What is the Accreditation process?

Applications for accreditation must be submitted online through FSC Online. In your application you will need to provide details about:

• if you are tendering for projects funded under Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) or National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF)
• how your current Work Health and Safety System (WHSMS) aligns with the Federal Safety Commissioner’s (FSC’s) Audit Criteria, and 
• your company’s operations.

There are no fees or charges to apply for accreditation under the Work Health and Safety Accreditation Scheme (the Scheme). There are also no fees or charges to maintain accreditation.

Once your application is submitted, the OFSC will check all required information has been provided and contact you if there are any gaps. The OFSC will then triage the application based on the likely contract date for any building work and allocate a Federal Safety Officer (FSO) to begin auditing of the WHS management system and practices against the FSC Audit Criteria. 

You will also receive a request from the OFSC to submit: 

• a declaration the builder will comply with the National Construction Code (NCC) where applicable to any work it undertakes, and
• further information about the builder’s previous WHS performance. 

This information must be returned to the OFSC before any recommendation to accredit an applicant can be made to the FSC.

Once your application has been processed, we will contact you to arrange a systems validation audit to assess the company’s WHSMS against the FSC’s Audit Criteria.

The arrangements for the systems validation audit will be negotiated with the company and it may be undertaken virtually or at a company’s premises. The audit is a desktop gap analysis of the company’s WHSMS against the FSC Audit Criteria.  

Following the systems validation audit, you will be provided with a detailed report describing where the criteria has been met and detailing any gaps that have been identified. The report is usually provided 5 to 10 business days after the audit.  

The systems validation audit will result in one of the following outcomes: 

1. The head contractor builder’s documented WHSMS is assessed as suitable to progress to an on-site accreditation audit, or 
2. Gaps in the WHSMS are identified such that the head contractor builder does not demonstrate adequate compliance with the FSC Audit Criteria to warrant an on-site accreditation audit. 

In the case of outcome 1 above and noting that 100% compliance with all systems validation audit criteria is not required to proceed to an on-site audit, a rolling systems validation audit may be implemented with the view to reducing the number of potential corrective action reports arising from the on-site audit and increasing the likelihood of the applicant achieving accreditation. 

In the case of outcome 2 above, a rolling systems validation audit will be implemented to assist the head contractor builder to identify and remedy system gaps so they can proceed to the next step in the accreditation process as quickly as possible. 

The FSO who conducted the audit will be available to the applicant to: 

• debrief the builder about the WHSMS gaps that have been reported on in greater detail
• answer questions the builder may have about the gap findings
• provide general de-identified examples on what accredited builders have in place to meet FSC’s Audit Criteria
• direct the builder  to available resources (for example industry and regulatory publications, tools)
• review updates made to the WHSMS and processes and confirm whether the updates now meet the FSC Audit Criteria.

The ongoing support will be arranged between the OFSC, FSO and the head contractor builder. FSOs can provide up to 40 hours of support to applicants as outlined above. The 40 hours is the time spent by the FSO to prepare, support the applicant and undertake follow-up administration. It does not include time spent at audits. This support is not a consulting service and FSOs are unable to advise on, or draft, WHSMS revisions. This 40 hours of FSO support is free of charge.

The on-site accreditation audit will be held at a project where the head contractor builder is the principal contractor and where its WHSMS is in place. 

At the on-site accreditation audit the FSO’s focus will be to verify the implementation of WHS procedures and practices on-site. 

In the case of the applicants that have received the rolling systems validation audit support (refer above to Stage 2: Systems validation audit), the on-site accreditation audit will focus on confirming the on-site implementation of the documented WHSMS. This audit will not re-assess the head contractor builder’s WHSMS in relation to issues already audited and addressed through the systems validation audit and post- systems validation audit rolling analysis referred to above. For any system gaps that remain open following the systems validation audit and post-systems validation audit rolling analysis, the FSO must review both the documented system and the on-site implementation of the processes required to meet the FSC Audit Criteria. 

The On-site Accreditation Audit will likely review implementation of: 

• WHSMS criteria
• Focus point criteria, and 
• 1 to 2 hazard criteria may be selected from hazard criteria most common to residential builders including mobile plant, work at heights, electrical, excavation and temporary structures (depending on project stage and works occurring).  

Refer to our webpage Scheme criteria guidance explained for head contractor builders for further information. 

Following the on-site accreditation audit, you will be provided with a detailed report describing where the criteria has been met and detailing any non-conformances. The report is usually provided around 10 business days after the audit. 

The FSC makes the final decision on whether to grant accreditation, taking into account the findings of the on-site audit. 

For builders applying for Housing Australia projects, the OFSC is aiming to finalise applications for accreditation within 4 months. How fast a particular application will progress will also of course depend upon the builder’s engagement in the process and the maturity of the builder’s WHS management systems.

Case Studies – Hare Placeholder Builders Pty Ltd and Tortoise Placeholder Builders Pty Ltd 

*These case studies are amalgamations of multiple stories of real, de-identified companies tendering for Housing Australia projects that have successfully been accredited. 

Hare Placeholder Builders Pty Ltd (HPB) – accreditation achieved in 2 months and 1 day. 

HPB had a mature work health and safety management system (WHSMS) in place across their projects before submitting their application for accreditation. In their Systems Validation Audit, no audit criteria were unaddressed, and 10 were only partially addressed. HPB responded quickly to address these. No rolling SVA was required, and no Federal Safety Officer (FSO) assistance hours were used. 

HPB had an appropriate project available, and an on-site audit was scheduled rapidly. They had an outstanding result – only 5 minor corrective action reports (CARs) – and were accredited shortly afterwards. Throughout the process, HPB’s project management team had a sound understanding of the audit criteria, were committed to the accreditation process, and quickly responded to requests for information from their FSO.  

Tortoise Placeholder Builders Pty Ltd (TPB) – accreditation achieved in 8 months and 2 days. 

In TPB’s Systems Validation Audit, 45 audit criteria were only partially addressed and 7 criteria were not addressed at all. A rolling SVA provided TPB ongoing access to an FSO to review and improve their less mature WHSMS. Over multiple remote sessions and weekly checkups – several of which were cancelled or postponed due to TPB’s competing business demands or lack of preparation – the rolling SVA was completed in just over 4 months, making use of all 40 FSO assistance hours. 

Scheduling the on-site audit took over 2 months because TPB did not have a project with sufficient works to be audited. When the audit did take place, one minor and 14 major CARs were found, along with inconsistencies in safety documentation. A follow-up audit was required but further held up by TPB’s delayed responses and lack of suitable projects being available. TPB closed sufficient CARs at the follow-up audit and were accredited shortly thereafter. 

A head contractor builder gaining accreditation for the first time will be granted an initial accreditation period of up to 3 years. At the end of this period, builders need to reapply for accreditation to remain accredited. This is known as ‘reaccreditation’. Builders seeking reaccreditation may be granted an accreditation period of up to 6 years. It is important to note that once a builder is accredited, the requirements under the Scheme apply to ALL projects where the builder is the principal contractor, not just Australian Government funded projects.  

Once accreditation has been granted, accredited head contractor builders are subject to an ongoing, on-site audit program. These on-site audits provide the Australian Government and the community with assurance that the construction work being undertaken by accredited head contractor builders is being carried out to the safety standards required by the FSC. Nominated projects must have the company’s WHSMS in use and have high-risk work activity being undertaken at the time of the audit. Construction work must also be occurring on the day of the audit. For more information see our webpage on Auditing.

Builders are required to provide information to the OFSC on their WHS performance while they are accredited. The OFSC requires information from accredited builder at different stages throughout the life of contracts on which they are the head contractor. The requirements vary slightly for Scheme and non-Scheme building projects.  

Accredited builders must submit a Scheme Biannual Report every six months that covers a range of project data and WHS performance indicators (such as workers compensation premium rates and claims incident rates). For more information refer to see our webpage on Accredited Company Reporting.