Scaffolding Career Options & Our Suggested Courses

Choosing to work in the construction industry presents many choices that you will have to make. Firstly, you will have to decide which area of construction is most likely to be the best fit for you. From brickmasons to carpenters, pipelayers to electricians, there’s a wealth of opportunity available in this particular field, and each role has its own required training and skill set.

If you’re thinking about building a career as a scaffolder, there’s no denying that it will certainly deliver when it comes bringing a sense of achievement to your work life. Every job completed as a scaffolder delivers fulfillment and pride in the work that you’ve done.

Of course, there’s much more to a scaffolding career than simply taking one job and completing it, before moving on to the other. As a scaffolder, you can grow as a professional and develop throughout your career, using various different industry-recognised CISRS training courses.

In our guide, find out more about the different levels of progression you could take on as a scaffolder, as well as what CISRS courses are most appropriate for each level of progression.

Entering a career in scaffolding

Whether you’re working in a different construction role and looking to make a switch, or you’re completely new to the industry, it’s vital to receive the relevant training before beginning a role as a scaffolder.

Firstly, you must complete the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) health and safety assessment (or another CISRS recognised health and training test), before signing up to any training. Once you have completed the health and safety assessment, you will have 2 years to attend and qualify from the initial training scheme – the CISRS Operative Training Scheme (COTS).

COTS is the very first training course you should take part in, to begin a career in the scaffolding industry. The course will help you to develop an understanding of construction site safety and how to work with scaffolding equipment responsibly.

COTS takes just one day to complete and at the end of it, you will receive an attendance certificate which can be used to apply for a CISRS Scaffolder Labourer or Trainee card. This card can then be used to kickstart your career as a Scaffolder and will help you to progress to the next stage in your career.

Our COTS course costs £145, but many employers will be able to fund the course for you. Find out more about our COTS course and our upcoming training days here.

Progress into Tube & Fittings

Once you have had your CISRS Scaffolder Labourer or Trainee Card for at least 6 months, along with at least 6 months of relevant practical experience, you will be able to take the next step on the career ladder.

The first part of the CISRS Scaffolding Tube & Fitting course is what should be next on your list of training exercises. The course will help you to move up from a trainee or scaffolding assistant, to a professional scaffolder yourself. The course will provide you with the skills needed to build, alter and dismantle simple scaffold structures, as well as developing your basic healthy and safety knowledge and providing information about the regulations regarding scaffold structures.

Part 1 of our CISRS Tube & Fittings course takes 10 days to complete, and if you’re successful in the training course, you will be provided with a CISRS certificate, which will prove you have qualified from the training and can update your CISRS card.

Find out more about our CISRS Tube & Fittings course, along with the upcoming training days available.

Move on to Part 2 of Tube & Fittings

With a further 6 months relevant experience under your belt after passing Part 1 of the course, you will then be able to progress into Part 2 of the CISRS Tube & Fittings training. Similarly to Part 1, this training course takes 10 days to complete and you will be able to update your CISRS card after qualifying from the course – you will officially become a qualified scaffolder after completing Part 2 of the CISRS Tube & Fittings course.

We also offer an Advanced Tube & Fittings course, for anyone looking to progress to Advanced Scaffolder level. This, however, will require you complete NVQ levels 2 and 3 of Access & Rigging Operations before you will be able to sign up. We have plenty more information about this particular course here.

Become a supervisor or manager over time

Over time, it’s natural to want to progress from a qualified scaffolder or advanced scaffolder, into a leading supervisor or managerial role. Achieving this career level comes from plenty of hard work, relevant practical experience and, above all else, the required training.

Here at Safety Access, we have a variety of CISRS training courses available, which will bring you steps closer to becoming a scaffolding supervisor or manager in time.

The CISRS Basic & Advanced Scaffold Inspection courses will teach you how to safely and responsibly check over scaffold structures, before they are signed off and used on a construction site. This type of training will take you one step closer to become a site supervisor or manager. Find out more about the Basic and Advanced Scaffold Inspection courses.

We also have a CISRS Scaffold Supervisor course, which will provide you with all the relevant knowledge and information for carrying out a role as a scaffolding supervisor or manager. There are a number of requirements needed in order for a scaffolder to sign up for and complete this course, which can be found here, along with plenty more information about the course itself. With enough time, commitment and training, you will soon find yourself on the way to becoming a supervisor or manager in the scaffolding industry.

As you can see, there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to moving up the scaffolding career ladder, and these various training courses will help you to reach your career aims.

The courses listed here are just a drop in the ocean of what we here at Safety Access offer for scaffolders, and you can find plenty more information over on our CISRS Scaffolding Training Courses page. Make sure to read through the options available and don’t forget to sign up to a training day near you, whenever you’re ready to kickstart your scaffolding career.

Call our team! 0115 979 4523