If your site is registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme, your hoarding isn’t just a perimeter — it’s evidence. It’s usually the first thing a Scheme Monitor sees on a site visit, and the first thing the public judges the project by. Get it right and it quietly supports your score. Get it wrong — tired boards, no signage, nothing telling passers‐by who to contact — and it becomes an easy note in the report.
The Scheme also just changed how it assesses all of this. From 5 May 2026, CCS rolled out an updated Code and Checklist, and while the core principles are familiar, the structure monitors use to score a site has moved. This guide explains what the update changes, where hoarding fits into the new framework, and what a CCS‐ready hoarding actually looks like in practice.
What Is the Considerate Constructors Scheme?
The Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) is the UK and Ireland’s industry‐run initiative for raising standards on construction sites. Registered sites, companies and suppliers are periodically visited by a Scheme Monitor and scored against the Code of Considerate Practice — a voluntary standard that goes beyond statutory compliance.
Since 5 May 2026, that Code has been assessed under a revised structure. The previous five-heading model — Appearance, Community, Environment, Safety and Workforce — has been consolidated into three pillars:
– Community
– Environment
– Workforce
Each pillar is broken down into 24 outcome‐focused themes in total, and each theme is scored during a monitoring visit as not met, partially met or fully met. CCS describes the update as “an 1 evolution, not a revolution” — around 90% of the Code’s substance is unchanged, but expectations are now written in plainer language and scored as a percentage rather than a fixed points tally.
Score (Performance Level)
95-100% (Outstanding)
85-94% (Excellent)
75-84% (Very good)
60-74% (Good)
50-59% (Conforming)
The overall site score is the average of the three pillar scores, each weighted equally, out of 100%.
Where Does Hoarding Fit in the New CCS Code?
There’s no longer a standalone “Appearance” heading — but that doesn’t mean how your hoarding looks stopped mattering. It’s simply been absorbed into outcomes rather than treated as its own category. Hoarding sits almost entirely under Respect the Community, which asks whether a site is managing its impact on neighbours and the public and maintaining a positive presence. In practice, a Monitor assessing that theme is looking at exactly what your hoarding communicates: is it professional, is it clear who to contact, does it reduce rather than add to public nuisance?
Some hoarding‐related considerations — waste from damaged or discarded panels, materials specified with a lower environmental footprint — can also feed into the Environment pillar, though this is a smaller factor than Community.
The practical expectations that used to sit under “Care about Appearance” haven’t disappeared; they’re just judged now as evidence toward a community outcome rather than a checklist line on their own. That’s a meaningful shift for anyone specifying hoarding: it’s less about ticking an appearance box and more about whether the hoarding demonstrably makes the site easier and more pleasant for the public to be around.
How Hoardings Are Scored on a Monitoring Visit
A Scheme Monitor doesn’t score hoarding in isolation — it’s one piece of evidence within the Community pillar’s themes. But because it’s the most visible, permanent feature of a site boundary, it tends to carry disproportionate weight in first impressions. Each relevant theme is scored not met, partially met or fully met, and those scores combine into the pillar’s percentage.
Two things are worth planning for. First, repeat visits track improvement — a site that fixed a tatty, unsigned hoarding since the last visit will score better than one that installed it once and left it. Second, because Community is one of only three equally weighted pillars (rather than one of five), it now carries roughly a third of the overall score instead of a fifth. Getting the public‐facing basics right matters more to the headline number than it used to.
What a CCS‐Ready Hoarding Looks Like
Translating the Code into a specification, a hoarding that supports a strong Community score should have:
Clear, professional branding. Printed graphics rather than bare boarding — this is the single biggest factor in whether a site reads as “well managed” to a passer‐by.
Visible contact information. CCS requires registered sites to display the site manager or company contact and the Scheme’s freephone number so the public can raise a concern. This needs to be legible and current, not an afterthought.
Wayfinding, where the public needs it. On live retail, healthcare or mixed‐use sites, hoarding that directs visitors to open entrances, stores or accessible routes reduces confusion and complaints — a direct, tangible community benefit. We covered this in practice on a recent dual branded wayfinding hoarding project at Fosse Park, where clear directional graphics kept footfall moving during redevelopment works.
A finish built to stay presentable. Anti‐graffiti laminate keeps graphics looking maintained for years rather than months, which matters directly at repeat visits — a hoarding that’s degraded since the last Monitor visit is a visible step backward.
Installation that minimises disruption. Out‐of‐hours or phased installation, so trading hours and public access aren’t interrupted, speaks directly to the “reducing nuisance” expectation within Respect the Community.
Why CCS Accreditation Matters When Choosing a Hoarding Supplier
Studio One is CCS‐registered and works extensively with housing and property developers and construction and commercial contractors for whom CCS conformance isn’t optional. That means compliance — legible signage, durable finishes, considered wayfinding, phased installation — is built into how we specify and install hoarding from the outset, rather than something bolted on before a Monitor visit.
