How to Become a Labourer With No Experience

You don't need experience or qualifications to become a labourer. What most sites do need is a CSCS Green Labourer card. To get one, you pass the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test and a Level 1 health and safety award, then apply to CSCS. After that, you find work through agencies, job sites and by asking builders directly. Expect to start a little above the minimum wage.

What a labourer does

A labourer keeps the trades working. According to the National Careers Service, that means jobs like these:

• digging and marking out trenches for foundations and drains
• mixing mortar and concrete
• putting up formwork and laying concrete
• laying kerbs and paving
• moving materials and keeping bricklayers and carpenters supplied

Expect 40 to 44 hours a week, outdoors in all weathers and sometimes at height. Some jobs mean evenings, weekends or working away from home. You may need your own safety boots, hard hat and hi-vis, though some employers supply them.

A few jobs are off limits at first. Operating plant, such as dumpers or excavators, usually needs you to be 18 or over with a driving licence.

It's hard work. If you're weighing that up, our honest look at whether construction is a good career covers the pay, demand and downsides.

Getting your CSCS Green Labourer card

CSCS says holding a card isn't a legal requirement. In practice, most principal contractors and major house builders won't let you on site without one, so get it before you apply for site work.

1. Pass the operatives version of the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test. You sit it at a test centre, and the pass counts for two years when you apply.
2. Get the Level 1 Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment, or an alternative CSCS approves.
3. Apply online or through the My CSCS app, using the test ID number from your pass certificate. Once CSCS approves you, the digital card is ready straight away.

The first Labourer card lasts two years. After that you can renew it for five years by declaring that you still work as a labourer.

The Labourer card is for unskilled work only. If you're starting an apprenticeship or an NVQ, you'd apply for a different card instead. Our full guide to getting a CSCS card covers every card type.

Where to find labouring work

Use more than one route at once. Each reaches different employers.

Agencies

Many sites take on labourers through recruitment agencies. Register with two or three that supply construction sites near you. Tell them your card number, when you can start and how far you can travel, then check in each week.

Know your rights before you sign up. GOV.UK says agencies can't charge you a fee for finding you work. They can offer paid extras like training, but they can't make you buy them as a condition of finding you work. As an agency worker, you're paid at least the minimum wage for every hour. After 12 weeks in the same job, you're entitled to the same pay as a permanent employee doing it.

Job boards and Find a job

Search for "labourer", "general operative" and "site labourer" on the big job boards and on the government's Find a job service. Apply early, since some adverts close once they get enough responses.

Keep your CV to one page. Put your CSCS card, HS&E test pass and driving licence at the top. Add any physical work you've done, even outside construction. The National Careers Service says experience in a builders' merchant or yard helps.

Asking builders directly

Many small builders never advertise. Email or ring local groundworks firms, housebuilders and builders, and say what you can do and when you're free. For a big site, call in at the site office or ring the number on the hoarding. Never walk onto a live site to ask.

A short, polite follow-up after a week or two shows you're keen. Some firms keep a good CV on file and ring when work comes up.

People you know

Tell everyone you know that you're after labouring work, especially anyone already on site. Be specific about the area and the start date you can do.

Track every application in a simple list. Note the date, the company, who you spoke to and when to chase.

What labouring pays

ONS figures for April 2025 put median full-time pay for general construction labourers at £28,591 a year. That's about £13.85 an hour or £587 a week. Groundworkers, who do more skilled work, earned a median £37,925, or £16.29 an hour.

Those figures only cover employees and are from before the April 2026 rise. The legal minimum is now £12.71 an hour if you're 21 or over, £10.85 at 18 to 20 and £8 under 18, according to GOV.UK's minimum wage rates. Self-employed and agency day rates vary by area and aren't in the ONS figures.

Demand is steady. CITB forecasts the UK needs 1,810 extra labourers a year to 2030.

Where labouring can lead

Labouring is a starting point. The National Careers Service says you can train on the job to become a qualified tradesperson or plant operator, and with experience move up to team leader or site supervisor.

For the step up, read about moving from labourer to skilled labourer. To compare apprenticeships, college and NVQs, see how to become a builder.

Get your card sorted first

Start with our free CITB mock tests to see how ready you are for both exams. Once you're scoring well, our CSCS Green Card package takes you the rest of the way to your green card. The Level 1 course and exam happen online, we find you a CITB test slot at a nearby Pearson VUE centre, and we send off the card application. Already passed the CITB test? You can take the Level 1 course on its own. Lifting all day? Our online manual handling course takes about an hour.

Frequently asked questions