CISRS Card

Does a CISRS card need the CITB HS&E test?

Yes, at every grade. CISRS states that prior to the issue or renewal of CISRS cards it will be necessary to pass the CITB Health, Safety and Environment Test. There is no CISRS entry assessment that takes its place, and that is the single most useful thing to know about this scheme. It is also what separates CISRS from some of the other CSCS Alliance schemes, where the scheme runs an assessment of its own and the CITB test is not part of the route at all.

The 2 year window is the part people get caught by. CISRS accepts a CITB pass for card applications for two years only, and says that an application made outside that period means sitting the test again. That applies to renewals just as much as to first applications, so somebody renewing a five year card needs a pass from the last two years, not the one they sat when the card was first issued.

There is one qualification, and it only affects renewal. The 2 day CISRS CPD or Scaffolder Refresher course, which is how the Scaffolder and Advanced Scaffolder cards are renewed, contains a CISRS health, safety and behavioural test. CISRS says that passing it removes the need for the CITB HS&E test at that renewal. For a first application at any grade, and for renewing every other grade, the CITB test still applies.

Which CITB test level does each CISRS grade need?

Eight of the nine CISRS card pages ask for exactly the same thing, worded identically: the CITB HS&E test taken within 2 years, or an accepted exemption, with no level named. That is the Operatives paper. It covers the Labourer, BASE, Trainee Scaffolder, Scaffolder (Tube and Fitting), Scaffolder (System), Advanced Scaffolder, Basic Scaffold Inspection and Advanced Scaffold Inspection cards, which between them are almost everybody on a scaffold.

The Manager and Supervisor card is the exception. Its page asks for the CITB HS&E test at supervisory level, and the CISRS exemption rules narrow it further. For management and supervisory cards CISRS accepts only the CITB supervisors test, the Managers and Professionals test, or a supervisory or management level exemption such as SSSTS, SMSTS, NEBOSH, or IOSH Managing or Directing Safely. On CITB's own list, supervisory is a topic within the Specialist test, so the supervisory paper is the Specialist test sat with the supervisory (SUP) topic.

All of the CITB papers share the same shape, which makes revision straightforward once you know which one to book. CITB states that every health, safety and environment test lasts 45 minutes and contains 50 questions, and that the pass mark for both the Operatives test and each Specialist test is 90 per cent, meaning at least 45 correct answers out of 50.

The work at height test is the wrong test

This is the mistake worth spending a paragraph on, because it costs money. CITB runs a Specialist paper whose topic is specialist work at height, listed right alongside the supervisory topic. Working at height is a scaffolder's core risk, so it reads like the obvious booking, and plenty of people make it.

No CISRS card asks for it. Not one of the nine grades lists the work at height Specialist paper in its requirements. Eight ask for the plain Operatives test and the ninth asks for the supervisory level. Booking work at height instead of Operatives means paying the fee, sitting a 50 question paper and ending up without the pass CISRS wants, then paying again for the right one.

If you are a scaffolder, a scaffolding labourer, a BASE operative or a scaffold inspector, book Operatives. Only book a supervisory or Managers and Professionals paper if you are going for the Manager and Supervisor card.

Every CISRS card grade, and how the route works

CISRS runs nine card grades. The operative route starts with the Labourer card, which comes from a 1 day COTS course and the HS&E test, and which explicitly does not allow the holder to erect, alter or dismantle scaffolding. After at least 3 months holding that card, an operative can attend CISRS Part 1 and receive the first of two 18 month Trainee Scaffolder cards. Part 2 brings the second Trainee card, and the full Scaffolder card follows once the NVQ Level 2 or SCQF Level 5 and the 1 day skills test are done. Advanced Scaffolder sits above that, needing the Scaffolder card held for 12 months, the Advanced course, an NVQ Level 3 or SCQF Level 6 and a 2 day skills test.

Three grades sit outside that ladder. BASE is for non-scaffolders erecting basic system scaffold up to 6 metres away from the public, with one specific product. The two Scaffold Inspection cards are for people carrying out statutory inspections, basic and complex, and Manager and Supervisor is for first line supervision, from a 5 day course comparable to SMSTS.

Card validity is published for some grades and not others, and this page says so rather than filling the gaps. CISRS states 5 years for the Labourer, Scaffolder (Tube and Fitting), Scaffolder (System), Advanced Scaffolder and BASE cards, and 18 months for each of the two Trainee cards. It publishes no validity period for the Manager and Supervisor card or for either Scaffold Inspection card. Its own FAQ says only that most CISRS cards are valid for five years, which is a hedge, so check the expiry date printed on the card rather than assuming.

CISRS also publishes no colour for any grade, which surprises people arriving from the CSCS card system where colour is how the grades are named. A CISRS card carries the grade name, the holder's photograph and card number, an expiry date, and any endorsements on the back. Ask which grade a card is, not what colour it is.

How to apply for a CISRS card

You do not apply to CSCS, and strictly speaking you do not apply to CISRS either. CISRS states that all CISRS cards are issued by NOCN. The route is to complete the required training or qualification, pass the CITB HS&E test at the right level within the previous 2 years or hold an accepted exemption, then submit the application to NOCN either online or by post.

The application has to carry copies of all relevant training certificates, including the CITB HS&E test result or evidence of a recognised exemption, plus payment. Where an exemption is being used in place of the CITB test, CISRS requires a copy of that certificate to be attached to the form. Application forms come from CISRS, and CISRS also gives a helpline number, 0300 999 1177, for people who would rather do it by phone.

CISRS says you will typically have the card within 30 working days of NOCN approving the application. Training courses themselves are booked directly with a CISRS approved training centre, and each centre sets its own course prices, so CISRS does not publish a single figure for what the training costs.

How to renew a CISRS card

Every CISRS card is renewed through refresher or CPD training. CISRS introduced that requirement across the whole scheme, and the specific course depends on the grade.

Scaffolder and Advanced Scaffolder cards are renewed with the 2 day CISRS Scaffolder Refresher or CPD course. It updates holders on TG20 and SG4 and covers subjects including mental health awareness, anchor ties, design appreciation, vehicle safety, manual handling, temporary edge protection, PPE, protection of the public and impact wrenches. It also carries two optional modules, scaffold inspection and mobile access tower training, which add endorsements to the renewed card if passed. The course contains a CISRS health, safety and behavioural test, and CISRS says passing it removes the need for a separate CITB HS&E pass at that renewal.

The other grades renew differently and still need the CITB test. A Labourer card is renewed with another COTS course plus an in date HS&E pass. A BASE card is renewed with a 2 day SSPTS course plus the HS&E test. Both Scaffold Inspection cards are renewed by sitting the inspection course again plus the HS&E test, and the Manager and Supervisor card is renewed with the 2 day CISRS Supervisor and Manager Refresher course plus the supervisory level HS&E test.

Do not let it lapse. CISRS says that if a card has been expired for more than six months you may need additional training or re-assessment before it can be renewed, and for genuinely old style cards the route is a written appeal to the CISRS Scheme Manager with employment history and a third party reference, followed by the CPD course, the relevant skills test and the CITB HS&E test.

CISRS and CSCS: what the logo on the card means

CISRS is a CSCS Alliance card scheme. That means it meets the Construction Leadership Council recommendations and is permitted to display the CSCS logo, and CISRS confirms from its side that its cards are embossed with that logo. CISRS says it was the first trade skills card scheme to affiliate to CSCS, back in August 1999. On the Alliance member list CISRS is recorded with the NASC as scheme administrator and scaffolding as the sector represented.

What that does not mean is that a CISRS card is a CSCS card. CSCS does not issue it, does not take the application and does not set the training requirements. The Alliance is a group of peer schemes, and CSCS Cards is one of the schemes in it rather than the parent of the others. So a CISRS card is accepted wherever a card carrying the CSCS logo is asked for, and the CLC guidance quoted by CSCS says industry should specify and promote card schemes carrying the logo with no equivalents accepted.

CITB routes scaffolders the same way. Its own card schemes page describes CISRS as the industry recognised scaffold training scheme and tells readers to visit cisrs.org.uk to find out which card they need, how to apply and how to renew. If you are a scaffolder wondering whether to apply to CSCS or to CISRS, that is your answer.

The CISRS online HS&E test is not the CITB test

CISRS markets an online Operatives HS&E test, run with NOCN, at £23.50 including the eLearning modules. It can be taken at home, at your own pace, with no need to travel to a test centre. The CITB HS&E test is booked through CITB and sat in person at an Internet Test Centre or a Pearson VUE test centre. Both are described as an Operatives HS&E test, which is why they get mixed up, and the consequences of mixing them up are real.

They are different products. The CISRS/NOCN online test appears on CISRS's own list of things it accepts as an exemption from the CITB test, alongside SSSTS, SMSTS, NEBOSH and the IOSH courses. Like every item on that list it has to have been completed within two years of the application date. It is not accepted for the Manager and Supervisor card, where only the CITB supervisors test, the Managers and Professionals test or a supervisory or management level exemption will do.

It also will not carry over to a CSCS-branded card. CSCS publishes a list of alternatives to the CITB HS&E test, and it names three things: the health and safety requirements of a recognised apprenticeship, the CIC Health and Safety Test for certain professional cards only, and a SOLAS Safe Pass card. The CISRS/NOCN online test is not among them. So if you might also need a CSCS card, or you might move up to the Manager and Supervisor grade later, sitting the CITB test is the option that keeps both doors open.

How to check a CISRS card

There are two ways, and employers can use either. CISRS points to the NOCN card checker, and CISRS cards carry an NFC chip, so tapping the card on most modern phones or tablets brings up the holder's name, photo, courses and endorsements. CISRS also takes card checks by phone on 0300 999 1177 or by email, and asks for three pieces of information from the card number, full name, address, date of birth or National Insurance number.

The second route is CSCS Smart Check. Because a CISRS card displays the CSCS logo, Smart Check verifies it, and CSCS describes Smart Check as the only platform that verifies every card carrying that logo. It is available as an app, through the CSCS Smart Check website and as an API for site access and induction systems.

A visual look at the card is not a check. CSCS states that visual inspections will not detect cards that are fake, have been revoked or were fraudulently obtained. CISRS reserves the right to cancel or withdraw a card issued on false information and says it may take legal action over fraudulent copies.