Guide · Winning work
Contractor prequalification in Australia & NZ
Before a head contractor, council or large client lets you on site, they want proof you can work safely and compliantly. That's contractor prequalification — and increasingly it's the gate to the work you want. Here's how the main schemes (Cm3, Avetta, ISNetworld, SiteWise and Totika) fit together, and how to get through them without a fortnight of admin.
What prequalification is
Prequalification is a client's up-front check that you're a safe, capable and compliant business before they engage you. You submit evidence — insurances, your safety management system, procedures, competencies, and your safety history — usually through a third-party platform, and you receive an approval or a grade. Once you're prequalified, principal contractors and clients can rely on that status instead of assessing you from scratch.
The main schemes and platforms
| Scheme | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Cm3 | Australia (& NZ) | A widely used OHS/HSEQ contractor prequalification system. Many councils, universities, retailers and facility managers require Cm3 prequalification. |
| Avetta | Australia / global | A contractor prequalification and management platform used by large principals to onboard and monitor their supply chain. |
| ISNetworld (ISN) | Australia / global | A contractor management platform where you maintain safety and compliance information for client "hiring clients". |
| SiteWise | New Zealand | A health and safety prequalification that grades a contractor's H&S capability, widely recognised by NZ clients. |
| Totika | New Zealand | A framework that recognises audited prequalification schemes, so a single prequalification is accepted across many participating NZ clients — reducing duplicate assessments. |
Which one you need is driven by your clients: work backwards from who you want to work for, and get prequalified in the scheme they use. Many contractors end up in more than one.
What they ask for
The details vary, but prequalification schemes almost always want evidence of:
- Current insurances (public liability, workers compensation, and often professional indemnity).
- A documented health & safety management system and safety policy.
- Risk management — risk assessments, SWMS, safe work procedures.
- Training and competency records — licences, tickets, inductions.
- Incident reporting and investigation processes, and your safety history.
- Consultation, emergency procedures, and sometimes environmental and quality arrangements.
If that list looks familiar, it's because it's almost exactly what an ISO 45001 (and 9001/14001) management system produces.
Get prequalified from a system you already have
The reason prequalification is painful is the scramble to assemble evidence you never centralised. BigTick builds and runs your safety and quality management system — policies, risk registers, procedures, training matrix, insurances and incident records — so when a Cm3, SiteWise or Totika questionnaire lands, you're answering it from real, current documents instead of starting from zero.
How to make prequalification easy
- Build the system once. A single safety/quality management system feeds every scheme's questions.
- Keep evidence current. Expired insurances and lapsed tickets are the most common rejections — track their dates.
- Reuse your documents. The same policies, procedures and registers answer Cm3, Avetta, ISN, SiteWise and Totika alike.
- Consider ISO certification. Certification to ISO 45001 (and 9001) is recognised evidence that shortcuts a lot of prequalification questions.
Turn your system into prequalification-ready evidence
Start a free trial and get your safety and quality management system built and kept current — so getting prequalified, and staying that way, stops being a scramble.
Start a free trialFrequently asked questions
What is contractor prequalification?
A client's up-front check that you can work safely and compliantly before they engage you. You submit evidence — insurances, safety management system, procedures, competencies and history — usually via a third-party platform, and receive an approval or grade that clients rely on.
What's the difference between Cm3, Avetta, ISNetworld, SiteWise and Totika?
They're contractor prequalification schemes and platforms. Cm3, Avetta and ISNetworld are widely used in Australia; SiteWise is a NZ health & safety prequalification grading; and Totika is a NZ framework that recognises audited schemes so one prequalification is accepted by many clients. Which you need depends on the clients you want to work for.
Does ISO certification help with prequalification?
Significantly. Prequalification asks for the same evidence an ISO 9001/45001 system produces — a safety system, procedures, risk registers, training records, insurances and incident processes. Having that system already built means you answer with real documents instead of scrambling.
Related guides
General information about contractor prequalification. Scheme names are the property of their respective owners and are referenced for information only; requirements and grades are set by each scheme and its clients.