SiteWise Prequalification: How the Score Works and Why You Got Amber

You submitted your documents. You have a policy, a hazard register, a SWMS folder. You waited three weeks. Then the result came back: Amber. The principal needs Green to award the contract, and now you're on the phone explaining why your H&S system isn't good enough — when you know it is, on site, every day.

The problem isn't your system. It's your submission. SiteWise prequalification doesn't score documents — it scores evidence that the system is actually being used.

What the SiteWise Score Actually Measures

When a Site Safe practitioner opens your SiteWise assessment, they're not ticking a box that says "has policy — yes." They're looking for evidence that the policy drives real activity on real jobs.

The assessment covers a range of areas including hazard and risk management, incident reporting and investigation, inductions and training, safety meetings, monitoring activities, subcontractor management, and insurance. Each area is scored as a percentage, and the bands are published as Red, Amber, Green, or Gold. Most principals in New Zealand require Green — which is a score of over 75% — before they'll award subcontract work.

The distinction between Green and Amber usually comes down to one thing: completed records versus blank templates. A hazard register that lists your trade's actual risks scores better than a generic one copied from a template. A training matrix with names, dates, and competencies attached scores better than an empty spreadsheet. Signed toolbox talk records from the last six months score better than a meeting agenda with no attendance sheet behind it.

The assessment is valid for one year. That means the clock starts as soon as you're assessed — and if you resubmit stale evidence next cycle, you'll land in the same band again.

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Why Documents Alone Score Badly — and What Assessors Want Instead

At the start of a Monday morning toolbox talk, a foreman runs through three hazards for the week's concrete pour, everyone signs the sheet, and it goes in the site folder. That's the kind of record that shifts an Amber to a Green.

The single most common reason for a low SiteWise score is this: documents exist, but there's no proof anyone used them. A policy signed by the director five years ago and never reviewed. A SWMS library with no job-specific versions and no worker sign-offs. An incident register that's never had an entry closed out with a corrective action.

Site Safe practitioners are trained to spot the gap between a system on paper and a system in practice. Here's what each area actually needs:

Assessment Area Document (not enough) Evidence of Use (what scores)
H&S Policy Signed policy document Review date current; worker awareness record
Hazard/Risk Register Generic template Lists your actual trade and tasks; reviewed after incidents
Training and Inductions Blank training matrix Names, dates, ticket numbers, expiry dates populated
Incident Reporting Procedure document Completed incident forms with close-out actions
Site Monitoring Inspection checklist template Dated, signed completed inspections from recent jobs
Subcontractor Management Sub H&S policy on file Evidence you verified it; record of sub induction
Insurance Certificate of currency Uploaded and in-date at time of assessment

Missing qualifications, incomplete training records, lapsed health monitoring, and un-uploaded insurance are among the most common shortfalls. The insurance one catches subcontractors out more than you'd expect — the certificate expired three weeks before submission and nobody updated it.

How to Diagnose Your Own Score Before You Resubmit

When you get your assessment result, Site Safe provides feedback on where marks were dropped. Sit with that report before you touch a single document. The feedback tells you exactly which areas pulled the score down — use it as your to-do list, not a general indication to "improve your system."

Here's the process to work through before resubmitting:

Step 1: Print the feedback report and mark each gap as Document, Evidence, or Currency — a document gap means you're missing something entirely; an evidence gap means the document exists but there are no completed records behind it; a currency gap means records exist but are out of date.

Step 2: For every evidence gap, pull your site records from the last six months — toolbox talk sheets, completed inspections, incident forms, training certificates. If you can't find them, they need to be created prospectively from this point forward before you resubmit.

Step 3: Update your hazard register to reflect the work your business actually does — if you're a reinforcing subcontractor and your register lists office ergonomics but doesn't include rebar handling, manual handling of heavy materials, or working at height around formwork, the assessor will flag it.

Step 4: Check every training record against the tasks on your hazard register — if the register identifies elevated work as a significant hazard, there should be training records for working at height against the workers who do it.

Step 5: Verify insurance documents are current and match the work scope — upload the updated certificates before you submit, not after.

Step 6: Close out any open incident records — an incident form with no corrective action listed suggests your investigation process doesn't reach a conclusion.

Step 7: Date-stamp your review — update the review date on your policy, SWMS, and hazard register before submission. Assessors look for evidence the system is live, not archived.

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The Difference Between SiteWise Green and Gold — and Whether Gold Matters for You

During a Friday afternoon site tidy before the weekend shutdown, a site manager asks the subcontractors whether their prequalification is current. For most small operators — concreters, steel fixers, drainage contractors — Green is the target. Gold is relevant only if you're regularly bidding work for principals who specify it, which tends to be larger government or infrastructure clients.

Green requires a score over 75% and is achievable for any business that has a genuine H&S system and can demonstrate it's being used. The jump beyond Green requires more than good records — it typically means a more mature system with things like health monitoring records, formal review cycles with documented outcomes, and robust subcontractor verification processes.

If you're a small subcontractor under 20 workers, focus on getting Green and keeping it. Gold is a worthwhile target once your system is embedded and you're bidding that tier of work.

SiteWise also sits alongside other prequalification schemes. Totika operates under the CHASNZ national standard, which means a single H&S assessment can be recognised across multiple clients — worth knowing if you're dealing with several principals who each have their own procurement requirements. IMPAC PREQUAL and SHE are also active in the NZ market. Each scheme has a slightly different focus, so check what your principal actually requires before you invest in building a submission.

Keeping Your Score Current Between Assessments

The worst time to build your SiteWise submission is the week before it's due. Every year, contractors scramble to reconstruct six months of records that should have been kept as a matter of course. The training matrix that should have been updated when the new apprentice started. The inspection records that got left in someone's ute. The incident close-out that never happened because the job moved on.

The assessment is annual, but the records it relies on are daily and weekly. A toolbox talk register kept up to date each week, inspections completed and filed as you go, training certificates scanned when workers renew them — these are the building blocks of a Green score. At submission time, you're exporting records that already exist, not creating them.

Use this template when auditing your own records mid-year, before the scramble hits:

SiteWise Mid-Year Record Audit Trade: [TRADE e.g. Structural Steel] Date of audit: [DATE] Audited by: [ROLE e.g. H&S Coordinator / Owner-Operator]

Toolbox talk records — last entry dated: [DATE] — signed by [NUMBER] workers Completed site inspections on file: [NUMBER] — most recent: [DATE] Open incidents with no close-out: [NUMBER] — oldest open: [DATE] Training matrix — last updated: [DATE] — gaps identified: [LIST] Insurance certificate — expiry date: [DATE] — uploaded to SiteWise: Y/N Hazard register — last reviewed: [DATE] — reflects current work scope: Y/N

Action items before resubmission:

Below is a filing structure that keeps SiteWise evidence organised and easy to locate at assessment time:

SITEWISE-EVIDENCE/
├── 01_POLICY/
│   └── HS-Policy_v[VERSION]_[REVIEW-DATE].pdf
├── 02_HAZARD-REGISTER/
│   └── HazardRegister_[TRADE]_[REVIEW-DATE].xlsx
├── 03_TRAINING/
│   └── TrainingMatrix_[YEAR].xlsx
│   └── Certs/[WORKER-SURNAME]_[CERT-TYPE]_[EXPIRY].pdf
├── 04_TOOLBOX-TALKS/
│   └── TBT_[SITE-NAME]_[DATE]_signed.pdf
├── 05_INSPECTIONS/
│   └── Inspection_[SITE-NAME]_[DATE].pdf
├── 06_INCIDENTS/
│   └── Incident_[REF-NO]_[DATE]_[STATUS-OPEN-CLOSED].pdf
└── 07_INSURANCE/
    └── COC_[INSURER]_[EXPIRY-DATE].pdf

Frequently Asked Questions

What score do I need for SiteWise Green?

SiteWise Green requires a score of over 75%. Most principals in New Zealand set Green as the minimum for awarding subcontract work. The score is calculated across several assessment areas covering your H&S system, training, incident management, and insurance. Evidence of use carries more weight than having documents in place.

Why did I get Amber when I have a full H&S system?

Amber usually means your system exists on paper but lacks completed records proving it's being used. Common causes: no signed toolbox talk sheets, a training matrix with no names or dates, incident forms with no close-out actions, or a hazard register that doesn't reflect the work your business actually does. Address the evidence gaps — not the documents.

Is SiteWise prequalification a legal requirement?

No. There is no clause in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 that requires SiteWise prequalification. It is a procurement requirement set by principals and clients. However, since most larger principals in New Zealand require Green or above, it's effectively a commercial necessity for subcontractors bidding in that market.

How long does a SiteWise assessment last?

A SiteWise assessment is valid for one year from the date of assessment. After that, you need to resubmit with current evidence. Submitting the same documents from the previous year without updated records is one of the fastest ways to land back in Amber.

Takeaways

Three things make the difference between Amber and Green: current records (not last year's), trade-specific documents (not generic templates), and evidence of close-out (incidents resolved, training confirmed, inspections completed and signed).

If you got Amber, start with the feedback report and categorise each gap — document, evidence, or currency. Fix the evidence gaps first. They are the most common cause of a low score and the most straightforward to address if your system is genuinely active on site.

For the annual resubmission, the work is weekly — toolbox talk sheets, inspection records, training updates. Assessors can tell the difference between a system that runs all year and one that was assembled the week before submission.

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