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How to check a CSCS card (and keep a record of it)

A practical reference for planning and record keeping. Confirm current scheme and employer requirements before booking training or authorising work.

Glancing at a CSCS card at the gate isn't a proper check. CSCS's own guidance is that visual checks can't spot fake, revoked or fraudulently obtained cards. The way to confirm a card is genuine and in date is CSCS Smart Check, which is free.

Three ways to use Smart Check

  1. The Smart Check app. It's free on the App Store and Google Play. This is the one to use at the gate or at induction.
  2. The Smart Check website at cscssmartcheck.co.uk, also free. Handy for checking cards in the office before someone starts.
  3. The Smart Check API, for site access and induction systems. It's priced on enquiry from CSCS or through its IT Partners.

How to check a card with the app

  1. Open CSCS Smart Check and choose how to read the card.
  2. Physical card with the contactless symbol: pick Contactless (NFC) and hold the card against the back of the phone.
  3. Digital card in the My CSCS app: pick QR Code and scan the code on the worker's phone. It's a dynamic code, so scan it live from the app rather than from a photo or printout.
  4. Card won't read or is damaged: use the Manual check option.
  5. Read the result properly. Confirm the card is genuine, valid and in date. Check the photo and name match the person in front of you. Then check that the occupation and qualifications cover the work they're actually going to do.

How to check a card on the website

On the website you choose the card scheme, then enter the holder's surname and registration number from the card. It's a good way to check cards sent in before a start date.

What Smart Check shows you

A check confirms whether the card is genuine, valid and in date. It shows the holder's name, photo, occupation and qualifications. Expired cards show as not valid.

Digital cards

Approved cardholders get a digital card in the My CSCS app as well as a physical card. CSCS has told the industry that digital cards carrying the CSCS logo should be accepted on site. They're checked with the QR code option.

It's not just CSCS cards

Smart Check works for any card that carries the CSCS logo, from the schemes in the CSCS Alliance. These include CPCS (plant), ECS (electrical), JIB-PMES (plumbing), CISRS (scaffolding) and Q-card, plus NPORS and IPAF PAL Cards that show the CSCS logo. Not all of them do. NPORS's traditional card has no CSCS logo, and a UK PAL Card only carries it if the holder has a valid HS&E test.

Some important tickets need their own checker:

  • SMSTS and SSSTS: CITB's online card checker
  • IPAF PAL Cards without the CSCS logo: IPAF's Verify PAL Card page, or scan the QR code in the holder's ePAL app
  • NPORS traditional cards: check with NPORS
  • Standard PASMA cards: PASMA's online Check a Card tool, using the holder's name and certificate number. Holders can show a virtual card in the TowerSure app. PASMA says the online check doesn't replace seeing the card itself. Only PASMA's Access Tower Specialist card carries the CSCS logo.
  • GWO wind training: WINDA, GWO's training records database
  • OPITO offshore training (BOSIET, FOET, HUET, MIST): OPITO's open Certification Validation Checker, which needs no login

Plan for poor signal

The app and website need an internet connection to check cards in real time. If your site has patchy signal, do checks in the site office, or ask whether your access system can use the Smart Check API.

If a card fails the check

Treat the card as not valid until it's sorted. Ask the worker to renew it or contact the card scheme. Bear in mind that a card that has expired, or one for the wrong occupation, is just as much of a problem as a fake one.

Whatever the card says, CDM 2015 still applies. Under regulation 15(7), a contractor must not employ or appoint anyone to work on a construction site unless they have, or are in the process of obtaining, the skills, knowledge, training and experience to carry out their tasks safely.

Keep a record of every check

A check you can't prove is hard to rely on in an audit or after an incident. For each person, record:

  • the date of the check and who did it
  • the result
  • the card type, occupation and registration number
  • the expiry date, so you can recheck before it runs out

CSCS recommends verifying cards regularly, not just once at induction. If you use the Smart Check API through an access system, newer versions can also record the site, the location and the reason for each check.

Only keep what you need, and treat card details as personal data under UK GDPR.

Prefer a spreadsheet for now? Get our free training matrix template.

Common questions

Is CSCS Smart Check free? Yes. The app and the website are free. Only the API for access-control systems is charged.

Can you check a CSCS card online? Yes. On cscssmartcheck.co.uk, choose the scheme and enter the cardholder's surname and registration number.

Do I have to accept digital CSCS cards? CSCS's position is that digital cards carrying the CSCS logo should be accepted on site. Check them with the app's QR code option.

Is checking cards electronically a legal requirement? There's no specific law that says cards must be checked electronically. CSCS recommends checking cards with Smart Check, and the Construction Leadership Council's requirements say all CSCS-logo cards must be smart cards that Smart Check can read. Your CDM duty on worker competence (regulation 15(7)) still applies.

How do I check an expired CSCS card? Smart Check will show it as not valid. The holder needs to renew it. Most cards can be renewed in the My CSCS app. Red cards generally can't be renewed, the one exception being a one-off renewal of the two-year Trainee card. CSCS card types and renewals

Last checked against official sources: October 2026.

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