Lost CSCS Card? How to Replace It and Keep Working

You replace a lost CSCS card in the My CSCS app. Open My Cards, pick the card and tap Replace Card. If your employer or training provider manages your cards, they do it through CSCS Online instead. It costs £36, and the new card keeps the expiry date printed on the one you lost. If the card already shows in your app, the digital version may get you on site while you wait.

People lose time or money here in two ways. Some pay a card service more than £36 for one button in the app. Others go looking for a temporary card, and CSCS won't give the obvious one to anyone who has held a card before.

How to replace a lost CSCS card in the My CSCS app

CSCS's replacement page sets out one route for cardholders and one for employers. For you, it's the app.

1. Open the My CSCS app and sign in.
2. Go to My Cards.
3. Tap the card you've lost.
4. Choose Replace Card and pay the £36 fee.

If an employer, training provider or other third party applied for your card, they replace it from their CSCS Online account. Ask them before you pay, so nobody orders it twice.

CSCS's terms explain how the payment works. The £36 is held on your bank card when you apply, and it's only taken if the application succeeds. Once it's taken, you can't get it back.

No account, or the app won't let you in

The My CSCS app is free on Google Play and the App Store, and it's the route CSCS gives individual cardholders. If you've never used it, download it first. CSCS doesn't explain how a card you already hold gets into a new account. So if your card doesn't show under My Cards, contact CSCS before you apply for anything.

If the app throws an error, CSCS suggests updating or reinstalling it. If that doesn't fix it, CSCS Online handles the same jobs, replacements included.

You can reach CSCS in three ways.

• a support ticket in CSCS Online or the app
• webchat on the CSCS website
• 0344 994 4777, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, except bank holidays

If you don't know your CSCS card number

In the app, you don't need it. Your card sits under My Cards, and the replacement starts there.

CITB's check a card service does something different. It searches CITB Health, Safety and Environment test results and Site Safety Plus results. It isn't a lookup for CSCS cards. You enter two details, and one must be your registration number, CITB test ID or National Insurance number. Your surname and National Insurance number can find your test record with no card number at all. A temporary National Insurance number won't work.

For questions about the card itself, including a lost one, CITB sends you to CSCS.

Stolen or damaged CSCS card, or a change of name

CSCS's replacement page puts stolen cards alongside lost and damaged ones. It's the same Replace Card button and the same £36. The page gives no separate steps for a theft.

CSCS's terms say the card stays CSCS's property and must be kept in your secure possession at all times. Its fraud page says suspected fraud can be reported straight to CSCS at [email protected].

A damaged or broken card goes through the same replacement. CSCS doesn't mention faded cards by name. If a worn card is causing trouble at the gate, ask CSCS whether it counts as damaged.

A new name works differently. First you change your details in your CSCS online account, with a document such as a marriage certificate or deed poll. Then you replace the card to get the new name printed. Adding a new qualification means applying for a new card instead.

Can you work while you wait for a replacement CSCS card?

Yes, if your card is in the My CSCS app and the site accepts it. CSCS says a digital card is exactly the same as a plastic one. It shows your photo, qualifications, training, occupation and expiry date. Sites check it with Smart Check, either by scanning a QR code or by typing in the details.

To show it, open the app, tap My Cards and select the card. A QR code appears for the site to scan.

CSCS doesn't promise that every site will let you in on it. A CSCS card isn't a legal requirement, and CSCS says controlling site access is the principal contractor's job. Smart Check also needs an internet connection to check a card. So whether the digital card gets you through the gate is the site's decision.

Temporary CSCS card: what people mean by it

People use the phrase for two different things.

If you mean something to carry until your replacement arrives, that's the digital card above. None of the 13 cards CSCS issues is a stopgap for a lost card.

CSCS's own temporary cards are something else. They're time-limited cards for people at the start of a job or still working towards a qualification.

• Provisional. For someone on probation with an employer, someone on work experience shorter than three weeks, or a newcomer still trying out construction. It lasts six months and can't be renewed.
• Trainee. People registered on an NVQ or SVQ, or on an HNC, HND or degree, get a five-year card. A two-year card covers people who passed an approved level 2 or higher qualification for their trade in the last five years, where that qualification didn't assess them on the job.
• Experienced Worker. For people registered on an NVQ or SVQ at level 2 or above who already work in the trade, normally for a year or more out of the last three. It lasts one year and can't be renewed.

Supervisors and managers have their own version, the Experienced Technical, Supervisor or Manager card, which the guide to the CSCS black card covers.

If you've lost a card, the Provisional card is closed to you. CSCS's Provisional card page says you can only apply if you've never held a CSCS card, and only once. For every card matched to a job and qualification, see which CSCS card do I need.

Lost card close to its expiry date? Renew it instead

A replacement carries over the expiry date of the card you lost. If that date is less than six months away, you'd pay £36 for a card that's about to run out.

CSCS opens renewals six months before expiry, and a renewal costs the same £36 card fee. The renewed card gets a new expiry date.

A replacement only needs the fee. A renewal also needs a recent CITB test pass. Skilled, supervisor and manager cards want one from the last two years. Labourer cards want the operatives test from the last three years, or the last two if you hold a five-year card. If your pass is older than that, you need a new test before you can renew. We book the CITB Operatives test, the one Labourer cards ask for, and you can practise first on the free mock tests.

If your card has already expired, it's a renewal rather than a replacement. The guide to CSCS card renewal covers it.

A replacement CSCS card costs £36 from CSCS

CSCS says its own site is the only official one, and that applications go through CSCS Online or the My CSCS app. It warns that third-party card services aren't connected to CSCS, are often more expensive and can add admin fees. A replacement is one button on a card you already hold, so there's little for anyone else to do. The guide to how much a CSCS card costs sets out every official fee.

The other way to pay twice is leaving it too long to chase. CSCS's terms say to contact CSCS if nothing has arrived four weeks after you applied. After 90 days the application counts as closed, and a replacement then costs another £36.

What to do today about a lost CSCS card

A lost CSCS card is a £36 job you do yourself in the My CSCS app, and nobody needs to do it for you.

Before your next shift, open the app and find the card under My Cards. Check the expiry date. If it's more than six months away, tap Replace Card. If it's closer, renew instead. Then ring the site and ask whether your digital card will get you in until the new one arrives.

Frequently asked questions