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Procurement and compliance terms

The vocabulary of buying, not wearing. These are the terms that turn up in pre-qualification questionnaires, on approved-supplier lists, in site inductions and on the paperwork that has to exist before anything gets delivered. Where a scheme is named, it is described as it works generally - not as a claim about who holds it.

Regulations and site documents

The statutory backdrop. None of this is legal advice - it is the working shorthand, so you know what is being asked for when someone asks for it.

RAMS

Risk Assessment and Method Statement - the paired document that says what could go wrong with a task and how the job will actually be carried out to stop it. Usually one bundled submission, reviewed before work starts.

Buying note. RAMS is where PPE requirements become contractual rather than advisory. If a method statement names a specific standard or marking, that is the spec you have to buy to, regardless of what the general site rules say. Read the RAMS before you price the PPE, not after.

Full guide: RAMS

Method statement

The “how” half of RAMS: a step-by-step description of a task, the sequence, the equipment, the people and the controls. Written for the crew doing the work, not for a filing cabinet.

Buying note. Method statements are where consumption gets decided. A method statement calling for disposable coveralls per shift, rather than reusable, quietly multiplies the order by the number of shifts. Worth reading before agreeing a call-off volume.

Risk assessment

A structured look at what could cause harm in a task, who might be harmed, and what controls reduce the risk to an acceptable level. PPE sits at the bottom of the control hierarchy, after elimination, substitution and engineering controls.

Buying note. That ordering matters commercially: if a risk assessment reaches for PPE first, it will usually be challenged. Expect the specification to change after review, and avoid committing to large one-off buys on a draft assessment.

COSHH

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. They require employers to assess, prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances - dusts, fumes, chemicals, biological agents - and, where there are five or more employees, to record the significant findings of that assessment.

Buying note. The practical effect on an order is that hand and respiratory protection stop being generic. A COSHH assessment names the substance, and the glove or filter has to be selected against that substance, not against a catalogue category. Ask for the substance, not the phrase “chemical gloves”.

Full guide: COSHH

Safety data sheet (SDS)

The standardised 16-section document a supplier provides for a hazardous substance, covering composition, hazards, handling, exposure controls and the PPE the manufacturer recommends.

Buying note. Section 8 is the one to read - it names the protection required, often down to a glove material and breakthrough time. It is also the section people skip. Confusingly, “SDS” also means the drill shank fitting; context is usually obvious, but not always in an email.

PUWER

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. Work equipment must be suitable for its use, maintained, inspected, and used only by people who have been instructed and trained.

Buying note. PUWER is why a cheap tool can cost more than an expensive one. Equipment has to be maintained and inspection records kept, so a tool with no serviceable parts and no UK spares support becomes an inspection failure rather than a bargain.

LOLER

The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, covering anything used for lifting loads or people - slings, shackles, eyebolts, hoists - with statutory thorough examination at set intervals.

Buying note. Lifting accessories carry certification that has to be traceable to the item. Buy them with the certificate and keep the two together; an uncertified sling on site is scrap, however new it is. Note the interval: thorough examination is six-monthly for lifting accessories and for equipment used to lift people, and twelve-monthly for other lifting equipment - so slings, shackles and eyebolts sit on the six-month cycle, not the twelve.

CDM 2015

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, which allocate health and safety duties across the client, principal designer, principal contractor and contractors on a construction project.

Buying note. For a supplier, CDM is why procurement asks for evidence rather than assurances. Note the wording: CDM 2015 deliberately dropped “competence” in favour of skills, knowledge and experience - and, for organisations, organisational capability. Answer a PQQ in those terms, because that is the test the regulations actually set.

Full guide: CDM 2015

PPE at Work Regulations

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, requiring employers to provide suitable PPE free of charge where risk cannot be controlled by other means. Amended in 2022 to extend those duties to a wider group of workers.

Buying note. The 2022 amendment widened who counts as a worker, which for many sites means agency and short-term people now have to be issued with kit rather than expected to bring their own. That is a real change in volume - it is worth checking your issue figures against actual headcount rather than employed headcount.

Toolbox talk

A short, task-focused safety briefing delivered on site, usually at the start of a shift or before a new activity, and recorded with the names of those who attended.

Buying note. Toolbox talks are where a new product actually lands. Introducing a different glove or a new fastening system without one usually means it gets used wrongly, disliked, and blamed. If you are changing a specification, ask whether the talk has happened.

Permit to work

A formal written authorisation for high-risk work - hot works, confined space, live electrical, excavation - setting the conditions under which it may proceed and who may do it.

Buying note. Permits routinely specify PPE by standard, and often specify kit that is not in general site issue: flame-retardant clothing for hot works, gas detection and escape sets for confined space. These are the items sites run out of, because they are ordered per permit rather than per head.

Assurance and pre-qualification schemes

The badges a buyer asks a supplier for. TES’s own registrations are listed on the accreditations section - the entries here describe what each scheme is.

PQQ

Pre-qualification questionnaire. The stage before tendering, where a buyer checks a supplier’s financial standing, insurance, health and safety record, quality management and relevant accreditations.

Buying note. Most PQQ failures are administrative rather than substantive - a certificate that lapsed last month, a policy dated four years ago, a registration number that does not match the certifying body’s register. Ask the supplier for registration numbers, not scans; numbers can be checked against the public register and do not go stale.

Full guide: PQQ

ITT

Invitation to tender. The formal request for a priced, specification-matched offer, issued to suppliers who have passed pre-qualification.

Buying note. An ITT that lists product standards rather than part numbers is the one worth reading twice. Standards leave room to offer an equivalent; part numbers do not. If the standards are ambiguous, ask before pricing rather than qualifying the bid afterwards.

SSIP

Safety Schemes in Procurement - the umbrella body under which member health and safety pre-qualification schemes mutually recognise each other’s assessments, so a supplier assessed by one member should not be reassessed from scratch by another.

Buying note. Mutual recognition is the theory. In practice a main contractor will often still name the specific scheme its own procurement policy references. Ask which scheme they actually need rather than assuming recognition will be applied.

Full guide: SSIP

CHAS

The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme, one of the longest-established SSIP member schemes, assessing health and safety arrangements and, at higher tiers, wider corporate compliance.

Buying note. CHAS has several assessment levels, and a requirement for “CHAS” without a level is ambiguous. Get the level named in writing - the gap in effort between the entry tier and the top tier is considerable.

Constructionline

A UK register of pre-qualified suppliers to the construction industry, tiered by level, used by public sector and Tier 1 buyers to shortcut their own pre-qualification.

Buying note. Like CHAS, the level is the whole question - a buyer asking for “Constructionline” may mean any tier. TES is registered at Associate level, registration 1309949, which is checkable on the register rather than taken on trust.

Achilles

A supply chain assurance and pre-qualification business operating sector-specific communities and audits, widely used across utilities, transport and construction procurement.

Buying note. Achilles communities are sector-specific, so “we are on Achilles” means little without naming which. TES holds Achilles BuildingConfidence, which is the construction-facing audit.

RISQS

The Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme - the qualification route through which rail buyers verify suppliers into the GB rail industry, covering products, services and works.

Buying note. RISQS registrations carry product and service codes defining what the registration actually covers, so “RISQS registered” alone does not tell a rail buyer whether the supplier is qualified for what they are buying. Ask for the supplier ID and check the register. TES is a RISQS-registered supplier, ID 10079.

FORS

The Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme, a voluntary accreditation for road transport operators covering safety, efficiency and environmental performance, at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels.

Buying note. Many urban and infrastructure sites make FORS a condition of entry for delivering vehicles, so it decides whether a delivery gets through the gate rather than being a marketing badge. Levels move in both directions as contract requirements change - a step down is not a failure. TES has been FORS-accredited since September 2014 and at Silver since September 2025, fleet ID 001657.

BSIF Registered Safety Supplier

A scheme run by the British Safety Industry Federation under which member suppliers commit to supplying only PPE and safety products that genuinely meet the standards claimed for them, backed by independent product testing.

Buying note. This one matters more than it looks. The safety market has a persistent problem with product carrying markings it cannot support, and the scheme exists specifically to address it. If you are buying PPE on price from an unfamiliar source, the registration is a cheap sanity check. TES is a BSIF Registered Safety Supplier.

UKAS

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service, the national body that accredits certification bodies. UKAS does not certify companies; it accredits the organisations that do.

Buying note. This is the distinction that decides PQQ outcomes. An ISO certificate from a UKAS-accredited body carries weight; one from an unaccredited body may be rejected outright by RISQS, Constructionline and Tier 1 buyers. Ask who issued the certificate, not just which standard it names. TES’s ISO certificates are issued by AUVA, a UKAS-accredited body.

ISO 9001

The international standard for quality management systems, covering how an organisation controls its processes, documents, non-conformities and continual improvement. Certification is by periodic third-party audit.

Buying note. ISO 9001 says nothing about product quality directly - it says the organisation does consistently what it says it does. For a distributor that means traceability: knowing which batch went where, which matters when a recall notice lands. TES has held ISO 9001 continuously since 8 March 2000, certificate 1214.

ISO 14001

The international standard for environmental management systems - identifying environmental impacts, setting objectives and demonstrating legal compliance and improvement over time.

Buying note. Increasingly a scored line in tenders rather than a tick box, particularly on public sector work where social value and environmental criteria carry explicit weighting. TES is certified to ISO 14001, certificate 2100.

ISO 45001

The international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, replacing the former OHSAS 18001.

Buying note. If a PQQ asks for OHSAS 18001, the question is out of date - that standard was withdrawn and ISO 45001 is its successor. Answer with ISO 45001 and say so, rather than leaving the box blank. TES is certified to ISO 45001, certificate 2101.

Buying and account terms

Framework agreement

An umbrella agreement setting terms, rates and conditions with one or more suppliers over a period, against which individual orders are placed without re-tendering each time.

Buying note. A framework is permission to buy, not a commitment to buy. Volumes in the tender are usually indicative, so pricing built on hitting them is exposed. Check whether the framework is single-supplier or a call-off from a panel - the two behave completely differently.

Call-off

Drawing goods against an existing agreed order or framework, in the quantities and at the times you need them, rather than raising a fresh order each time.

Buying note. Call-off is what makes a fixed price hold across a long project. The failure mode is scheduling: an agreement with no call-off pattern leaves the supplier holding stock speculatively, and that cost reappears in the rate. Give an indicative schedule even if it is rough.

Full guide: Call-off

Approved supplier list

The list of suppliers a business has pre-vetted and permitted its sites to buy from, usually maintained centrally by procurement.

Buying note. Sites often buy off-list in an emergency and regularise it later, which is how maverick spend starts. If a supplier is being used repeatedly off-list, that is an argument for adding them, not for policing the site harder.

Lead time

The elapsed time between placing an order and receiving it. Stated lead times may be ex-stock, ex-works or delivered - three different things.

Buying note. Always ask which of the three is quoted. A four-week ex-works lead time on an imported item is not four weeks to site. For anything on a critical path, ask for the delivered date in writing.

MOQ

Minimum order quantity - the smallest quantity a supplier or manufacturer will produce or sell in one order.

Buying note. MOQ is the number that decides whether a bespoke or non-standard item is viable. It is also frequently negotiable on a repeat arrangement in a way it is not on a one-off, because the manufacturer is amortising a setup rather than a unit.

Proforma

An invoice issued before goods are supplied, paid in advance. Common for new accounts, one-off customers and orders outside agreed credit terms.

Buying note. Proforma is usually a stepping stone rather than a verdict - a few settled proforma orders is often what a credit application needs to move. If you are setting up under time pressure, ask for proforma on the urgent order and run the credit application in parallel rather than waiting.

Trade credit account

An account allowing goods to be taken now and paid for later under agreed terms, subject to a credit limit set from a credit check and trading history.

Buying note. The limit, not the terms, is what usually bites. A limit set on early low-volume trading will block a large seasonal or project-driven order without warning. If a big order is coming, tell the supplier before you place it so the limit can be reviewed in advance.

GRN

Goods received note - the record raised on delivery confirming what physically arrived, used to match against the purchase order and the invoice before payment.

Buying note. Three-way matching (order, GRN, invoice) is where most payment disputes are actually resolved. If a delivery is short or damaged, note it on the GRN at the point of delivery; a claim raised afterwards against a clean GRN is a much harder conversation.

Stock and issue arrangements

Imprest stock

A fixed, agreed stock holding kept on site and topped back up to its set level at each visit, rather than reordered line by line.

Buying note. The appeal is that the storeman stops raising orders and the site stops running out of the same six items. The failure mode is that levels are set once, during a phase of work that has since finished, and never revisited - so the site carries stock it no longer uses and runs short of what replaced it. Review at each phase change, not annually.

Full guide: Imprest stock

Consignment stock

Stock physically held at the customer’s site but still owned by the supplier until it is drawn and used, at which point it is invoiced.

Buying note. Attractive on cash flow, and the reason it is not universal is shrinkage: the arrangement only works where usage can actually be recorded. Agree in advance who counts, how often, and who carries unexplained losses - that clause is the whole agreement.

Full guide: Consignment stock

Vendor-managed inventory (VMI)

An arrangement where the supplier takes responsibility for monitoring stock levels and replenishing them, rather than waiting for the customer to order.

Buying note. VMI works when the supplier can see real usage. Handing over replenishment without giving visibility of consumption just moves the guesswork. This is why VMI and controlled-issue systems such as vending tend to arrive together.

Full guide: Vendor-managed inventory (VMI)

Min/max

A replenishment rule: when stock falls to the minimum, order enough to bring it back to the maximum. The simplest workable stock control method.

Buying note. Min/max fails quietly when demand is lumpy rather than steady - a mobilisation or a phase change will empty a bin before the trigger does anything useful. For known peaks, raise the minimum ahead of time rather than trusting the rule.

Full guide: Min/max

Kanban

A pull-based replenishment signal - classically a two-bin system, where emptying the first bin is itself the order and the second bin covers the lead time.

Buying note. Two-bin works brilliantly for cheap, fast-moving, predictable consumables and badly for anything else. Do not put a long-lead-time or high-value item on kanban; size the second bin to the actual lead time, not to the shelf.

Reorder point

The stock level at which a replenishment order is triggered, calculated from average usage across the lead time plus a safety buffer.

Buying note. The buffer is doing the real work, and it is usually set from average usage rather than peak. On a site where consumption doubles in bad weather - gloves, wet weather gear, disposables - average-based buffers run out precisely when they are needed.

Cost centre

The internal code goods are charged against, so spend can be reported by project, department, team or site rather than as a single supplier total.

Buying note. Cost centre coding at the point of issue is what turns PPE spend from a lump into something manageable. Without it, the only available lever is squeezing unit price; with it, you can see which site is consuming three times the average and ask why.

Controlled issue

Restricting who can draw which items, and how often, usually by individual, role, team or cost centre, with each transaction recorded.

Buying note. Controlled issue reliably reduces consumption, and the reason is rarely theft - it is that an open store makes taking a second pair easier than looking after the first. Expect resistance on introduction, and expect it to fade once people see the data is used for ordering rather than for blame.

Transport and environmental terms

Direct Vision Standard (DVS)

A Transport for London scheme rating heavy goods vehicles over 12 tonnes by how much the driver can see directly from the cab, with a permit required to operate in Greater London. Since October 2024 the threshold has been three stars, and vehicles below it must fit the Progressive Safe System - a materially heavier specification than the original Safe System it replaced.

Buying note. DVS applies to the vehicle, not the operator, so a compliant fleet can still fail on a single hired-in or subcontracted lorry. If deliveries into London are on your critical path, the question to ask is about the specific vehicle allocated, not the company.

CLOCS

Construction Logistics and Community Safety - a construction industry standard for managing the road risk created by vehicles servicing construction sites, adopted by many clients as a contractual requirement.

Buying note. Where CLOCS is specified it flows down the whole supply chain, so it can apply to a supplier delivering consumables just as much as to a muckaway operator. Check whether the site’s CLOCS requirement covers deliveries as well as site traffic - it usually does, and it is usually discovered at the gate.

ULEZ / LEZ

London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone and Low Emission Zone - charging schemes applying to vehicles that do not meet set emissions standards, with different thresholds for cars, vans and heavy vehicles.

Buying note. Emissions charges are a real line in a delivered price into London, and they are frequently absorbed silently rather than quoted. If you are comparing delivered rates from suppliers inside and outside the zone, ask explicitly whether charges are included.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s categories: scope 1 is emissions you produce directly, scope 2 is those from the energy you buy, and scope 3 is everything else in your value chain - including the goods you purchase.

Buying note. Your purchased PPE and consumables are somebody’s scope 3. This is why supplier questionnaires increasingly ask for product level data rather than a corporate policy, and why end-of-life recycling evidence has become a procurement question rather than a sustainability one.

Waste transfer note

The document recording a transfer of waste between parties, required under the statutory duty of care, identifying the waste, the quantity, and both parties to the transfer.

Buying note. If you are disposing of end-of-life workwear or PPE, the paperwork is the evidence - not the good intentions. For branded garments, ask specifically for confirmation of secure destruction as well as the transfer note; they answer different questions.

WEEE

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment - the regulations governing disposal and recycling of electrical items, which include power tools, battery packs and chargers.

Buying note. Battery platforms are where this bites. Lithium packs cannot go in general waste, cannot go in a skip, and are a genuine fire risk in a store when damaged. Agree a return route for dead packs when you adopt a platform, not when the first one swells.

Standards, schemes and regulations are described here as general buyer education. Nothing on this page is a claim that any TES-supplied product is certified to a particular standard, or that TES holds a scheme it is not listed as holding on our accreditations. Where a marking matters commercially, check the product’s own certification and the wording of your own specification.

The rest of the glossary

PPE & safety standards - The EN standards and markings behind hi-vis, footwear, gloves and RPE.

Fixings, fasteners & threads - Property classes, thread forms, coatings, stainless grades and anchors.

Tools, abrasives & consumables - Drill shanks, abrasive discs, socket drives and workshop chemicals.

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