Highway sector scheme

The National Highway Sector Scheme (NHSS) is designed to ensure businesses that work on roads have a knowledgeable and skilled workforce. By exceeding an industry benchmark, organisations can prove that all of their procedures are planned and up to date. With some exceptional standards for highways, they are built on a structure similar of the world’s most widely used management system standard, ISO 9001.

You must get certification from a Certification Body that has been granted UKAS accreditation if your company offers services to Highways England following the Specification for Highways Works. The NHSS covers numerous programmes. However, they fall into four broad categories:

• Surface and marking of the road
• Landscaping, fencing, and vehicle restraints
• Traffic control
• Electronics, lighting, and corrosion prevention

There are various benefits to becoming registered under NHSS:

• Suppose you are already NHSS registered when you submit a bid for work. In that
  case, you may be at a competitive advantage over those who aren’t.
• A deeper comprehension of risk and effective risk management – You can identify
  potential risk areas in your operations with the help of the NHSS assessment
  procedure.
• Improved business credentials – by having your procedures independently
  evaluated against recognised quality standards.
• New prospects – NHSS membership opens the door for you to accept contracts
  for the national road network if you presently solely work on non-national road
  networks.
• You can enter the online Schedule of Suppliers, the only comprehensive national
  registration of independently verified contractors and subcontractors, for improved
  visibility to contracting organisations.
• Access to knowledge and assistance; certain trade organisations will only take on
  new members registered with the NHSS.

Downloading the SSDs for any scheme you want to register for should be your first step. The UKAS website has these available. Next, make arrangements for an audit and assessment visit with a suitable approved and accredited certification authority. A list of certification bodies is available on the UKAS website. The auditors that certification bodies employ have the technical expertise and industry experience. Depending on the scheme for which you are seeking certification and the certifying body,
the evaluation may cover a variety of topics but typically includes:

• Conducting test audits of your procedures and operations
• Demonstrating how your quality management systems adhere to the SSDs’
  specifications
• Reporting any instances of noncompliance or suspected instances of
  noncompliance

The certifying agency will formally inform you if you pass the test. Additionally, although this differs from body to body, you should receive a certificate. Certain organisations will issue you unique certifications for each sector scheme. Others may offer certificates that reflect NHSS evaluations and other skills you may have been evaluated on. The certifying body and you will agree on the scope of your NHSS certificate, which must match the scopes listed in SSD Appendix K. You must complete the online Suppliers Schedule with information about your business, including a copy of your registration certificate(s). The roads industry’s national data base of authorised contractors is available here. Highway authorities use the Schedule to verify a company’s certification. In addition, many contracting companies use it to locate prospective suppliers and ask them to submit job bids.