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NPORS Tower Crane Training (N102)
A tower crane driver spends the shift a long way above the job, lifting loads they often cannot see, on the word of a slinger on a radio. Ten days is what NPORS set for a novice, and it is one of the longest categories they run. Almost every novice is funded by an employer, which is worth knowing before you enquire.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N102 Tower Crane different
About this course
The NPORS N102 Tower Crane category is the operator card for the saddle jib and luffing jib cranes that stand over a site for the length of the build. It is a ten day novice category, the longest length NPORS set, and the reason is the nature of the job rather than the complexity of the controls. The operator works alone at height for a full shift, places loads accurately across a crowded site, and does most of it on a radio because the load is out of sight.
The course covers the crane itself: the tower, slew ring, jib and counter jib, the hoist, trolley and slew motions, the limit switches and load moment devices and what each safety system is protecting. It goes through duties charts and the relationship between radius and capacity on a tower crane, which catches out operators coming from mobile cranes, along with wind limits, out of service conditions and weathervaning. Erection and dismantling are covered as awareness, because they are specialist operations in their own right under BS 7121 Part 5.
Then the operating itself. Pre use checks and the climb. Taking a load on and placing it accurately with the least swing, which is most of the skill. Working over occupied areas, exclusion zones and the interface with other cranes where slew paths overlap. Communication by radio and hand signal, blind lifts, and what to do the moment contact with the slinger is lost. Statutory duties under LOLER, PUWER and BS 7121, and where the operator sits in the lifting team, including the right to refuse a lift.
- The machine: tower, slew ring, jib and counter jib, hoist, trolley and slew motions, and the limit switches and load moment devices fitted
- Duties charts on a tower crane and how capacity changes with radius, which works differently from a mobile crane
- Wind limits, out of service conditions, weathervaning and the decisions that stop lifting for the day
- Pre use checks, climbing the crane safely, and the documentation that goes with it
- Placing loads accurately with minimum swing, over occupied areas, and managing exclusion zones and overlapping slew paths
- Radio and hand signal communication, blind lifts, loss of contact, and the operator's right to refuse an unsafe lift
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N102 Tower 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 on the controls to be useful to a site from the first week rather than the third month
- A route into the wider lifting team, including the N402 Slinger Signaller and the N405 Crane Lift Supervisor
Who should attend?
Operators moving up from other plant, crane hire and contractor employees being brought on, and experienced tower crane drivers who have worked abroad or on another scheme and now need the NPORS category. Given the length, the novice route is almost entirely employer funded, usually by a crane hire firm or a main contractor running its own cranes. If you already drive tower cranes, the experienced worker route is the one to ask about. If your interest is the smaller pedestrian operated machines, the N115 Remote Control Tower Crane is a three day category and a different card.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen, in good general health with eyesight, hearing and head for heights suitable for tower crane work, and comfortable climbing a tower and working alone at height for a shift. You need enough spoken and written English for the theory test, the duties charts and radio communication, though interpreters can be arranged for the training. Employers and site operators commonly require a medical fitness assessment before anybody drives a tower crane, and some insurers insist on one. 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. Tell us at enquiry what cranes you have driven and for how long, because that decides your route.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the crane, the chart and the law, then the bulk of the time in the cab lifting and placing loads, with testing at the end.
The crane, the chart and the law
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, LOLER 1998, PUWER 1998 and BS 7121 as they apply to tower cranes
- The lifting team and the crane operator's place in it, including the right to refuse an unsafe lift
- Tower crane types and components: tower, slew ring, jib and counter jib, hoist, trolley and slew motions
- Safety systems: limit switches, load moment and load radius devices, anti collision systems and what each protects
- Duties charts and the relationship between radius and capacity on a tower crane
- Wind limits, out of service conditions, weathervaning and adverse weather decisions
- Erection, climbing and dismantling as awareness, and why they are specialist operations under BS 7121
- Load assessment, slinging arrangements, exclusion zones and working over occupied areas
Driving the crane
- Pre use checks, access to the cab and safe climbing of the tower
- Starting up, checking the safety systems and confirming the crane is fit to work
- Taking loads, travelling the trolley and slewing with minimum swing
- Placing loads accurately, including in restricted positions and over other works
- Blind lifts under radio direction, and stopping the moment communication is lost
- Securing the crane at the end of the shift, including putting it out of service for weather
Method of assessment
How the N102 tower crane test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. On the novice route assessment runs across the ten days, with the practical covering pre use checks, controlled lifting and accurate placing.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many operators, where the crane is and what each person has driven. 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
Ten days is a serious commitment, so we establish whether each person is a true novice, an experienced worker or due a refresher before anything is booked, rather than defaulting everybody to the long route.
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 crane, the chart and the law, then the bulk of the time in the cab. On the novice route that is most of ten days on the controls.
5. Theory and practical test
The NPORS theory test, then the practical test: pre use checks, starting up, lifting and placing loads accurately including under radio direction, and securing the crane, 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 slinger on the other end of the radio
A tower crane operator is only as safe as the person talking to them. Most lifts on a tower crane are blind for part of the journey, which means the driver is placing a load on somebody else's description. Sites that put their slingers through the N402 Slinger Signaller alongside the crane operator get a noticeably better result, because everybody uses the same words and the same signals and nobody improvises. We run the N402, the N405 Crane Lift Supervisor and the N401 Appointed Person for the same group.
On the card, the NPORS category is the qualification and the CSCS logo is separate. The logo version needs a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you. Without an NVQ the card is a Red Trained Operator card, and with the relevant plant operations NVQ it becomes a Blue Competent Operator card. If your work is on the smaller pedestrian operated and self erecting machines rather than a full tower crane, the N115 Remote Control Tower Crane is the three day category that covers it.
- N402 Slinger Signaller for the people on the other end of your radio
- N115 Remote Control Tower Crane for pedestrian operated and self erecting machines
- N405 Crane Lift Supervisor for operators moving into supervising the lift
- 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.
N102 Tower Crane FAQs
Tower crane sits at ten days, which is the longest novice length NPORS set. The operator works alone at height for a full shift, places loads accurately across a busy site and does much of it blind on a radio, and that only comes from hours on the controls. NPORS allow three candidates with one instructor and one machine.
Only if you already drive tower cranes. The experienced worker route is test focused and much shorter, with four candidates allowed rather than three, and the refresher is for a card coming up for renewal. We set the length against your logged hours and the crane you will be tested on, and confirm it before you commit.
Most novices do not. Ten days off the job, a crane and an instructor make this an employer funded course in almost every case, usually through a crane hire company or a contractor running its own cranes. We will talk to a self funding operator, but we will be honest about what it involves first.
The NPORS category itself does not set one, but employers, site operators and insurers commonly require a fitness assessment before anybody drives a tower crane, covering eyesight, hearing and general health. Tell us who you are working for and we will tell you what they ask for.
No. Erection, climbing and dismantling are specialist operations under BS 7121 Part 5 and are carried out by trained erection crews. The course covers them as awareness so the operator understands what has happened to the machine they are climbing into, not as a qualification to do the work.
The N102 is the full tower crane with the operator in a cab. The N115 Remote Control Tower Crane covers pedestrian operated and self erecting machines worked from the ground on a remote control, and is a three day novice category. They are separate cards and the one you hold has to match the machine.
The NPORS N102 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.
Yes, and it is usually the sensible way. Your operators train on the machine they will be driving, with your slingers and your loads, and nothing has to be transported. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when the crane and the people can be released.
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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