (CDM 2015 Regulations), but a copy wasn’t provided, and therefore this is why we were unable to accredit you for this work activity. We need to be able to demonstrate to our clients that if we are assessing a company for the work activity Principal Contractor, that your documentation complies with the CDM Regulations 2015 and our own requirements. Thank you for your understanding and if you would like to discuss this further or receive any further support with complying to the CDM 2015 Regulations then please do not hesitate to contact us directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Not really relevant to a small Consultancy, with a slow and laborious process. Too much selling of 'Services' to make the process quicker instead of focusing on correctly accrediting worthy applicants. Our client could not get their project started due to reams of red tape - this is not a helpful system to Consultancies like ours that take Health & Safety seriously, but don't waste time & money producing documents for the sakes of it. Our client was as frustrated as we were with the system.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Please accept our sincere apologies that you found the process laborious, Clients choose to work with us because we enable them to have greater visibility of the health and safety compliance of their supply chain. Our system ensures that all contractors they work with have the relevant documentation in place to comply with health and safety legislation. In order to award an accreditation, our audit team do require that all contractors meet this criteria, although we appreciate your feedback that it was frustrating being asked to provide documentation that you do not keep a log of. To make the process easier next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“too slow and no option, but to pay for fast track. Fully appreciate if you have to complete the full application, but we have CHAS and for the 4 questions needed, it shouldn't take 2 weeks. We had no option but to pay the fast track. Poor.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for leaving us your feedback, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time takes 4 weeks from the point of complete documentation being submitted. Our contractor portal is available for you to upload updated information 24/7, 365 days a year. To speed the process up next year, we recommend updating your documents (including any Deem to Satisfy documentation relating to alternative accreditations) throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents as quickly as possible. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“had to wait an unexceptionable time to hear results. i am a paying customer.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for leaving us your feedback, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time takes 4 weeks from the point of complete documentation being submitted. Our contractor portal is available for you to upload updated information 24/7, 365 days a year. To speed the process up next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents as quickly as possible. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“It took 6 weeks to process. I don't really want to be forced to pay additional for a speedier assessment...the fee is already large enough for a small business. It takes 10 days max for CHAS...”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for leaving us your feedback, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time takes 4 weeks from the point of complete documentation being submitted. Our contractor portal is available for you to upload updated information 24/7, 365 days a year. To speed the process up next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents as quickly as possible. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Every year I ask that someone get in touch with me in order to tell me as soon as my questionnaire is available to fill in. Every year I am told in order to complete my questionnaire in time I will have to pay extra as we have run out of time for the standard service, even having returned the questionnaire within two days of receipt of the reminder email. The individuals I speak to are always helpful and polite, however the service as a whole is very poor and frustrating.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for leaving us your feedback, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time takes 4 weeks from the point of complete documentation being submitted. Our contractor portal is available for you to upload updated information 24/7, 365 days a year. To speed the process up next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents as quickly as possible. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“slow process.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for leaving us your feedback, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our standard audit time takes 4 weeks from the point of complete documentation being submitted. To make the process easier next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Very confusing - was told different things by different people about what we required in order for us to complete the process. Expensive. Then got contacted by a broker supposedly offering us discounts on insurance, fuelcards, utilities etc who was overly sales orientated which we didn't appreciate.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our system and team of auditors are committed to ensuring that all contractors they work with have the relevant documentation in place to comply with health and safety legislation. Our Membership Benefits partner contacts our customers after they have achieved accreditation to help them make the most of our membership benefits package (https://www.safecontractor.com/benefits). Please accept our assurances that this is indeed related to your membership and our apologies for any discomfort the call may have caused you - we will ensure that this is investigated. If you would like to update your contact preferences with us then please do not hesitate to contact us directly at marketing@alcumusgroup.com.

Posted 5 years ago

“The renewal form is not available to access until 30 days before the expiry date. (about 22/23 working days) Safecontractor require 20 working days to carry out the initial review. Given that further information is often required before formal assessment, this inevitably means that most renewals will be late... unless the express service is paid for. I am dissatisfied because I think the renewal process is designed to encourage companies to pay the extra money for the express service.... or else accept the inevitable consequence that their renewal will be late.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Our contractor portal is available for you to upload documents 24/7, 365 days a year. To make the process easier next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

“Because of the date for our renewal I wasn't allowed to upload data to my questionnaire before the Christmas break. On returning from the Christmas break I only had less than two weeks before our certificate ran out and several of our building customers withheld payment. My only alternative was to pay the exorbitant fast track fee to ensure this didn't happen. Never have I resented paying a fee so much in my entire working life! When I pointed the situation out I was told I should have come in over the Christmas break to upload my data!! This by someone who certainly did not work the Christmas break. No one has got back to me about what I consider to be a major issue. I have instructed our H&S Consultants to look at alternative accreditation organisations so that we are not blackmailed into paying an express processing fee again”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for your review, and congratulations on your SafeContractor accreditation. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience the Christmas break may have caused you. Our standard turnaround time for a fully submitted audit is up to 4 weeks, however we do offer packages that enable contractors that need their accreditation passed faster the option to upgrade to our Express package to ensure a faster response from our audit team. Our contractor portal is available for you to upload documents 24/7, 365 days a year. To make the process easier next year, we recommend updating your documents throughout the year via our online portal so that when the questionnaire is released 30 days before expiry you can re-submit your up to date documents quickly. If you have any further queries about how this works then please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team directly.

Posted 5 years ago

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 52%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	95%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	4.1 out of 5

SafeContractor Reviews