Your contractor prequalification system

What Is Contractor Prequalification?

Contractor prequalification is a check that happens before a job starts. A main contractor or principal wants to know a subcontractor can work safely before they hand over the work. Without a shared system, each one asks for its own paperwork, and you supply policies, procedures and insurance documents again for every tender.

Prequalification moves that check up front. A trained assessor reviews your evidence once and the result is available to every client who needs it.

What is SiteWise?

SiteWise is an online prequalification system developed and powered by Site Safe. It grades a contractor’s health and safety capability, which helps main contractors and principals make better-informed choices and keeps the tender process simple.

Contractors complete an evidence-based SiteWise assessment, and qualified health and safety practitioners assess it. The assessment gives you a percentage score. We publish it in the SiteWise Contractor Database, where main contractors and principal organisations that have signed up to SiteWise can view it.

Two Ways to Use SiteWise Prequalification

1. For contractors and subcontractors: You complete the assessment, get a grade and share your result with the businesses you want to work for.
2. For main contractors and principals: You look up a contractor’s result in the SiteWise Contractor Database, so you can compare contractors on the same measure before you award the work.

How the SiteWise assessment works

Assessment results are recorded in a traffic light system in the database to make it easy for main contractors and principals to see your business' performance at a glance.

• Gold (scores over 90%) - you have demonstrated that you have exceptional quality health and safety systems in place.
• Green (scores 75-89%) - quality health and safety systems.
• Amber (scores 50-74%) - health and safety systems need some work or lack evidence to demonstrate quality systems.
• Red (scores under 50%) - health and safety systems not in place or not enough evidence to show systems are in place.

The higher your score, the better you can demonstrate your commitment to good health and safety practices to main contractors or principal organisations who might want to work with you.

And because the assessment results are valid for a year, you may avoid having to provide evidence of health and safety system processes/compliance/competence on a project-by-project basis. 

You can also upload your insurance documents. Contractors looking to hire you can be sure your insurance is up-to-date and you will even receive alerts when your documents are about to expire.

Benefits To Your Business

By registering with SiteWise, and completing the assessment process you'll:

• Get access to independent and cost-effective advice on how you can improve your health and safety practices quickly and easily.
• Be able to display your commitment to good health and safety practices to main contractors or principal organisations who might want to work with you.
• Minimise the need to provide evidence of good health and safety practice with each new project, as the assessment results are valid for a year.

For more information or to sign up, visit the SiteWise website and sign up online.

Free SiteWise Webinar

Learn how to:

• Join SiteWise and learn more about the assessment before you begin.
• Submit the ideal assessment. We’ll walk you through each question, show you the templates and processes and tell you how to achieve the best marks.
• Improve your score in SiteWise.

Frequently Asked Questions: SiteWise

What is contractor prequalification?

It’s a check on a contractor’s health and safety capability before work starts. SiteWise does it once, so you don’t repeat the same evidence for every tender.

How long is a SiteWise result valid?

A year. During that time, main contractors and principals can view your result in the SiteWise Contractor Database.

How do I improve my SiteWise score?

Review the questions where your evidence was thin, then build on those systems. Our free webinar and the assessment help show you how to strengthen your answers, and our consultants can support you with detailed advice.

How much does SiteWise cost?

Current fees are listed on the SiteWise website.

Who assesses my evidence?

Qualified health and safety practitioners assess it.

Who is behind SiteWise?

Site Safe, an industry-backed, not-for-profit organisation that has worked to lift health and safety in NZ construction since 1999.