The CHASNZ national standard that lets you prequalify once and be recognised by many clients
Totika is New Zealand's national contractor prequalification scheme, developed by CHASNZ (Construction Health and Safety New Zealand). Instead of completing a different assessment for every client, you prequalify once to a single national standard — delivered through approved member schemes such as SiteWise and PreQual — and that result is recognised by many clients. Totika also recognises certifications like ISO 45001 and SafePlus.
Totika is a single national standard for contractor health and safety prequalification, created so a contractor can prequalify once and be recognised across many clients.
It was developed by CHASNZ, an industry body set up to lift health and safety performance in construction and related sectors. Rather than being a separate questionnaire you fill in, Totika sets the standard that approved member schemes assess you against. The aim is to remove the duplication contractors have long faced — repeating very similar assessments for each principal, council or main contractor who wanted to engage them.
It tackles the “prequalify over and over” problem — one consistent standard that many clients accept.
Before a shared standard existed, a contractor working for several clients might hold multiple overlapping prequalifications, each with its own forms, evidence and renewal date. Totika gives the industry a common benchmark, so a single assessment to the national standard can satisfy multiple buyers. That saves contractors time and cost, and gives clients confidence the assessment behind a result is consistent.
You are assessed against the Totika standard through an approved member scheme, and the result is cross-recognised by clients who accept Totika.
You do not go to Totika directly for your assessment. Instead, you complete a Totika-aligned assessment through one of its approved member schemes — for example a Totika-aligned PreQual assessment, or a SiteWise assessment recognised within Totika. Existing certifications can also be recognised, so a contractor holding ISO 45001 or a SafePlus assessment may not need to duplicate work already proven. The result is then visible to the clients who rely on the Totika standard.
Your assessment is matched to your size and risk, based on factors such as your primary work activity, your role and your contract values.
Totika is structured into categories so that a sole trader doing lower-risk work is not assessed to the same depth as a large, high-risk contractor. Matching the assessment to the work you actually do keeps prequalification proportionate and meaningful — you prove what is relevant to your operations, not someone else's.
Choose an approved member scheme, complete the Totika-aligned assessment, and provide current evidence of your health and safety system.
In practice that means picking a scheme your clients accept (for many contractors, PreQual or SiteWise), then completing its Totika-aligned assessment. As with any prequalification, the result reflects what you can prove, so you need recent, dated evidence across the working parts of your system:
Totika results are commonly valid for around 12 months, and up to 24 months for sole traders or smaller categories.
Validity depends on your category, so check the current detail when you assess. Keeping your evidence current year-round makes each renewal far simpler than rebuilding it before the deadline.
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Totika is New Zealand's national contractor prequalification scheme, developed by CHASNZ. It sets a single standard so contractors can prequalify once and have that result recognised by many clients, rather than repeating a separate assessment for each one.
Totika was developed and is overseen by CHASNZ (Construction Health and Safety New Zealand), an industry body. The assessments themselves are delivered through approved member schemes such as SiteWise and PreQual.
Through an approved member scheme. You complete a Totika-aligned assessment with a provider such as PreQual or SiteWise, and that result is recognised across clients who accept the Totika standard.
Yes. Totika recognises certifications and assessments such as ISO 45001 and SafePlus, so contractors who already hold them may not need to duplicate work they have already proven.
Totika results are commonly valid for around 12 months, and up to 24 months for sole traders or smaller categories. Validity depends on your category, so confirm the current detail when you assess.
