CSCS Warns Don’t Pay More Than £36 for a CSCS Card

CSCS IS warning construction workers not to pay more than £36 for a CSCS card. The advice comes after complaints about excessive charges from people who have used third-party companies to apply for their CSCS cards.

These companies are unaffiliated to CSCS, the organisation says, and they simply use the official CSCS application service on their client’s behalf, while charging an admin fee.

Many of the complaints relate to inflated costs and slow delivery times for cards.

Alan O’Neile, Head of Communications at CSCS, said: “While many third-party sites provide the services advertised and are entirely legal, CSCS wishes to make construction workers aware that some charge significantly more than the official application fee. This is particularly pertinent in the current climate as many in the industry grapple with increased costs.”

Official CSCS Card Service

There is only one official service to apply for a CSCS card. A card costs £36 and in most cases, the processing of applications and issuing of cards takes 48 hours.

Alan O’Neile continued: “We often hear of construction workers paying upwards of £60 just for their CSCS card. If you are charged more than £36 for a card or £22.50 for the separate CITB Health, Safety & Environment test you should ask why.

“For some workers and employers, the services provided by third party organisations make it worth paying the extra charges. But if you are paying more than £36 for a card, please check that you understand what additional services you will receive and that you are happy to pay for them.”

CSCS points out that some third-party websites falsely imply association to CSCS by using CSCS’s images to pass themselves off as official or affiliated to CSCS. CSCS is working with its legal representatives it says, to remove misleading information from these websites.

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