How to Get a CSCS Card: Steps, Tests and Timings

To get a CSCS card, you pick the card that matches your job, get the qualification that card asks for, pass the right CITB Health, Safety and Environment test, then apply through the My CSCS app. Most people starting out need the Labourer card, the one sites call the green card. That means a Level 1 Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment plus a pass in the CITB Operatives test.

A CSCS card isn't required by law. CSCS says the call belongs to the principal contractor or client. In reality, the majority of principal contractors and major housebuilders ask for one.

Step 1: Work out which card you need

CSCS issues 13 types of card, and the right one depends on your job and your qualifications. The quickest check is CSCS's Card Finder, or the My CSCS app, which reads a photo of your certificate and recommends a card.

The Labourer card is only for unskilled work. CSCS warns that a skilled worker showing one at the gate will be turned away. If you hold, or are enrolled on, a trade qualification, skip the Level 1 course and apply for the card that matches your trade.

Our guide to which CSCS card you need goes through every card and the qualification behind it.

Step 2: Get the qualification for that card

For the Labourer card, you need one of these:

• The Level 1 Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment. It never expires.
• An approved alternative, such as CITB's Health and Safety Awareness course. Most last five years, and CSCS says an alternative that expires can only be used once, so you'd retake it to renew.

CSCS doesn't run training itself, so the qualification comes from an approved training provider. If you're out of work, ask about funding before you pay.

Our Level 1 Health and Safety course is fully online. You book the exam remotely, Monday to Saturday, get a same-day e-certificate if you pass, and one free resit is included.

Skilled cards need an NVQ or an apprenticeship, level 2 for the Blue Skilled Worker card and level 3 for the Gold. If you're registered on one but haven't finished, a temporary card covers you meanwhile.

Step 3: Pass the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test

The test comes in three versions. Anyone applying for a Labourer, Apprentice or Trainee card sits the Operatives one, and so do most people going for a Blue or Gold trade card. Supervisors and some trades take a Specialist test, and managers take the Managers and Professionals test.

Whichever you sit, you get 45 minutes for 50 questions. On the Operatives test, CITB sets the pass mark at 90%, so 45 correct answers, five slips at most.

It's taken at a test centre, not at home. A fail means a wait of at least 48 hours before you can resit. When you apply for the card, CSCS only accepts a pass from the past two years.

Practise first with our free CITB mock tests, 20 full Operatives mocks with no login, and read our CITB mock test guide for the format, ID rules and revision tips. We can also book your CITB test at a Pearson centre near you.

Step 4: Apply in the My CSCS app

Individuals apply through the free My CSCS app. Employers apply in bulk through CSCS Online. Before you start, have these ready:

• A scan or clear photo of your qualification certificate, or proof you're registered on one
• The CITB test ID number from the top of your pass certificate
• A debit or credit card for the fee (the Apprentice card is free)

CSCS flags one snag. City and Guilds certificates issued from 1 April 2013 must go in as the e-certificate with its authentication code, not a photo of the paper copy.

Once CSCS approves it, your digital card works straight away and the plastic card should arrive within five working days.

How long does it take to get a CSCS card?

Nobody can promise a date. It depends on your course, your test slot and CSCS's approval. CSCS says an approved card should arrive within five working days, and the digital card is live on approval. Fail the test and you'll wait at least 48 hours to resit.

On our CSCS Green Card package, the Level 1 course and exam can be done online in as little as 48 hours. We book your test at a local Pearson centre. Once you've passed both, we apply for you and the card is delivered within 5 to 10 working days.

So a week or two is realistic if test slots are free and your paperwork is right first time.

Where the Provisional card fits

The Provisional card is a stopgap, not a shortcut. It's for people on a probation period, on work experience of under three weeks, or still working out which trade to follow. It lasts six months, can't be renewed and is only issued once, to people who've never held a CSCS card. A recent CITB pass is still needed. Before the six months are up, you should be qualified, or signed up for a qualification, and ready to swap to the card for your job.

Renewing a CSCS card

You can renew from six months before your card expires until a year after. The rules depend on the card.

• Labourer card: the first card lasts two years. To renew, your employer, or main contractor if you're self-employed, signs a Labourer Declaration Form confirming you still labour. For that first renewal, your original test pass counts for up to three years. Holders of a five-year Labourer card need a pass from the last two years.
• Blue, Gold, Supervisory and Manager cards last five years and renew with the same qualification plus the right test from the last two years.
• Apprentice, Trainee, Experienced Worker and Provisional cards can't be renewed. You move up to the next card instead.

The declaration rule started on 1 February 2025, so older advice about simply resitting the test is out of date. CSCS's own pages disagree on whether a renewed Labourer card lasts three years or five, so check in the app.

Get the card right first time

Choose the right card before you pay for anything, and the rest is one course, one test and one application. If you'd rather not juggle three separate bookings, our CSCS Green Card package rolls them into one order. You do the Level 1 course and exam online, we book the CITB test, and we send your application to CSCS.

Frequently asked questions