Redefining Compliance: A New Standard for Site Access and Right-to-Work Checks.
Written by: Dean Tuhey
By Dean Tuhey , Founder of PPAC.
The construction industry is standing at a crossroads. For too long, we’ve relied on trust when it comes to verifying who’s working on our sites. But that era is coming to an end.
With new legislation on the horizon, right-to-work checks will soon extend to cover the self-employed. This seismic shift directly affects how contractors and subbies operate across our industry. This is a wake-up call. The days of turning a blind eye or relying on photocopies in a file are over. And let’s be honest, they should’ve ended a long time ago.
Why I Knew Something Had to Change.
I’ve worked in the UK construction sector since 2003, and over the years I’ve had the opportunity to be part of some incredible projects: Heathrow, Stansted, Thames Tideway, to name a few. I’ve spent most of that time in recruitment roles, helping to get boots on the ground for high-pressure jobs with tight deadlines.
But here’s the thing: the bigger the project, the more complex the onboarding. And the more complicated it gets, the easier it is for things to slip through the cracks, especially when it comes to right-to-work checks and compliance.
I’ve seen firsthand what happens when the process fails.
There was one incident I’ll never forget. A worker managed to gain site access with a fraudulent passport. It was a serious situation: not just legally, but reputationally. I couldn’t help but think, we should’ve caught that. That experience stuck with me. It exposed the flaws in our processes and made it clear that relying on tick-box compliance just isn’t enough anymore.
The Real Turning Point in Rome.
I was standing in the airport, watching how passport scanning technology instantly verified traveller identities. That’s when it hit me. If airports can validate a person’s identity and travel permissions instantly, why can't we do the same when someone shows up at a construction site? “Why don’t we have something like this in construction?
That was the lightbulb moment, the beginning of what would become PPAC.
PPAC: From Scanners to Compliance tools.
PPAC started out partnering with a tech provider. Over time, a simple document scanner evolved into PPAC Digital, a sector-specific compliance platform designed for construction’s unique challenges.
PPAC validates identity, right-to-work (including share codes and e-visas), and qualifications such as CSCS cards, with a laser focus on fraud prevention. The platform doesn't just accept a document at face value, it checks if the visa is actually valid for construction work, ensuring companies are not unknowingly breaking the law.
As the platform matured, so did its capabilities. With PPAC 2.0 – Compliant 101, the suite now offers comprehensive compliance tools. These are tailored to high-risk, high-volume onboarding environments where issues are not just likely but inevitable without the right checks in place.
And the reality is sobering: on every project PPAC has audited, compliance red flags have been uncovered. Every. Single. Time.
Progressing further, together.
The construction sector faces unique hurdles. Fragmented supply chains. Complex subcontractor layers. And a long-standing culture of "getting it done," often at the expense of due diligence. It’s a landscape where modern slavery, illegal working, and reputational damage aren’t theoretical risks but active threats.
With fines reaching up to £60,000 per illegal worker, the consequences of non-compliance are steep and growing. That’s why we’re partnering with innDex, a digital workforce management platform. innDex is often the first point of contact for workers arriving on site. By embedding PPAC’s compliance layer directly into that onboarding flow, the two platforms together create a seamless, secure, and fully verified worker journey; from gate to task.
For clients, it means real-time visibility into compliance. For project managers, it means peace of mind knowing every worker on site is verified. And for the industry as a whole, it marks a shift away from fragmented systems toward a unified, intelligent approach to workforce assurance.
The industry has been reactive for too long. PPAC x innDex are here to make construction more proactive.
Dean Tuhey spent over a decade on the frontline of construction recruitment and workforce management. From senior consultancy roles to managing airport operations and leading major project staffing at FastTrack Management Services, Dean built a deep understanding of the pressures and pitfalls that come with high-volume, high-risk onboarding environments.
His work on landmark projects like Heathrow, Stansted, and Thames Tideway exposed the industry’s overreliance on manual checks and outdated processes, and ultimately planted the seeds for the digital solution he would go on to create - PPAC Solutions
