Quick Answer
What is the difference between NAS Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold?
The four NAS tiers are cumulative: each one includes everything in the tier below. Basic covers health and safety, including the SSIP core criteria. Bronze adds core legal and employment compliance such as data protection, equality and right-to-work checks. Silver adds environmental, quality and governance systems. Gold adds 13 procurement modules covering financial standing, anti-bribery and integrity, tax status, cyber security, ethical supply chains, sustainability and Building Safety Act readiness.
NAS Basic — £349/yr
Health and safety certification covering the SSIP core criteria. Sole traders, micro businesses, domestic and small commercial work.
- Signed health and safety policy and how it works in practice
- Competent health and safety advice
- Two risk assessments and two method statements for your work
- COSHH and CDM 2015 duties where they apply
- Accident reporting, RIDDOR awareness and first aid
- Worker consultation, inspections and monitoring
- Asbestos awareness, vehicle safety and co-operation on shared sites
- Training, qualifications and cards for the people doing the work
- Public liability insurance
- Checks on subcontractors before you use them
NAS Bronze — £749/yr
Everything in Basic plus core legal and employment compliance. Small to medium contractors with employees, targeting housing association, local authority and commercial supply chains.
- Proof of legal identity, services and any licences or registrations
- Employers’ liability insurance
- Data protection: privacy notice or personal data arrangements
- Equality and preventing discrimination
- Customer complaints handling
- Written employment terms and right-to-work checks
- Declaration of any enforcement action or disqualification
- Modern slavery statement (only if annual turnover is £36m or more)
NAS Silver — £950/yr
Everything in Bronze plus environmental, quality, governance and employment management systems. Established contractors targeting NHS, public sector, main contractor and housing framework work.
- Environmental policy and waste management
- Quality procedure and how work is checked and corrected
- Investigating complaints and non-conformities
- Governance, record keeping and conflicts of interest
- Avoiding price-fixing and bid-rigging (competition law)
- Competence matrix: role-specific training and renewals
- Workplace pensions and working time
- Subcontractor approval and monitoring
NAS Gold — £1,150/yr
Everything in Silver plus 13 procurement modules. Contractors tendering for public sector contracts, major frameworks and main contractor supply chains.
- Company identity, directors and licences
- Financial standing: accounts, insolvency and insurance
- Integrity: anti-bribery, modern slavery, whistleblowing, and disclosure of convictions or misconduct
- Health and safety management, including RIDDOR and CDM
- Environmental management and waste carrier registration
- Quality management and document control
- Building Safety Act readiness, where you work on buildings
- Workforce: equality, grievance and dignity at work
- Data protection and cyber security
- Information management, including BIM where relevant
- Tax and employment status: HMRC, VAT, CIS, PAYE, IR35, minimum wage
- Ethical supply chain: prompt payment, labour standards, subcontractor vetting
- Sustainability: carbon reduction plan, emissions and energy
Which Tier is Right for Your Business?
The right tier depends on the contracts you are targeting and the compliance evidence you already have in place.
- NAS Basic or Bronze — suitable for sole traders and small businesses targeting domestic, small commercial or basic local authority work.
- NAS Bronze or Silver — most commonly expected for housing association reactive maintenance, local authority supply chains and NHS facilities work.
- NAS Silver or Gold — appropriate for contractors targeting larger framework contracts, public sector procurement or main contractor supply chains.
- NAS Gold — recommended for contractors tendering for major frameworks that ask procurement questions on finances, integrity, tax and sustainability, or that need Building Safety Act readiness evidence.
Annual Renewal
All NAS certification tiers are renewed annually. Renewal requires submission of updated evidence and a fresh independent review. This ensures that your NAS certificate reflects your current compliance position, not just where you were when you first applied.