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NPORS Mobile Crane Training (N101)
Ten days is a long time off the job, and we will not pretend otherwise. Mobile crane is one of the longest NPORS categories there is, because setting a crane on the right ground, reading a duties chart and working to a rated capacity indicator takes that long to learn properly. Almost every novice on this course is funded by an employer, and it is worth knowing that before you enquire.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N101 Mobile Crane different
About this course
The NPORS N101 Mobile Crane category covers wheeled mobile cranes, the all terrain and rough terrain machines that arrive on site, set up on outriggers and lift. It is one of the ten day novice categories NPORS run, the longest they set, and the length is not padding. An operator has to understand the machine, the ground, the load and the chart at the same time, and the only way to get there is hours in the cab.
The course works through the machine first: the carrier and the superstructure, the power unit and transmission, the boom and its extension, the jib configurations and the safety devices fitted to them. Then the theory that governs every lift, which is the duties chart, radius, rated capacity and what the rated capacity indicator is actually telling the operator. Then the ground: outriggers and their loadings, mats and spreaders, what soft or made ground does under a fully extended outrigger and the signs that it is failing.
The rest is the job itself. Travelling on the public highway and what that requires. Setting the crane up and levelling it. Taking loads on and off, controlling swing, working within the radius, and communicating with the slinger signaller by hand signal and radio. Statutory duties under LOLER, PUWER and BS 7121, and where the crane operator sits in the lifting team: entitled to refuse a lift, expected to carry out pre use checks, and working to a plan that somebody else wrote.
- The machine itself: carrier and superstructure, power unit and transmission, boom, jib configurations and the safety devices fitted
- Duties charts, radius and rated capacity, and how to read what the rated capacity indicator is telling you before you take the load
- Ground assessment, outrigger loadings, mats and spreaders, and the signs that the ground under an outrigger is giving way
- Setting up, levelling and configuring the crane, then de rigging and preparing for travel, including travelling on the public highway
- Lifting technique: taking the load, controlling swing, working to radius, blind lifts, and shutting down safely at the end of the shift
- Where the operator sits in the lifting team under BS 7121, the pre use checks that are yours, and the right to refuse an unsafe lift
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N101 Mobile Crane category, registered with NPORS and recognised nationally
- An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, or a Blue Competent Operator card where you hold the relevant NVQ, carrying the CSCS logo while your CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date
- Enough hours in the cab to be useful to an employer on day one rather than in three months
- A route into the rest of the lifting team, including the N405 Crane Lift Supervisor and the N401 Appointed Person
Who should attend?
Plant operators moving up to cranes, crane hire company employees, steel erection and precast crews, and experienced operators who have worked cranes abroad or on a traditional card and now need the NPORS category. Because the novice route is ten days, it is almost entirely an employer funded course, and most novices come through crane hire firms, contractors with their own fleet or a formal training programme. If you are paying for it yourself, talk to us first about whether the experienced worker route applies to you.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen, in good general health with eyesight and hearing good enough for crane work, and able to follow spoken and written English for the theory test and the duties charts, though interpreters can be arranged on request. Employers commonly ask for a medical fitness assessment before putting somebody in a crane cab, and site operators may require one of their own. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you. Bring your date of birth and National Insurance number for the NPORS registration, and tell us at enquiry what crane you have operated and for how long, because that decides which route you are on.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the machine, the chart and the law, then the bulk of the time in and around the crane setting up, lifting and de rigging, with testing at the end.
The machine, the chart and the law
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, LOLER 1998, PUWER 1998 and BS 7121 as they apply to crane operation
- The lifting team and the crane operator's place in it, including the right to refuse an unsafe lift
- Carrier and superstructure, power unit, transmission and hydraulic systems
- Boom and jib configurations, counterweight arrangements and the safety devices fitted
- Duties charts, radius, rated capacity and rated capacity indicators
- Load weight, centre of gravity, slinging arrangements and shock loading
- Ground conditions, outrigger loadings, mats and spreaders, and proximity hazards including overhead lines
- Travelling on site and on the public highway, and the documentation that goes with a crane
Setting up, lifting and de rigging
- Pre use checks, fluid levels, defect reporting and the machine's documentation
- Positioning the crane, deploying and setting outriggers on mats, and levelling
- Configuring the boom and jib for the lift and checking the rated capacity indicator settings
- Lifting and placing loads to radius, controlling swing and working with a slinger signaller
- Working within the chart as the radius changes, and recognising when a lift is outside it
- De rigging, preparing for travel, and shutting down at the end of the shift
Method of assessment
How the N101 mobile crane test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. On the novice route assessment runs through the ten days, and the practical test covers setting up, lifting to the chart and de rigging.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many operators, where, what crane and what experience each has. Three candidates sit it with one instructor and one machine; four are allowed on the experienced worker test. We quote per group.
2. Route decided honestly
This matters more here than on any short category. Ten days is a lot of time and money, so we work out whether each person is genuinely a novice, an experienced worker or due a refresher before anything is booked.
3. Pre course check
We check the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test position if the CSCS logo version of the card is wanted, ask about medical fitness where your site or insurer requires it, and take the details NPORS need.
4. Training
Classroom on the machine, the chart and the law, then the bulk of the time in and around the crane. On the novice route that is most of ten days in the cab.
5. Theory and practical test
The NPORS theory test, then the practical test: pre use checks, setting up on outriggers, configuring the crane, lifting and placing loads to the chart and de rigging, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and apply for your card. With a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test it carries the CSCS logo, as a Red Trained Operator card or a Blue Competent Operator card if you hold the relevant NVQ.
After the course
The card, the NVQ and the rest of the lift
A ten day course gets you the category. What upgrades the card is the NVQ. Without one, the NPORS card is a Red Trained Operator card; with the relevant plant operations NVQ it becomes a Blue Competent Operator card. Either version only carries the CSCS logo while you hold a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, so keep an eye on that date, because it expires separately from the card and it catches people out at the gate.
The other half of the job is the team around the crane. Your lift is planned by an Appointed Person, run by a Crane Lift Supervisor and served by slingers and signallers, and a crane operator who understands what those people are doing is a better operator. Plenty of crane operators go on to the N402 Slinger Signaller and then the N405 Crane Lift Supervisor for exactly that reason, and it widens what an employer can put you on.
- N402 Slinger Signaller, so you understand the hook end as well as the cab
- N405 Crane Lift Supervisor for operators moving into supervising the lift
- N401 Appointed Person for operators moving into lift planning
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us for the CSCS logo version of the card
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N101 Mobile Crane FAQs
Because mobile crane sits at ten days, which is the longest novice length NPORS set. An operator has to read the ground, the chart and the load together, and that only comes from hours in the cab. NPORS allow three candidates with one instructor and one machine, so ten days is what it takes for each person to get enough time on the controls.
Only if you already operate mobile cranes. The experienced worker route is test focused and much shorter, and NPORS allow four candidates on it. The refresher is for a card coming up for renewal. We set the length of either against your logged hours and the crane you will be tested on, and confirm it before you commit.
Most people do not. Ten days off the job plus a crane and an instructor makes this an employer funded course in almost every case, usually through a crane hire firm, a contractor with its own fleet or a training programme. We are happy to talk to a self funding operator, but we will be straight with you about what it involves before you commit.
No. They are separate NPORS categories: N103 Crawler Crane and N102 Tower Crane, both also ten days for a novice. The N140 Compact Crane covers mini and spider cranes at five days. The category on your card has to match the machine you are operating.
A licence is a question for whoever moves the crane on the public highway rather than for the NPORS category itself. On medicals, employers and site operators commonly require a fitness assessment before somebody works in a crane cab, and we will tell you what we are asked for by the site you are going to.
The NPORS N101 category. Without an NVQ that is a Red Trained Operator card; with the relevant plant operations NVQ it is a Blue Competent Operator card. Either carries the CSCS logo only while you hold a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years. A traditional NPORS card without the logo suits work outside construction.
Yes, and for a ten day course it usually makes sense. Your operators learn on the machine they will be working, with your duties charts and your mats, and the crane does not have to be released to a training centre. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when your work allows.
Three on the novice course and the refresher, with one instructor and one machine. Four on the experienced worker test. If you have more than three operators to put through, we sequence them rather than squeezing the ratio, because the ratio is what makes the time in the cab worth having.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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