Which card does the site actually want?

The colour is a shorthand, not the job

CSCS cards are issued by the Construction Skills Certification Scheme. The colour is a quick way to see the level. The occupation printed on the card is the part that matters on the gate. A blue card in one trade is not evidence of another.

Scheme rules change. The list below is the reading we use when a site says “CSCS only”. If a colour is disputed, the current CSCS register beats this page.

• Green — labourer. Health, safety and environment test, plus a Level 1 award in health and safety in a construction environment. Right for general labour. Wrong for a skilled trade.
• Blue — skilled worker. Typically an NVQ or SVQ Level 2 in the trade named on the card. The usual card for a competent tradesman.
• Gold — advanced craft or supervisor. Typically Level 3. The card says which of the two it is. Do not treat them as the same person.
• Black — manager. A construction management qualification, the card a site manager is expected to hold.
• White — academically or professionally qualified. Degrees and chartered routes. Common for engineers and designers visiting site, not for an operative.
• Red — temporary. Trainee, apprentice, experienced worker and similar. These expire. We look at the date before we look at the photo.
• Yellow — a visitor card. Not a licence to work. We do not send a visitor card in place of an operative.

What we check, and what we refuse

Before a start, the card has to be in date, the occupation has to match the order, and right to work has to be on file. Coding certificates, SMSTS, SSSTS, NEBOSH and CCNSG are checked the same way when the site asks for them. Expiry dates sit in PRISM so a card that dies mid-placement is visible before the gate finds it.

If the brief is “four lads, CSCS”, we will ask which colour and which occupation. Sending green-card labourers to do a blue-card job wastes the induction and usually gets them turned away.