New plant training standards have been developed by CITB in collaboration with industry working groups, comprising employers, training providers and trade associations, to change the way plant training and testing is delivered.
The changes are designed to ensure employers get a return on their investment by producing competent, work-ready plant operators who have received training from experts, including learning about new technologies and the eco operation of plant.
CITB offers several ways to help registered employers cover the cost of this standardised plant training.
First, there are CITB short duration grants, which vary based on the plant category and experience level, ranging from £250 to £880.
Companies can also book training through the CITB employer network, where CITB will pay 70% of the course cost, leaving employers to pay the remaining 30%. Employer networks helped more than 4,000 employers gain access to construction training in 2024-25, CITB says, more than a quarter of which had not claimed any CITB grants in the previous 12 months.
Following updates to the phase one standards in December 2024, the next tranche of 19 standards will be released in June 2025. This change will see all CITB-funded training for excavators, dump trucks and telescopic handlers standardised.
Phase two of the new training standards cover:
- Excavator 360 below 10 tonnes: tracked training
- Excavator 360 above 10 tonnes: wheeled training
- Excavator 360 below 10 tonnes: wheeled training
- Excavator 360 above 10 tonnes: lifting operations suspended loads training
- Excavator 180 below 10 tonnes: lifting operations training
- Excavator 360° lifting operations – suspended loads
- Excavator 180° lifting operations – suspended loads
- Excavator 180 below 5 tonnes: training
- Excavator 180 above 5 tonnes: training
- Forward tipping dumper: tracked training
- Dump truck: articulated chassis, up to 15 tonnes training
- Dump truck: rigid chassis, up to 15 tonnes training
- Dump truck: rigid chassis, up to 50 tonnes training
- Dump truck: rigid chassis, all sizes (wheeled) training
- Dump truck: rigid chassis, all sizes (tracked) training
- Telescopic handler: suspended loads (non-rough terrain) training
- Telescopic handler: industrial telescopic training
- Telescopic handler: up to 9 metres training
- Telescopic handler: all sizes including 360 slew training
Christopher Simpson, head of quality and standards at CITB, said: “These changes will help standardise and improve the quality and consistency of plant training; increase the amount of plant training that takes place before testing; and increase the number of people trained in plant operations, particularly new entrants to construction.”
Alasdair Reisner, chair of the Plant Sector Representative Organisation (PSRO) and chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), said: “The PSRO – consisting of seven major construction plant-user federations – was set up by employers and their representative bodies to drive consistency for operational standards and certification through card schemes. The PSRO has worked with CITB throughout the process of developing these new training standards and supports their use within the construction sector.”
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