You’ve got a site manager with an SMSTS. Problem solved right?
Well, not quite mate.
An SMSTS proves your manager can safely run a site and keep your people within regulations.
While a Level 6 Site Management NVQ proves they can actually do the work.
It’s two different answers to two different questions. And it’s absolutely worth having both in your back pocket.
But what is an SMSTS Qualification?
The problem is, people get one and think they’re covered. But that’s not the case
So we’re here to set the record straight, because this trips a lot of workers up.
SMSTS stands for Site Management Safety Training Scheme which is ran by the CITB.
Essentially, it’s a five-day safety course for site managers, project managers, agents or literally anyone who’s essential to safety on-site.
To break it down, they go through the Safety Law, CDM regs, risk assessments, and method statements.
At the end they get a certificate that lasts five years, then they do a one-day refresher to keep it live.
It’s worth having the course, in fact, every manager should have one. But it’s not an NVQ.
A level 6 Site Management NVQ is a different beat. And it does one job. It proves you’re a manager who can get the work done.
There’s no classroom, no exam. An assessor watches the manager doing the job they already do, day-to-day, and gathers the evidence.
It’s the one that gets them the black card, the manager’s card, and it’s what the big contractors want to see before they’ll believe the person running your job knows their stuff.
So the SMSTS says they are safe to be in charge. The Level 6 says they are actually up to being in charge. You want both. One without the other leaves a hole, and on a proper job that hole gets found.
You might be thinking it’s an absolute pain, but this isn’t just about paperwork, it’s about costing you jobs.
Bigger contractors will feel more comfortable with a workforce with a Level 6 Construction Site Management NVQ, not just the SMSTS.
A manager with only an SMSTS can quietly put a lid on the size of job you’re even allowed to bid for.
Since Grandfather rights have gone, there’s no back door left to a skilled, supervisory or managers CSCS card.
A Construction NVQ is the only route to success. So it’s the NVQ, or nothing.
Now you’re right to have some concern about this.
But we’re happy to tell you that this isn’t an issue for DMR Training.
There’s a lot of assumption going around that getting qualified means a long road back to college, sending your staff back to school while the job saunters on without them.
That’s not how on-site assessment works. You‘re trained on the job, assessments booked in around you, and our trainers observes you doing the work you’ve already been doing for ages
You keep working while you qualifiy. You’re not piling extra on them, you’re getting the graft they already do down on paper and turned into a card that opens doors.
Most managers get the Level 6 done in three to six months, fitted round the day job. Not weeks off site. No downtime.
We’ve got some good news. If your CITB Registered, you can claim back up to £1,500 towards a management NVQ.
That’s the levy you’re already paying coming back to you and doing something useful for you.
Your supervisors don’t need an SMSTS, they need an SSSTS, the two-day supervisor version of the safety course.
And on the qualification side they’re after a Level 3 in Occupational Work Supervision, which gets them the gold supervisor card.
However, it’s the same story as before. The Construction NVQ says there qualified, and the SSSTS is nice to have, but doesn’t prove competence on your worksite.
It’s both. An SMSTS for the safety side, lasts five years, go and get it.
And a Level 6 NVQ for the competence side, which is the one that wins you the bigger work and the only road left to the black card.
The NVQ side is our game. We assess on your site, round your schedule, with assessors who’ve actually been on the tools and know a real job from a course manual.
For the SMSTS, you can sort out with any CITB approved provider.
Still unsure?
Give us a ring on 01942 673047 or drop us a line on the contact form. We’ll do a quick skills check
No hard sell. Just a straight answer.
