What is CITB card?
Once a trainee has finished their construction training course, they may need immediate proof of pass to be allowed to work on a construction site. However, pass certificates are not issued immediately by the registered training bodies and can often take up to five weeks to arrive after training has been completed.
Employers and cardholders can access an online card checker where they can officially check that an individual has passed their training course.
It is a very useful service for anyone who has recently completed one of the industry recognised site safety training courses and wants to enrol for a Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) test or any more advanced construction-related training courses that need candidates to have passed basic training before being allowed on the course.
The online citb card checker can also be used by anyone who needs to check the validity of one of the following membership cards:
Information needed for the card check
To check the validity of a cardholder, you can access the online-card-checker and enter at least two items of information about the individual you want to check.
The online card checker is an online form and to make a valid search, you must enter two items of information, one of which must be Individual ID/Registration Number or National Insurance Number, so any of the following combinations are acceptable:
- Surname & Individual ID/Registration Number
- Surname & National Insurance Number
- Date of Birth & Individual ID/Registration Number
- Date of Birth & National Insurance Number
When using the card check facility, please note that it will not recognise temporary NI numbers or anyone under the age of 18.
As well as being able to check for membership status of individuals carrying a CSCS, CPCS and CISRS card, you can also search for information on individuals participation in Health, safety and environment tests, a CPCS renewal test and the triple bar nuclear new build sites test.
You will also be able to find details of courses attended, including Site Safety Plus (SMSTS, SSSTS and SMSTS refresher) courses.
Why it is important to check for a valid card
If you work in the construction industry, you want to make sure the people you hire are qualified to do the job at hand. The card checking service is one of the main ways of doing just that.
It gives you a quick and reliable way to see if an individual is qualified for the job as well as ensuring they have the appropriate health, safety and environment training needed for the job you want to hire them to do.
In recent years the Home Office has been cracking down on fraudulent workers, so it makes sense that construction employers want to make sure their operation isn’t going against government guidelines.
Using the card checker has become the main way that construction employers can check the credentials of their construction workers and highlight issues such as expired cards where a refresher course will be needed to be taken by the worker to renew their card status.
For construction workers without valid credentials, such as the CSCS card, you may find it more difficult to get work.
